On June 12th we took several of our Artspace members on a trip to Worthing Museum and Art Gallery. This was the first time we had visited this great venue, both as a group and as individuals.

Two very unique and impressive art exhibitions were showing when we visited, 'Another Sussex' and 'Open 26'.

Another Sussex, which was a collaboration between Figment Arts (A Brighton and Hove based Community Arts Organisation) and over 500 members of the public, was a brilliant mix of work by individual local artists, and collaborative pieces.

The exhibition explored Local Sussex folklore featuring mythical creatures, magic, landmarks, superstitions and people throughout the ages.

Some of these included the Knucker Dragon of Lyminster, the legends of Devil's Dyke and Chanctonbury Ring (created by the devil so the stories go), herbalist and astrologer Nicholas Culpepper, spectral hounds, skeletons dancing around the Midsummer Oak, Bevis the giant, Sussex witches, ghosts and much more.

The show also covered old Sussex folk remedies ( some of which gave us a good chuckle), Hag stones ( stones with holes through the middle which are used as amulets for protection or good luck), contemporary tarot cards, and a wall where the public were encouraged to write superstitions they had heard and pin them up. We thought some of these messages were uniquely bizarre and very funny.

There was a brilliant range of art, including large, colourful collaborative freeze paintings, stained glass, sculpture, installations, found objects, screen prints and collage. We all found the exhibition interesting, vibrant and engaging.

The upstairs 'Open 26' exhibition started off as an Open Call to Sussex artists across many artistic mediums, with a main theme of Sustainability ( and the themes surrounding it).

Painting To Sustain You 1 - Sally Williams

The local public were then invited to select their favourite pieces from the many works submitted, which were then displayed in the gallery. It was nice to see that some of the very impressive work was created by school children and under 18s along side established artists, and we were all very impressed by the work of the young artists whose work held its own among many seasoned professionals.

The range of art in Open 26 was truly impressive and inspiring (we estimated there were around 100 pieces). It included diverse interpretations of the sustainability theme, spanning the natural world, personal portraits, mental health, pollution, climate change and the environment, regeneration and more abstract ideas.

The range of mediums used was across the board, spanning paintings, illustration, printing, collage, sculptures, textiles and needlepoint, photography, mixed media, assemblage, printmaking and more.

We also explored the museum side of things which was very educational and engaging, taking in the aquisitions, installations, models, archaelogical finds, local history and old paintings.

Highlights of the museum included an interactive model of iron age people working in caves and mining iron, fashion throughout the ages, a scale model of old Worthing, and a vintage toy collection.

After a sit down and a hot drink in a café, we rounded off the day by visiting a Pop and Street Art Gallery called Sabotage. Some of the work that grabbed our eye were some great contemporary Russian Dolls which were hand painted onto skateboard decks, and pop art collages.

Untitled Painted Skateboard Decks - Vicsk8Lab at Sabotage Gallery

Sue had this to say about the Another Sussex exhibition and Worthing Museum and Gallery in general:

"An interesting exhibition and great afternoon with other artspacers."

Karen enjoyed both art exhibitions at Worthing Museum and Art Gallery, and also really enjoyed the time spent with her fellow Artspace members:

"It was great to see both the Folklore exhibition and Open 26 exhibition in one space.

Both very inspiring with art in many different mediums.

Good to go with others from Artspace and socialise with them too"

Jaqui enjoyed all aspects of Worthing Museum and Art Gallery:

"I thought it might be a bit overwhelming, but I was pleasantly surprised at how intimate and cosy the museum was having not visited there before.

I found the museum's finds, relics and fashion through the ages very interesting.

The gallery exhibitions were wonderful and some installations encouraged you to take part.

The staff on reception were friendly and helpful.

A terrific calm day out with great people."