About

HOUSE was a curated contemporary visual arts event, which took place biennially in October across Brighton & Hove.  HOUSE produced a series of co-commissions, often with city visual arts partners, and invited an internationally respected artist both to produce a major new piece of work and to develop a curatorial theme.  Other co-commissioning opportunities were offered to a range of emerging and mid-career artists and artists otherwise marginalised from the art world mainstream, along with a wider community programme.

HOUSE was conceived in 2008 to provide a commissioning platform for contemporary visual artists and to promote a wider public engagement with contemporary visual arts in the city of Brighton & Hove.

Inclusivity and accessibility are inherent to HOUSE offering the potential to experience new ideas and different ways of thinking within the artistic process.

HOUSE was devised by Judy Stevens and Chris Lord.

In 2019 Judy Stevens and Chris Lord stepped down as Directors of HOUSE and the Board of Trustees took the opportunity to review the creative and strategic future for  HOUSE. Consultant Lucy Day was appointed to develop the future strategy for HOUSE, looking at its regional and national position with the visual arts.  Following the lockdown caused by Covid-19, Lucy stepped down in the summer of 2020.  The following year, after assessing the changed landscape of the arts and funding for the arts in the UK, the Trustees took the decision to close down HOUSE in spring 2022 and to contribute all remaining funds to supporting new and emerging visual artists through Artists Open Houses.