Devonshire Collective (DC) is a cultural and community organisation rooted in Eastbourne’s Devonshire Ward.

For ten years we have made art alongside the people of our neighbourhood: free exhibitions at VOLT, our gallery; free artist-led learning at DC Learn, our learning space; and projects co-created with residents, artists and partner organisations.

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Our name and our neighbourhood

Our name celebrates the mix of people in our neighbourhood, and invites everyone to take part in what we do.

We work one road back from the seafront, on the Victorian former high street, among the cafes, grocers and independent shops of Seaside. The Ward is home to a long-standing community of around 15,000 people and the widest mix of cultures in our town, with a rich community and voluntary life. We are proud to work alongside organisations such as Sanctuary, Rooted Community Food and YMCA DownsLink. It is also a neighbourhood the arts have too often passed by, and that is exactly why DC is here, on the doorstep and open to everyone.

Since 2016 we have been part of this community, changing and growing as it has.

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Ten years, briefly

2016: Devonshire Collective is born of a partnership with Eastbourne Borough Council, in three long-empty shops on Seaside Road.

2023: DC becomes an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.

2025: DC wins the Creative Excellence Award at the Eastbourne Business Awards, and launches DC10, our tenth-anniversary year.

2026: The National Lottery Heritage Fund backs Discover, Celebrate, Grow, and Where We Touch the Archive begins a national tour.

Read the full timeline on A decade of difference making.

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