Discover, Celebrate, Grow is a programme celebrating the people, buildings and hidden histories of Eastbourne’s Devonshire Ward, funded by an award of £92,396 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Running throughout 2026 and coinciding with Devonshire Collective’s tenth anniversary, the project brings the hidden histories of Eastbourne’s communities to life through creative partnerships, community engagement, storytelling and performance. It will culminate in the ‘Seaside Road’ exhibition at our VOLT gallery in Winter 2026.
The programme lets us work with local people who don’t normally engage with heritage projects. To tell their stories by collaborating with contemporary artists and local heritage groups to create new ways of seeing our neighbourhood and those who live in it.
The project will highlight the rich heritage of Devonshire Ward, allowing people to discover a fresh perspective on the area and challenge existing stereotypes. In thinking about the past, we will look to the future – for the neighbourhood, the town and DC.
Join us for a guided walking tour of our four public works, led by two of our Associate Artists, Kai Zhang and Flo Wright.
Join us for our first guided walking tour of our five public works, led by two of our Associate Artists, Kai Zhang and Flo Wright.
.jpeg)
Nature Rave is a newly commissioned window installation and graphic identity by Devonshire Youth Collective, in collaboration with Two Pens. In celebration of the Turner Prize 2023 with Eastbourne ALIVE.
Passing is a newly commissioned performance by Adam Moore, created in collaboration with local residents.
Love, Empathy, Respect, Dignity is a newly commissioned public artwork by Nadina Ali, in collaboration with Devonshire Youth Collective and Sanctuary. Commissioned in partnership with Eastbourne ALIVE, in celebration of the Turner Prize 2023.
Skill Cut Winner, 2023, is a newly commissioned public artwork by Rottingdean Bazaar. Commissioned in partnership with Eastbourne ALIVE, in celebration of the Turner Prize 2023.
superstructure (public image), 2023, is a newly commissioned public artwork by Madeleine Pledge in Marine Parade Gardens. Commissioned in partnership with Eastbourne ALIVE, in celebration of the Turner Prize 2023.
Still life, 2023, is a newly commissioned public artwork by Adam Moore at the end of Eastbourne Pier. Commissioned in partnership with Eastbourne ALIVE, in celebration of the Turner Prize 2023.
Discover, Celebrate, Grow brings the hidden histories of Eastbourne’s communities to life through creative partnerships, community engagement and storytelling. The programme works with local people who don’t normally engage with heritage projects, alongside contemporary artists and local heritage groups.
The programme has many threads, including:
• Storyteller Jon Norman-Mason leads Ward Walks exploring local
history, folklore and the stories of the people who live here.
• Artist and researcher Nikki Tomlinson delves into the recent
archive of events and activities at the Redoubt Fortress, imagining
and speculating on possible futures.
• DC’s new journalism development programme, run in partnership
with Eastbourne Reporter CIC, trains four local residents as
Community Researchers.
• Children from refugee and asylum-seeker families investigate local
architecture and share memories of home through model making,
sculpture and zines.
• Young people from across the neighbourhood capture the sights and
sounds of Seaside Road in a collaborative film-making project.
• The Pop-Up Potting Shed, a travelling allotment, reconnects the
neighbourhood’s diverse communities to nature, bringing Victorian
allotment heritage into conversation with how people grow today.
Individual events and workshops are listed in What’s On under the Discover, Celebrate, Grow tag.
Legends! Lore! Local lives in all their glory! Join storyteller and historian Jon Norman-Mason for a journey into the past that's all around us in the present.
Discover, Celebrate, Grow helps us continue to grow a thriving cultural ecology in Devonshire Ward. It also underpins our commitment to a local talent pipeline through the employment of a Heritage Trainee, and Community Researchers mapping out the Ward, uncovering stories of heritage assets.
In thinking about the past, we are looking to the future – for the neighbourhood, the town and for DC.
The programme culminates in a centrepiece celebratory exhibition at VOLT, drawing together the many activities and events of Discover, Celebrate, Grow together into one show. Dates and details to follow.
Discover, Celebrate, Grow is supported by The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players.
-7.jpg)
67–69 Seaside Road
Eastbourne
BN21 3PL
United Kingdom
.png)
.png){kind=logo}
.png)