History

Sussex County Arts Club was formed in 1944 by a group of disaffected artists from The Brighton Arts Club who were unhappy about their policy of not allowing female members.

Its premises are still where they are today, in Bond Street Cottages, a building currently with five studios that had previously been the Green Room Club, a late night watering hole for the clientele of the Theatre Royal.

From 1944 the club thrived with large exhibitions in various locations including Brighton Museum and the Hove Library gallery.

By the mid 1960’s the club had 300 members, with several branches in other parts of the county. There was a varied programme alongside the drawing and painting sessions that included lectures and in the summer months outside sketching and weekend schools with tutors.

4 Exhibition catalogue covers: 1953, 1956, 1960 and 1965

Above: Newspaper cuttings from 1956

Towards the end of the 60’s however, and probably with the emergence of colour tv it seems more people stayed at home and numbers at the arts club dropped. But it was able to continue providing regular sessions throughout the week to anybody in the community at cheap rates because the club has always been run by volunteers and maintained a non-profit making policy.

Life drawing sessions at the club in the 1990s

Club newsletters from the club in the 1990s