The Upstairs Gallery houses our temporary exhibitions. We look for works that link to Hengistbury Head: whether that be views of the local area, coastal scenes, landscapes, or wildlife.

If you're interested in exhibiting here, take a look at our exhibitor information page.

Current Exhibition

St Peter's School Art project

7 October 2019 - 21 October 2019

The Art Department at St Peter’s School, Southbourne enjoys a spectacular view over Hengistbury Head and its surrounding area. As an introductory project for the start of the new term, 6th Form students were challenged to venture closer - to repeatedly visit the Head and absorb its ever-changing colours, scents and sounds; to collect inspiration through drawing and mark making; to explore the possibilities of raw materials for creating pigments and marks.

This two week exhibition celebrates their diverse and highly personal responses, from sea-developed cyanotypes to mark making with crushed berries. The project has been developed with reference to ArtPedagogy’s Threshold Concepts, a resource for teachers of Art developed by Chris Francis, Head of Art at St Peter’s School and Jon Nicholls, Thomas Tallis School, London. For more insights into the development this work please visit @artpedagogy on Instagram. 

Coming Soon

27 October - 27 November: Commoning Voices

Through photographs, audio and video the Commoning Voices exhibition shares the passion commoners have for the New Forest, their animals and their community, and invites visitors to learn more about this important aspect of Forest life.

On Monday 28^th October between 1 and 3pm, Lyndsey Stride will be in the upstairs gallery with her exhibition ‘Commoning Voices’. This is an opportunity for people to come along, meet some members of the commoning community. 

2 December - 5 January: Heather Miller Lino Prints

Enjoy the fresh, modern and colourful lino prints by local artist, Heather Miller. With some views around Hengistbury Head as well as a variety of other subjects, Heather’s striking work has wide-ranging appeal. Pieces will also be available to purchase. 

Further ahead

We have some interesting exhibitions planned for the coming year, we'll list these here as soon as they're finalised - or why not sign up to our mailing list to find out the latest news as soon as we have it?