Gallery II - Connecting the local to the global - taking the visual arts into public spaces and places

Whilst there is no formal academic department devoted to the Arts, the University fully supports and invests in its arts on campus programme, which includes theatre, music and visual arts.

Gallery II extends beyond the boundaries of the arts venue into public spaces and places and plays a key role in the cultural life of the campus and the city, through its exhibitions, events, partnership projects and artist residencies. We work to create opportunities for artists to make new work and seek to create innovative and flexible ways in which they can interact with the institution, its stakeholders and the wider world.

There is a changing exhibition programme of contemporary work in Gallery II, Chesham building and on the ground floor of Richmond Atrium. We also have permanent exhibitions of work from our collection, including paintings by Matt Lamb in Richmond Atrium and David Wright in the Norcroft Centre and student photographic portraits by Guiseppe Lambertino in Student Central.

In light of its academic situation, Gallery II's visual arts policy is committed to promoting excellence, research and education and aims to reflect the University and the City's diverse communities, by programming work that has relevance to the campus, the district and our global links and which explores the unique contribution that the visual arts can make to our understanding of contemporary life.

Each season's programme of exhibitions is connected thematically. This is developed in order to show a range of contemporary work and approaches used by artists, whilst maintaining a thread or subject field to anchor the programme, thus allowing visitors the opportunity to consider a variety of viewpoints.

Gallery II also manages the University's Permanent Art Collection; its loan and hire. This includes a wide variety of acquired and collected works and a significant body of works donated to the Peace Studies Department, including a collection of paintings by Margaret Glover, Chicago artist and peace activist Matt Lamb, and most recently, Hamm artist Jockel Reisner and Brighton based by artist Cyril Mount.