Something special is happening and we need your help.
We’re pleased to announce that we’re going to be taking part in the Big Give Campaign running from 17 – 24 March.
This is a seven day match-funding campaign supporting arts and culture charities across the UK. During the week-long campaign, every donation you make will be matched, meaning that you have the chance to double your donations. For example; if you donated £10 , the Big Give would double your donation to make it £20.
This campaign will be crucial for us to be able to continue running affordable and accessible community led exhibitions, studio spaces that support local artists & support us in our 10th birthday celebrations.
10 Years of Colonnade House
2016
Opening in 2016, Colonnade House set out with a mission to establish a creative hub in the heart of Worthing town centre to provide affordable studio and exhibition space for the creative community.
In 2016, we hosted our first exhibitions and events and welcomed our new studio members to the space. Fast forward to 2026, we’ve now welcomed over 67 artists, makers and creatives into the studios and put on over 400 exhibitions, supporting hundreds of artists at every stage of their career to bring their exhibitions to life.
2017
In 2017, Adur & Worthing Trust launched their Creative Commissions small grant scheme. Running for a further 8 years, the Trust was able to fund 28 projects that engaged over 7000 people in the community, putting over £20,000 into local community focused art and culture projects.
2018
In 2018 we launched Films on the Gallery Walls, a mini film festival showcasing projects and films working with Worthing Film Club. We also supported live music and new music in Worthing through the Scratchpad Project, a six week music project for young songwriters, performers and producers working with AudioActive and Northbrook MET.
2019
After running small funding advice events, 2019 saw the launch of our first professional Development Week to provide support for those working in the creative sector. Since then, we have run one to two Professional Development Weeks every year and since Colonnade House opened, Worthing has seen an increase in creative businesses of over 43%. Coast to capital predicts that with the correct support we could see 50,000 new creative jobs created along our coastline by 2030.
2020
Even the worldwide lock-down in 2020 couldn’t stop the creativity! We operated online at the start of lock-down and when restrictions were beginning to lift, we worked with Photo Fringe & PhotoWorks to bring the biannual festival to the streets of Worthing, this included exhibitions by photography collective MAP6, international photography on unused shopfront windows and displays of young photographers on Worthing Pier.
2021
After running our Winter Pop Up for a number of years, we invited a selection of local charities and community organisations for the first community focused Pop Up Shop.
2022
2022 saw us put on a range of diverse exhibitions collaborating with a whole host of community driven organisations across the region. We worked with Figment Arts, Creative Waves, West Sussex Art Society, Superstar Arts, and many more.
2023
We took part & supported the very first version of Worthing Festival in 2023. For the festival, Colonnade House was transformed into a pop-up Cinema by Worthing Film Club showing short films by local filmmakers. Our Creative Commission funded projects extended throughout the festival; with a huge life drawing event coordinated by Wendy Barratt giving 50 budding artists the chance to join the life drawing community.
2024
In 2024 we held our 400th exhibition! We also celebrated Worthing Pride and held a programme of creative events for LGBTQ+ artists, designers and makers.
2025
2025 saw our first fundraiser exhibition take place with 131 of you creating original artwork to fill the gallery walls and more of you donating prints for our Micro Print Fair that raised essential funds for the Adur & Worthing Trust.
We partnered with Sussex Bay to deliver two weeks of free children’s workshops during the summer.
2026
2026 is the year we celebrate our tenth birthday. Over these ten years we’ve worked with artists and makers at every stage of their careers, connected and collaborated with local businesses and in the process, brought art to hundreds of visitors. Your donations will ensure we can continue to support and champion local artists for years to come.