We couldn’t believe our luck when British Airways i360 agreed to come on board as our venue sponsor for the first ever Sussex Contemporary. But how did we land such a big fish for our first exhibition?

I have had the pleasure of visiting the i360 many times over the years since it became operational. I’ve taken family there for flights, I’ve have dinners in the pod, and I’ve had drinks watching the sun set on Brighton. At ground level, it is actually quite a big and versatile space and is used for a host of events from book launches by Peter James (we went to that one), weddings to business events.

It was at the launch of County Business Clubs in the Attenborough Room at beach level in October 2021 that I first thought, “I wonder if we could turn this space into an art gallery”. The smooth concrete walls and built in track lighting were perfect for showing off some contemporary Sussex art. And the footfall that passes the door would be phenomenal.

A good friend of ours from Preston Insurance Brokers affected an intro to Ian Hart, the i360’s chief operating officer and he seemed interested to know more. I eventually got to meet him and Simon Haffenden (Head of Guest Experience at British Airways i360) in late January 2022 to pitch the idea.

Fortunately for us they liked what we were planning. The synergies between our aims and theirs had too many ‘ticks’ for them not to want to be involved with us in some way. When they showed us the Volks and Austen Rooms we were instantly smitten, and knew that this was the perfect venue for the first Sussex Contemporary Art Exhibition.

These rooms are of a quality that put most galleries to shame, and have been thoughtfully kitted out to a high gallery standard. With tracked lighting and hanging systems to die for, these rooms will be the perfect space to display the fantastic Sussex art that we hope our open call will produce.

So we had found our venue and a great brand to be associated with.

I’m not sure that many of the millions of people that have taken flights at the BA i360 since it opened in 2016, know just how versatile the space is around the pod at ground level. And those that do (like me) had never thought that high end art gallery was one of the possibilities.

I’m not saying this because they are now our venue sponsors but, the team at BA i360 have been absolutely amazing to work with, super friendly, super-efficient and super generous with the amount of support they are providing us. We will be taking over almost have of their venue space with the art exhibition, sculpture terrace and gallery shop for over two weeks in October. To have them so committed to what we are doing makes our job as organisers so much easier.

With the venue now secured, we are now wooing some pretty influential people to bring them on board as our judges and selectors. The list of people we are in talks with is pretty impressive and fingers are crossed we can start to announce them soon.

If you would like your art to be considered for the exhibition then all the details are on our artists open call page.