Artists Open Houses is an event that takes place across Brighton & Hove, expanding to include Rottingdean and Ditchling. It provides a fresh opportunity for visitors and residents to explore the city beyond its usual paths. This year’s programme is filled with exciting highlights, showcasing a wide range of traditional and experimental media, including bacteria and DNA, inflatable sculptures, talking ceramics, sculpture, textiles, painting, craft, and more.
Some of the notable features of this year’s festival include:
Visit Nine ground-breaking artists at Art of Pepita x Fatboy Slim. This event also offers a chance to meet Fatboy Slim as Pepita Coffee launches contemporary artist TBOY’s new coffee tin designs. Additionally, visitors can catch one of Brighton’s most famous street artists, The Postman.
Discover the work of Alej Ez, AOH’s cover artist, throughout the festival. His artwork, Modern Bathers, will be on display along with other prints in the series at his Open House. His classic landscapes will be exhibited at The Old Market, while The Flamingo House will feature his new Dragons series at the Royal Pavilion.
Experience BioArt Transformations at the Regency Town House Basement, an innovative exhibition by internationally acclaimed artist Anna Dumitriu. Dumitriu, a pioneer of the BioArt movement, uses living bacteria, DNA, and technology to create intricate sculptures, installations, and textiles. Her work connects the history of science and medicine with cutting-edge research in synthetic biology, genomics, and AI.
Inflatable sculptures make their debut at Artists Open Houses this year, with Mandeep Dillon at Harrington Road. She showcases photographic, digital, and collage works that explore the transient physicality of more-than-human beings. Her inflatable installations are intentionally short-lived, with photographs and moving images as their only lasting record.
Visitors can discover sculpture at The Secret Garden and enjoy sundowners in this beautiful setting. This event is presented in collaboration with Surrey Sculpture Society and curated and managed by two Shoreham-based sculptors, Abby Martin and Teresa Martin.
Experience a creative cacophony of spectacular art and design at Sarah Arnett’s Picture Palace, which was designed by the 2024 brochure cover designer.
Ceramics are celebrated both indoors and outdoors across several houses. The Great Pottery Throwdown finalist Adam Johnson returns with Make It, 11 Rugby Road with Dan (and Egg the pug). Meanwhile, Boogaloo Stu offers a twist on traditional ceramics at Wild Iris Perfumerie, bringing gloriously colourful ceramics and playful dioramas where characterful vases chat, ooze personality, and even receive their own perfectly matched spritz of fragrance.
Flash tattoo events by Eli Inking take place at The DOG SHOW, Brighton’s only Artists Open House dedicated to dog-inspired artworks, on 2nd and 3rd May. This is a first for the festival.
Family creativity is highlighted throughout the festival. Three houses showcase mothers and daughters exhibiting together across two or even three generations. LAND, SEA AND SKY presents a three-generation collaboration with paintings by Emma Christopherson, her mother Katie Christopherson, and her grandmother Sue Letts. After Sue’s dementia diagnosis, the family began painting together regularly, discovering the powerful benefits of creative expression and connection.
Meet the team behind epic costumes from The Masked Singer, props from The Traitors, and a host of large-scale installations and creative projects. Plunge Creations opens its doors for one weekend only, offering a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the inventive world of professional prop making.
- The Imposter Club presents an exciting mix of physical and digital art, inviting visitors to dive into a dynamic series of workshops in digital storytelling, doodling, and game design. Displaying a diverse range of creative mediums, including illustration, installation, painting, and printmaking, the group offers an enlightening and interactive experience.
Judy Stevens, AOH Festival Director, says: “This year’s programme brings together an incredible mix of both new and familiar artists and makers from the city, region, and further afield. The festival brings a month-long opportunity to immerse yourself in visual creativity of all kinds. A huge thank you to brochure cover artist Alej Ez for capturing the spirit of Brighton in his cover design and to all the artists and makers whose participation makes Artists Open Houses so special and unique.”
Artists Open Houses offers a unique chance to meet local artists and makers and discover their work in venues across the city. Visitors can encounter artworks in an extraordinary range of spaces, from houses and artists’ studios to unusual locations including a hayloft, village hall, iconic seafront studios, coffee roasters, a tennis club, and even a garden designed by Gertrude Jekyll. Every unique, handmade purchase directly supports both emerging and established creatives, while giving visitors a new way to explore Brighton and Hove. See the full programme at https://aoh.org.uk/may2026
