Hastings Contemporary: Award-winning gallery offered as gift to hometown

Proposals to donate Hastings Contemporary to the town are to go before the borough council

An award-winning art gallery has been offered as a gift to the seaside town where it is based by the charity which owns it.

The Jerwood Foundation said it wants to donate the Hastings Contemporary "for the benefit and well-being" of the resort and East Sussex.

Jerwood chairman Alan Grieve said: "The building's lease was up for renewal and this was the best solution."

Hastings Borough Council is recommending it accepts the offer.

The Seaside by William Roberts formed part of an exhibition at Hastings Contemporary last year

The gallery, which cost £5m to build, opened on The Stade in Hastings Old Town as the Jerwood gallery in 2012 before being renamed seven years later.

It has won several prestigious architectural awards, including a RIBA national award and a Civic Trust accolade.

If agreed, the gallery will continue to be run by its current management, the council has said.

Councillor Paul Barnett, Hastings Borough Council's deputy leader, said: "The cultural sector has driven this transformation of our image over the last ten years or more, and this wonderful building has been a key driver in this regeneration."

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