Beecroft Art Gallery

13/10/2026

🎨 The 62nd Essex Open Art Exhibition 🎨

A much loved Southend tradition continues at the Beecroft Art Gallery, where the 62nd Essex Open Art Exhibition is currently on display until 20 December.

The exhibition has a remarkable history. Founded in 1957 by Walter Beecroft, it was created as a local alternative to the prestigious Royal Academy Summer Exhibition providing artists from Essex and beyond with the opportunity to showcase their work closer to home.

And this year’s exhibition has a very special connection to that first event…

✨ Exhibitor No. 125, Sheila Appleton, took part in the very first Essex Open in 1957 and has participated in every exhibition since. An incredible achievement spanning nearly seven decades!

Sheila is once again part of this year’s show, with two works featured in the 62nd Essex Open. Her extraordinary contribution makes her a unique link between the exhibition’s beginnings and its continuing story today.

From its origins in 1957 to the diverse and inspiring artwork on display today, the Essex Open remains a wonderful celebration of creativity, community and artistic talent.

📍 Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend-on-Sea
📅 On display until 20 December

Come along and discover the work of artists from across the region and celebrate a remarkable piece of Essex’s artistic heritage. 🖼️✨

12/10/2026

This Sunday. BETWEEN:US
Jonathan Rust and will be hosting two artist talks at the Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend-on-Sea on:

Sunday 18th October 2-4pm
& Sunday 15th November 2-4pm

No need to book, just turn up and meet in the gallery foyer. All are welcome!

The exhibition features painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and digitally composed image-based works, reflecting the varied material approaches of the three artists.

“Meaning doesn’t arrive fully formed. It emerges in the space between what is seen, what is sensed, and what is allowed to unfold.”

Southend-on-Sea
Until - 29th November 2026

Southend Museums Visit Southend

BETWEEN:US
Peter Haugh, Jonathan Rust and Victoria Sills will be hosting two artist talks at the Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend-on-Sea on:

Sunday 18th October 2-4pm
& Sunday 15th November 2-4pm

No need to book, just turn up and meet in the gallery foyer. All are welcome!

The exhibition features painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and digitally composed image-based works, reflecting the varied material approaches of the three artists.

“Meaning doesn’t arrive fully formed. It emerges in the space between what is seen, what is sensed, and what is allowed to unfold.”

Southend-on-Sea
Until - 29th November 2026

05/10/2026

'All My Art After I've Gone (Painter Version)' by Gary Lawrence - Winner of Best Drawing in the 62nd Essex Open Art Exhibition

05/10/2026

A short film produced by Drawing Projects UK, directed by Fiona Cassidy, with camera and editor, Tom Stafford-Hughes about Gary Lawrence winner of Best Drawing for his work All My Art After I've Gone (Painter Version) currently displayed as part of the 62nd Essex Open Art Exhibition until Sunday 20th December.

Drawing Projects UK is delighted to produce this short film of Gary...

02/10/2026

🎞️ SOUTHEND CINESCENE PRESENTS… 🎞️

🕯️ THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER 🕯️

Thursday 5th November | Doors 6pm | Film 6.30pm
Beecroft Art Gallery

Step into the shadows for an evening of classic cinema…

Charles Laughton’s extraordinary 1955 gothic thriller The Night of the Hunter comes to the Beecroft Art Gallery as Southend CineScene brings the Halloween season at Southend Museums to a suitably sinister close.

With its expressionist shadows, unforgettable imagery and a performance of chilling intensity from Robert Mitchum, this is cinema at its darkest and most atmospheric.

🕯️ Doors open at 6pm
🎬 Screening begins at 6.30pm
📍 Beecroft Art Gallery

🎟️ Tickets can now be reserved via Eventbrite with a small donation.

🎞️ Come along… if you dare.



With its expressionist shadows, unforgettable imagery and a performance of chilling intensity from Robert Mitchum, this is cinema at its darkest and most atmospheric.

🕯️ Doors open at 6pm
🎬 Screening begins at 6.30pm
📍 Beecroft Art Gallery

🎟️ Tickets can now be reserved via Eventbrite with a small donation.

And if you’re in the mood for more classic horror…

🦇 DRACULA — Wednesday 28th October
📍 Prittlewell Priory

You can reserve your place for Dracula on Eventbrite at the same time.

Two classic tales of terror. Two historic Southend venues. One wonderfully wicked Halloween season.

🎞️ Come along… if you dare.

30/09/2026

BETWEEN:US
Peter Haugh, Jonathan Rust and Victoria Sills will be hosting two artist talks at the Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend-on-Sea on:

Sunday 18th October 2-4pm
& Sunday 15th November 2-4pm

No need to book, just turn up and meet in the gallery foyer. All are welcome!

The exhibition features painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and digitally composed image-based works, reflecting the varied material approaches of the three artists.

“Meaning doesn’t arrive fully formed. It emerges in the space between what is seen, what is sensed, and what is allowed to unfold.”

Southend-on-Sea
Until - 29th November 2026

14/09/2026

62nd Essex Open Art Exhibition, opening Saturday, 26th September.

Image: Love Stories (The Four Seasons of Hadleigh Castle) by Stephen Jordan

04/09/2026

🎬 Southend CineScene: Le Samouraï (1967)

Join us on Thursday 1st October at 18:30 for Jean-Pierre Melville’s minimalist French neo-noir, starring Alain Delon.

Jef Costello is a solitary, highly disciplined contract killer who carries out what appears to be a perfect assassination in Paris. But when a witness unexpectedly spares him, and both the police and his employers turn against him, Jef finds himself caught in a deadly game of pursuit and betrayal.

A landmark of French crime cinema, Le Samouraï is all restraint, atmosphere and tension.

📅 Thursday 1st October
🕡 18:30
🎟️ Tickets available now via Eventbrite — link in bio

Repost:

28/08/2026

🎨 MORE TIME TO ENTER THE 62nd ESSEX OPEN! 🎨

Good news for artists! We’ve extended the submission deadline by one week, giving you a little more time to get your work ready.

⏰ NEW DEADLINE: Wednesday 9 September 2026 at 4pm
📍 Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend-on-Sea

This year’s Essex Open will be selected by artist Heidi Wigmore, and we’re delighted to announce that £500 will be awarded to the work judged the best in each of the following categories:

🏆 Oil / Acrylic
🏆 Watercolour / Drawing
🏆 Print / Photograph
🏆 3D / Mixed Media

The Essex Open is a fantastic opportunity to have your work exhibited at Beecroft Art Gallery alongside artists from across Essex and the eligible London boroughs.

Entry fees:
1 work – £10
2 works – £15
3 works – £20

✨ Maximum 3 works per artist.

If you’ve been thinking about entering now’s the time!

📅 Deadline: Wednesday 9 September at 4pm
📍 Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6EW

Full terms and conditions are available below. Please make sure your work meets all submission, presentation and access requirements before entering.

62nd Essex Open Art Exhibition 2026

Saturday 26 September – Sunday 20 December 2026

Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6EW

Terms and conditions for entry can be found here https://www.southendmuseums.co.uk/exhibitions/62nd-essex-open-art-exhibition---terms-and-conditions-for-entry

28/08/2026

BETWEEN:US

Between Us brings together the work of Peter Haugh, Jonathan Rust and Victoria Sills at the Beecroft Art Gallery, Southend-on-Sea.

The exhibition features painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking and digitally composed image-based works, reflecting the varied material approaches of the three artists.

Rather than presenting a unified theme, the exhibition proposes a space of relation between artists, between works and between viewer and image. Each practice approaches this differently, yet all share a concern with how meaning is formed. Not as something fixed or delivered, but as something that emerges through encounter.

“Meaning doesn’t arrive fully formed. It emerges in the space between what is seen, what is sensed, and what is allowed to unfold.”

Southend-on-Sea
6th September - 29th November 2026
Private View: 5th September 2-4pm