Towner Eastbourne Gallery (photo credit: Manalo & White)

The University of Sussex has been announced as the Education Partner for the Turner Prize 2023, in a major collaboration with hosts Towner Eastbourne. The Turner Prize is one of the world’s leading prizes for contemporary art and Sussex will play a key role in developing and running an arts education programme for the 2023 prize.

Academics from the School of Media, Arts and Humanities will work alongside our schools outreach team, and in collaboration with Towner Eastbourne, on various local initiatives. These will include specialised school programmes, community arts education events, public-facing performances and exhibitions enhancing the accessibility of arts education within local schools and the wider community. The partnership will aim to support the region’s education and cultural recovery, following the pandemic.

The programme will run in the lead up to and during the Turner Prize 2023, which takes place at Towner Eastbourne from 28 September 2023 to 13 January 2024. Featuring events at the Attenborough Centre for Creative Arts, the programme will build on the long-standing relationship between Sussex and Towner Eastbourne.

The Towner has provided professional experience for students on the Art History and Museum Curating MA for the past decade and the Art History department has drawn on Towner's collections and exhibitions programme as part of teaching for many years. Colleagues in English and Film have contributed to Towner's public programmes by delivering talks to support film screenings.

The University is currently partnering with Towner on an AHRC-funded Collaborative Doctoral Partnership and Hayley Moyse Fenning is looking at women artists in the Towner Collection. Other Sussex academics who have worked closely with Towner include Dr Hope Wolf whose research on Sussex Modernism drew on the Towner collection and Professor Flora Dennis who has been a Towner Trustee for the past five years.

Vice-Chancellor Sasha Roseneil said: "The University of Sussex is honoured and excited to be the official Education Partner for the 2023 Turner Prize. The prize coming to Sussex for the first time is a big cultural moment for the south coast and we take our role in maximising this opportunity to the benefit of our local community seriously. 

“Art, like universities, should be for all. With that in mind, we are planning an ambitious arts education programme that will bring the prize to life for all young people in Sussex, both within schools across the region and on our wonderful campus.

"This work with Towner Eastbourne will support the region’s arts and education post-pandemic recovery and will provide young people across Sussex with new avenues to explore art and higher education.”

Joe Hill, Director, Towner Eastbourne, said, “We have collaborated with the University of Sussex on a range of endeavours for some time and are thrilled that we can work together to deliver a collaborative programme for the Turner Prize, using the expertise of our colleagues in the University’s Art History department to create additional narratives around the exhibition, and ensure students can engage with this important cultural moment that is set to take place on the doorstep of their campus.”

About the Turner Prize

One of the best-known prizes for the visual arts in the world, the Turner Prize aims to promote public debate around new developments in contemporary British art. Established in 1984, the prize is awarded annually to an artist born, living or working in Britain, for an outstanding exhibition or public presentation of their work anywhere in the world in the previous year.

University of Sussex alumni who have won the Turner Prize include mixed media artist, Helen Cammock, a Sussex sociology graduate who was awarded the 2019 prize, along with three other artists, in a historic first. Conceptual artist Jeremy Deller, who has an MA in British Art History and Critical Theory from Sussex, also won the Turner Prize in 2004. View more about the prize and previous winners. 

The announcement of the education partnership comes as the judges for the 2023 prize are announced by Towner Eastbourne. The jury for Turner Prize 2023 is:

• Martin Clark - Director of Camden Art Centre, London
• Cédric Fauq - Chief Curator, Capc musée d’art contemporain de Bordeaux
• Melanie Keen - Director of Wellcome Collection, London
• Helen Nisbet - Artistic Director for the national contemporary art festival, Art Night

About Towner Eastbourne

The 2023 Turner Prize will be hosted by Towner Eastbourne as the centrepiece of the gallery’s centenary programme. Turner Prize 2023 is part of ‘Towner 100’ – the gallery’s year-long centenary celebration of arts and culture across Eastbourne. With support from Eastbourne Borough Council and East Sussex County Council, the Turner Prize will bring immersive cultural and social experiences for visitors and residents of the popular seaside destination.