Since its opening, departure has presented month-long exhibitions of work by artists from the East End locality and from further afield.  departure has well-lit walls to permit good-sized exhibitions, where we have presented collages, drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures by artists whose origins are as diverse as Bangladesh, England, the Netherlands, Japan, Poland, Scotland, Somalia, Sweden and the USA.

We have also utilised departure's Performance Space for occasional site-specific installations.

Our interest is in using the Exhibition Space to support local artists who are producing a standard of work that is in line with departure's general high-quality aims. Any artists wishing to explore the possibilities of showing their work at departure should contact Stuart Currie. 

New programme

Art is for everyone! 

Creating and discovering art in a group is a great way to explore, relax and make new friends.   This is the heart of departure.  So, four times a year we bring out an exciting new programme of classes to cater for a wide range of abilities and interests.  You won’t just learn new skills in the classes; you’ll have fun and get the chance to meet other people in the local community.  The classes are good value for money, and some places are available at a concessionary rate.

Over the past year we have run courses in the following:

Oil painting	Film making
Creative Writing	Clothes Making
Experimental Drawing	Fancy Fascinators
Pottery	Sewing for Beginners
Asian/Western Jam Session	Beading and Jewellery Making

Have a look at our latest programme because we continually add new classes.

You can come into departure to book your place or give us a call. 

We also run several ESOL classes (English for speakers of other languages). 
Contact Keri for more information.

Our platforms give you the opportunity to come along and meet other people who are interested in the same thing as you.  We don’t provide a teacher but we guarantee that you’ll have fun! Look at our new programme to find out what platforms you can join.

Art is not just something to look at, it’s something to experience.  Alongside our exhibitions and classes we put on concerts, plays and other types of performing arts. 

We also have a Performance Space that can seat between 40 to 80 people. We are not just limited to the Performance Space.  We have a roof terrace that is ideal for summer concerts. 

So what’s stopping you?  Check out our latest programme and see what’s on!

In the heart of departure we have a dedicated space for our artist-in-residence to work in view of the café.  Our aim is to always have an artist that shares our vision for art in the community, to be inspiring and creating work within the centre.

Come along and see our artist-in-residence working and chat with them about the ideas behind their work.  Some of our artists will be teaching classes at the centre as well.  If you are interested in joining our artist-in-residency programme then please contact us.