News – New home for Southern England arts office

The new regional arts council for the south and south east of England has voted to relocate the two current offices of Southern & South East Arts (SSEA), based in Winchester and Tunbridge Wells, to a single office in Brighton from March 2003.
The move is part of the restructuring process arising from the amalgamation of the two former regional arts boards – Southern Arts and South East Arts – by the Arts Council of England. Three options were considered for the move ? Guildford, Woking and Brighton ? and of the three, Brighton was felt to present better value for money in terms of office space, housing and local facilities. The new Chair of the regional arts council, Deborah Grubb, who is currently Chair of Gardner Arts in Brighton, described the choice of Brighton as the location for the regional office as giving SSEA the opportunity to be “embedded in a vibrant, creative economy with excellent cross regional links.” SSEA is also planning to have a presence in Hampshire, Kent and the Thames Valley to enable more clients to continue their personal contact with SSEA staff.