Oxmarket Contemporary's charitable objects are to promote and advance the education, cultivation, improvement and appreciation of the arts amongst the community by operating and maintaining an arts centre for exhibitions of all kinds and for the promotion of visual arts, music, poetry, literature and drama and certain other purposes ancillary thereto.

Oxmarket Contemporary meets its charitable objectives by providing a wide range of experiences and activities across all ages and demographics including:

  • Free entry encouraging access to the arts at no cost or, for certain events, very low cost supporting wellbeing

  • Providing affordable exhibition space for local and emerging artists, for the financial year 2025-2026 we delivered 42 exhibitions featuring over 200 artists across a wide range of media, exhibitors included artists from established organisations, and first-time exhibitors, local education establishments, community groups including Art Invisible, a charity that provides opportunities for artists with learning disabilities, Stonepillow, a homeless charity which provides hubs, hostels and supported living, Aldingbourne Trust, a charity that supports people with learning disabilities or autism, Apuldram, a charity that supports adults with learning disabilities.  We make engagement with arts and artistic expression accessible and in further support of these community groups we also sell many of the items they produce in our shop    

  • Delivering a highly varied programme of high-quality exhibitions which is possible due to the diverse artistic range and artistic community that we serve, the programme is of a quality that significantly exceeds the size and funding base of Oxmarket Contemporary 

  • Welcoming approximately 34,000 visitors, reflecting strong engagement from both local residents and visitors

  • Strengthening and deepening partnership with local education providers especially in relation to underrepresented and home-schooled children, this expanded partnership and our new school’s programme reached in excess of 250 children in 2025-2026, inspiring creativity, innovation and confidence building

  • Establishing a free art book library

  • Reading events for children and introducing creative activities for young children

  • Supporting reuse of artists' materials through local charitable donations providing access to art materials for all

  • Setting up the volunteer group “Art Through Nature” to upgrade the grounds proving a well planted, welcoming, attractive and uplifting environment showing that art and creativity takes many forms, it is also Nature friendly 

  • Providing opportunities for community engagement as these significant and impactful achievements are made possible by community support including the dedicated and skilled volunteers currently comprising 47 regular volunteers and 7 trustee-directors. These invaluable volunteers contribute across all areas of operation, including gallery supervision, exhibitions and events. Total volunteer time is estimated at 5,500-6,000 hours annually and we aim to continue to grow our volunteer base to support expanded activity and community engagement. Volunteering provides the opportunity for connection, engagement, skill and experience sharing, as well as purpose

  • Providing connection, engagement and ongoing learning opportunities about the arts across all ages and skill levels including our recently introduced “Friend’s Programme”

  • Providing musical expression and engagement with our publicly accessible piano

  • Caring for a significant historic building in Chichester and bringing it to life, acting as custodians for the history and artistic legacy of the venerable  building

  • Researching and recording aspects of important local history including built environment development

  • Future Developments

  • Oxmarket Contemporary continually works to identify and meet the needs of the community that it serves and is currently developing:

  • Meeting up events to assist with connection building and loneliness amelioration experienced by older people in our community

  • Experiences in and next to Nature linked to the Art through Nature group

  • Writing, literary and spoken word events