About
TheGallery at the Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) is a significant contemporary art and design venue serving the south of England, presenting a changing programme of exhibitions that has earned both national and international recognition despite the gallery's relatively compact scale. Housed on the AUB campus in Bournemouth's Wallisdown area, the gallery gives one of the country's leading specialist art and design universities a proper public-facing exhibition space, distinct from the teaching studios and workshops that make up the bulk of the campus.
The gallery's exhibition programme spans a genuinely wide range of contemporary practice, from sculpture and photography to film, drawing, and fine art, drawing on both external touring exhibitions and work generated by the university's own staff, students, and alumni. TheGallery also runs its own touring exhibition programme, curating shows that have themselves travelled to venues nationally and internationally — an unusual reversal for a relatively small university gallery, more commonly a receiving venue for other institutions' touring shows rather than a producer of its own. This active curatorial role reflects AUB's standing as a specialist art and design institution with genuine ambitions beyond simply supporting its own teaching.
Admission to TheGallery and its supporting events is entirely free, reflecting the gallery's role as a public engagement resource for the wider Bournemouth, Poole, and Dorset community as well as the university itself. Alongside its regular exhibition programme, the gallery hosts artist talks, panel discussions, and events supporting its shows, and periodically presents work by AUB's own students, including postgraduate summer shows that offer visitors a direct look at emerging talent trained at one of Britain's specialist creative universities. This combination of externally curated touring shows, internally produced exhibitions, and student work gives TheGallery's programme a genuinely varied character across a typical year, rewarding visitors who return more than once rather than treating a single visit as definitive.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Check the current exhibition programme before visiting, as TheGallery's changing shows mean the experience varies significantly depending on timing.
- Look out for postgraduate summer shows if visiting in the summer months, offering a direct look at emerging creative talent.
- Free entry makes this an easy, low-cost addition to a wider Bournemouth or Poole day out.
- Opening is weekday-weighted given the campus location — check current days before planning a weekend visit.
- Campus parking is available on a pay-and-display basis if travelling by car.
- Watch for artist talks and panel discussions scheduled alongside specific exhibitions for a deeper engagement with the work on display.
Highlights
Changing Contemporary Art Exhibitions
TheGallery's core offer is its regular programme of contemporary art and design exhibitions, spanning sculpture, photography, film, drawing, and fine art, giving visitors a genuine reason to return throughout the year rather than seeing a fixed permanent display. The programme has achieved both national and international recognition, an notable achievement for a gallery of this scale attached to a specialist university.
TheGallery's Own Touring Exhibition Programme
Unusually for a university gallery of its size, TheGallery curates and produces its own touring exhibitions, which have travelled to other venues both nationally and internationally. This active curatorial and producing role, rather than simply receiving other institutions' touring shows, reflects Arts University Bournemouth's ambitions as a genuine contributor to the wider contemporary art world, not merely a teaching-focused campus facility.
AUB Student and Alumni Work
The gallery periodically presents work by Arts University Bournemouth's own students and alumni, including postgraduate summer shows, giving visitors direct access to emerging creative talent trained at one of Britain's leading specialist art and design universities and connecting the gallery's public exhibition programme back to its host institution's core teaching mission.
Artist Talks and Panel Discussions
Alongside its exhibition programme, TheGallery hosts artist talks, panel discussions, and other events designed to deepen visitor engagement with the work on display, offering opportunities to hear directly from exhibiting artists and other contributors to the contemporary art and design world.
Collections
TheGallery does not hold a fixed permanent collection in the conventional museum sense; instead, its identity rests on a changing programme of contemporary art and design exhibitions spanning sculpture, photography, film, drawing, and fine art. The gallery both receives touring exhibitions from other institutions and produces its own touring shows that travel nationally and internationally, alongside periodically presenting work by Arts University Bournemouth's own students and alumni, including postgraduate summer shows.
This combination of external and internally generated programming, supported by artist talks and panel discussions, gives TheGallery an active curatorial identity distinct from a typical static university teaching collection.
Rotating Contemporary Exhibitions
TheGallery's core changing programme of contemporary art and design exhibitions, spanning sculpture, photography, film, and fine art from touring and locally curated shows.
AUB Student and Alumni Showcases
Periodic exhibitions of work by Arts University Bournemouth's own students and alumni, including postgraduate summer shows.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.