Art gallery to open in former hardware store site

An art gallery is to open at the site of a former hardware store in Brighton, which closed after more than 100 years of trading.

Dockerills, which had been operating in the city since 1915, closed in September last year.

The store cited the Covid-19 pandemic, rising overhead costs and falling trade for its closure.

Kellie Miller Arts (KMA) Gallery is to open at the Church Street site in April.

KMA Gallery, which was opened as a pop-up by Kellie Miller 11 years ago, said the move would elevate the breadth of original artworks that it was able to offer, doubling its size.

"Specially selected by the highly respected family that owns Dockerills to take over their retail space, KMA's new gallery will increase the scale and breadth of artworks on offer, as well as provide new event and collaboration opportunities within the local community," a spokesperson for the independent gallery said.

The gallery will be across two floors.

It will offer paintings, ceramics and sculptures by local, national and international artists.

The spokesperson added that KMA aimed to "connect like-minded independent artists with audiences across the world".

Ms Miller gained her first degree in arts from the University of Brighton in 1994, followed by an MA in arts criticism in 2001 at City University, London.

She has been a professional artist since 1994 and is a founding member of Hove Arts, an Open House Trail forming part of the Brighton Festival.

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