Southampton City Art Gallery
You Are Invited
The Projection
Southampton City Art Gallery is reopening – and you’re invited…
This projection celebrates the return of Southampton City Art Gallery, weaving together art, archives and the voices of the LGBTQIA+ community to offer a warm welcome to those arriving in the city – for the first time or again.
Created with Community Curator Ri Baroche, the work explores belonging, reinvention and finding your place. Through a poetic invitation and the recurring image of a “concrete boat”, it reflects how people – and cities – can change shape, float and thrive.
A creative glimpse of what’s to come ahead of the gallery’s reopening in March 2026 after a major refurbishment.
Find this show
Southampton City Art Gallery, Commercial Road, Southampton
SO14 7LP
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The City Art Gallery
Southampton City Art Gallery was founded through a gift to the city. In 1911, local pharmacist and councillor Robert Chipperfield left his art collection – and funding to build a gallery – so that art in Southampton would be free and open to everyone.
The gallery opened in its current home in the Civic Centre in 1939 and now holds more than 5,300 artworks, spanning from the Renaissance to today. Its collection of 20th-century British art is recognised as one of the finest outside London and was designated of national significance in 1998.
Built on generosity, bequests and public access, the gallery has long been a place where people encounter new ideas, see themselves reflected in art, and feel welcome – a legacy that continues as it prepares to reopen in March 2026.
Access Notes
Viewing takes place outdoors and is largely step-free, with space to pause and watch at your own pace.
Ground surfaces may be uneven in places.
British Sign Language (BSL)
A British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter will be present at each projection location every evening from 6–8pm for the full duration of the projections.
Audio Description
Listen to an audio description of this projection, created to support blind and partially sighted visitors. Audio descriptions offer a spoken overview of the visual artwork and key moments within the projection.
audio description
Curator and Community Spotlight
Ri Baroche was the Community Curator for the projection at Southampton City Art Gallery, exploring the theme of art.
A writer, performer, theatre-maker and facilitator, Ri approached the project through storytelling – diving into the city’s collections and working closely with the archive and gallery teams to uncover material that could reflect LGBTQ+ lives in a positive and affirming way. What began as a question of whether those stories would be visible quickly became the opposite: connections emerged through artists, advocates and local figures, revealing how many ways people have created space, expression and belonging through art.
Alongside this research, Ri invited community members to reflect on their own journeys – including through workshops that explored themes of arrival, reinvention and what it means to feel at home. These insights helped shape a projection that welcomes people in, honours those who came before, and reflects the gallery – and the city – as places where everyone can belong.
Ri
Baroche
Archive Spotlight
Name of spotlight item
Credits
Produced by:
Southampton Forward, in partnership with Southampton City Council
Creative Partners:
Double Take Projections and Light Up Trails
Supported by:
Arts Council England, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
Collection Credits & Copyright:
Archival material from Southampton Cultural Services
Paul Carter Photography
Iris O2, oil on linen © Lucy Ash
Response to Keith Vaughan, 2022, oil on linen © Lucy Ash
Floating Bridge, oil on canvas © 2025 The Estate of L.S. Lowry. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Arthur Jeffress, 1955, oil on canvas © Estate of Graham Sutherland
Product, 1962, oil on canvas © 2025 Richard Smith Foundation. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Maggi Hambling ACS (check) – has the licence been sent to you Kate?
Deerdog, oil on canvas © 2025 Dan Perfect. All Rights Reserved, DACS
Industry, 2021, Ink on paper © Lisa Traxler www.lisatraxler.com
Jay Screech, Oak and Hawthorn, near Hollands Wood, 2012, oil on canvas © Kurt Jackson
Three Thousand Species of Fungi in the New Forest, 2019, oil on canvas © Kurt Jackson
Reverie of the Ward, ink on paper © Greg Gilbert
Concrete Boat, mixed media © Bob and Roberta Smith, OBE, RA
The Encounter, c.1947, ink on paper © 2025 The Estate of Keith Vaughan. All rights reserved, DACS.
Ghost Vessel, 2013 © Bouke de Vries
Eric Meadus, Swaythling Station with Canopy, 1959, oil on paper © “The First” Gallery Ltd, Southampton, thefirstgallery.co.uk
Eric Meadus, Townscape, oil on board © “The First” Gallery Ltd, Southampton, thefirstgallery.co.uk
Derek Jarman, Trick, 1964, oil on canvas © Keith Collins Will Trust
Pathway, 1966, oil on canvas © Allen Jones
Hakim, 2000, wall drawing © Simon Grennan & Christopher Sperando
Portrait of Vita Sackville-West © Pippa Harris
Portrait of Lady Phyll © Jan Gooding
Portrait of James Baldwin © Olly Rowe
Portrait of David Hockney © Peter Mckintosh
Portrait of Ayla Holdom © Simon Blake
Elegy for Keith Vaughan © Hector Ramsey
Flutter, 2025, oil on canvas © Emma Richardson
Seductress, 2023 , oil on canvas © Emma Richardson
Tidal Pull, 2025, oil on canvas © Emma Richardson
Sketches of Spain, 2021, oil on canvas © Emma Richardson
Joe Low Photography
For images or other media from the collections held by Southampton Cultural Services, great care has been taken to identify all copyright holders correctly. Where copyright is unknown, or credited incorrectly, we welcome any information that might lead to the copyright holder. In cases of errors or omissions, please contact [email protected] so that we can ensure images are correctly credited in future.
Script & Narration:
Written and voiced by Ri Baroche.
