Rye ArtGallery

Rye Art Gallery grew out of a bequest by the painter Mary Stormont, who established the trust in 1957 and left her Ockman Lane studio house to form a permanent gallery; a second bequest, from the artist Eileen Easton, added the adjoining house on the High Street, and the two are now joined by a short staircase. The permanent collection includes work by Edward Burra and Paul Nash, both former Rye residents, alongside pieces by Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell and John Piper. Director and curator Julian Day oversees a changing programme of contemporary exhibitions alongside the historic holdings, with contemporary craft and art also offered for sale. The gallery is run as an independent charitable trust rather than by the council, open Monday to Saturday from eleven until five and Sunday afternoons, closed on Tuesdays.