Art with a Heart: Support Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival with Art Gifts this Christmas 

Looking for unique Christmas gifts for friends and family that will help support the arts?

Brighton Dome & Brighton Festival  are selling six high-quality screen prints as part of its fundraising campaign. Buy Now

The art works are priced from £100 to £150 and were selected from Brighton Festival’s archive from the last 54 years, including Turner prize nominee David Shrigley; tattoo artist Adam Sage with design agency Johnson Banks and the late pop artist Martin Sharp. In addition, the award-winning graphic artist Morag Myerscough has donated a brand new signed print to help support the future work of the arts charity.

Following Brighton Dome’s closure in March and the cancellation of Brighton Festival, the organisation lost  67% of its self-generated income. The sale of prints will provide a crucial source of revenue which will help keep the venue and the annual arts festival alive for everyone to enjoy next year.

The campaign has been supported by Brighton fine art screen printers, The Private Press who have hand-made the artworks as full-colour screen prints in their studio and will sell them directly via their online shop.

Gary Parselle, Founder of The Private Press explains:

'It’s been a pleasure to support this fundraising campaign. It was so interesting looking through the range of artists’ work in the Brighton Festival archive and to re-produce them as new prints. The original Brighton Festival brochure covers were scanned in high resolution, then converted into layers and enlarged using Photoshop to prepare them for the screen printing process. Each colour was carefully mixed to replicate the original and then printed by hand, one layer at a time. The venue and the festival bring so much to the city’s cultural life and as a local business, we wanted to do our bit to make sure they can get through this difficult time.'

Adam Sage and Johnson Banks, Everyday Epic, Brighton Festival 2017

Unsigned screen print
Size: A2
Price: £100 & £5 postage

Poet and musician Kae (Kate) Tempest was the Festival’s Guest Director in 2017. Creative agency Johnson Banks worked with Brighton tattoo artist Adam Sage on this detailed illustration that depicts the pen being mightier than the sword.

Morag Myerscough Art is Our Expression And Our Sunlight, 2020

Five-colour screen print, signed by the artist
Limited edition of 100
Size: A2
Price: £150 & £5 postage

Award-winning graphic artist Morag Myerscough transforms public spaces, including schools, hospitals and town centres. She is fascinated by how colour, pattern and words can change urban environments and people’s perceptions of spaces into places. Morag created a public bandstand for Brighton Festival 2018 and recently designed a new public artwork for Brighton Dome’s building.

Morag Myerscough: 'I love Brighton and I was so excited when I was asked to create this new artwork for the #BringBackBrightonDome campaign. My work is rooted in creating a sense of joy and belonging and I have always felt strongly that we need art in every form to stimulate us and transport us from the everyday, especially at this time it feels essential for our wellbeing. We must help to make sure that the arts have a positive future.'

David Shrigley, Strive for Excellence, Brighton Festival 2018

Unsigned screen print
Size: 570mm x 395mm
Price: £100 & £5 postage

Brighton-based visual artist David Shrigley was the Festival’s guest director in 2018 and was the first director to create his own artwork for the festival identity. His distinctive satirical drawings have earned him critical acclaim, with a Turner Prize nomination and commission for the Trafalgar Square fourth plinth.

David Shrigley 'By helping to support this campaign it gives us all a glimmer of hope that we will be able to enjoy live art events again in the city.'

Unknown artist, Brighton Festival 1972

Unsigned screen print
Size: A2
Price: £100 & £5 postage

Brighton’s famous palace pier is beautifully depicted in this Festival poster from 1972 by an unknown artist.

By 1972 Brighton Festival had been running for six years and firmly established itself as one the major events in the city with a purpose of bringing outstanding art and artists to Brighton with a wide programme of events. Notable artists included performances from a young Nigel Kennedy, a rare visit from Shirley Bassey, the Royal Swedish Opera and Royal Swedish Ballet, The Drottningholm Theatre and The Young Vic Company of the National Theatre.

Unknown artist, Brighton Festival 1973

Unsigned screen print
Size: A2
Price: £100 & £5 postage

The theme for the 1973 festival was India and this illustration features an elephant carrying the iconic Asian inspired Royal Pavilion on its back. Notable artists that year included the violinist Yehudi Menuhin and Dame Margot Fontaine performing Giselle with the Royal Ballet.

Martin Sharp, Brighton Festival 1988

Unsigned screen print
Size: A2
Price: £100 & £5 postage

Martin Sharp (1942-2013) was renowned for his vibrant psychedelic inspired art work for musicians including Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Donovan in the 1960s. His colourful design shows a firework display over Brighton seafront with a style typical of 1980s graphic art