Watts Contemporary Gallery

Watts Contemporary Gallery curates year-round commercial exhibitions of contemporary art, craft and design. Supporting the work of local and emerging artists alongside artists of national significance, the gallery’s programme reflects G F and Mary Watts’ founding vision of a contemporary artistic community at the heart of the Watts Gallery - Artists’ Village

All proceeds from this exhibition programme supports both contemporary artistic practice and sustains Watts Gallery Trust’s Art for All Learning & Public Programme, which engages over 30,000 participants a year with art and creative practice through workshops, courses, talks and tours. To find out more about our Art for All programme, please click here.

Watts Contemporary Gallery is located in the former Pottery Building above the Shop. It was here that Mary Watts founded the Compton Potters’ Arts Guild in 1901, a social enterprise that trained apprentices in ceramic practice and sold wares to many prestigious companies including Liberty & Co. The Guild operated as a successful commercial business on site until 1956.

Past exhibitions at Watts Contemporary Gallery have included works by HRH The Prince of Wales, Sir Peter Blake, Richard Bawden, Mary Wondrausch OBE, Norman Ackroyd CBE RA, Anne Desmet RA, Chris Orr RA, Anita Klein RE, Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Greenwich Printmakers and renowned Surrey artists including Celia Lewis, Lucy Burley and Diane Croft.

Current exhibition:

Creative Spaces Artists in the early decades of the 20th century

6 May - 19 June

This exhibition explores the working spaces of British artists in the 1900s to 1950s.

Few artists enjoyed the luxury of a separate studio space, and this exhibition gives a fascinating insight into how living and working spaces often merged.

Coming soon: