#8: Why Sussex Culture Punches Above Its Weight

The Sussex And The City Podcast
– Episode 8:

Why Sussex Culture Punches Above Its Weight

 

Host: Richard Freeman
Guest: Stuart Drew – CEO and Director, De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill-on-Sea

This episode is brought to you in partnership with:
Creative Crawley – Reimagining Crawley’s identity through world-class public performance, co-created art, and cultural infrastructure. From artist residencies to their million-pound Creative Playground programme, they're growing a new creative economy in the heart of West Sussex.
👉 creativecrawley.com

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🔍 Episode summary

In this bold and wide-ranging episode, Richard Freeman is joined by cultural powerhouse Stuart Drew, long-serving Director of the iconic De La Warr Pavilion in Bexhill.

They unpack the serious role of culture in economic growth, skills, tourism – and why Sussex’s creative institutions are already delivering public value by stealth.

As regional devolution looms, Stuart argues it’s time for leaders to stop treating the arts as an optional extra. From pioneering skills pathways and radical programming to building a pan-Sussex cultural brand, this conversation explores the real potential of culture to lead, not follow, the next phase of regional transformation.

Topics include:

• The architectural brilliance and civic mission of the De La Warr Pavilion

• Why Sussex is more than the sum of its parts – and how Coastal Cultural Trail became a model for partnership

• The birth of Sussex Modern, and what it reveals about fragmented narratives and missed opportunities

• Making the case for culture in tourism, inward investment and regeneration

• Why the cultural sector is already delivering on skills and economic participation

• A candid take on the risks of asset transfer, unstable funding, and weak advocacy

• What the incoming mayor must understand about microbusinesses and cultural infrastructure

• How art can be a safety net where youth clubs and children’s services have vanished

• Why joined-up mobility (including trains!) might be a powerful cultural enabler

This is a rallying cry for policymakers, funders and mayors: invest in what’s already working, and stop asking culture to prove itself again and again.

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👉 Explore Sussex’s creative sector and the De La Warr Pavilion:

• dlwp.com
• sussexmodern.org.uk
• experiencesussex.com
• Culture East Sussex
• Creative County West Sussex
• Brighton & Hove Culture Alliance

👉 Stay up to date with the wider project at sussexandthecity.info

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📚 Further reading and links

• 📚 Further reading and links

  • Creative Crawley: Building creative leadership and cultural infrastructure in Crawley

  • Culture In Our City: Created to support cultural and creative workers in Brighton & Hove with opportunities for professional development and skills support. 

  • Coastal Cultural Trail: A low-budget marketing experiment that became a model

  • Sussex Local Visitor Economy Partnership (LVEP): Pan-regional tourism strategy with a cultural core

  • Local Skills Improvement Plans – Sussex: How creative skills fit into wider workforce planning

  • Talent Accelerator and Coastal Catalyst: A pathway programme creating jobs, apprenticeships and visibility for creative careers

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🎧 Production credits

Host: Richard Freeman
Guest: Stewart Drew
Sound design / editing / original music: Chris Thorpe-Tracey
Production management: Letitia McConalogue
Recorded at: Projects: The Lanes, Brighton

📣 Get involved

Devolution isn’t just a government thing. It’s a people thing.
👉 Share your ideas, explore resources and shape what’s next at sussexandthecity.info