University of Brighton Summer Shows 2026 begin with celebration of emerging creative talent

The University of Brighton opens its 2026 Graduate Show this month, turning City campus galleries into a free showcase of emerging creative talent.

20 May 2026

As the opening event in the University of Brighton’s annual Summer Shows programme, the Art, Media and Design Graduate Show marks the beginning of a season of free public exhibitions celebrating student creativity across art, design, media, fashion, architecture, engineering, and performance. Taking place across campuses throughout June and July, the Summer Shows transform the University of Brighton into a vibrant showcase of new ideas, innovation, and emerging talent.

From Saturday 30 May to Sunday 7 June, the Graduate Show will feature the work of final-year students across art, design, media, fashion, film, photography, animation, music, and digital creative disciplines.

The free, public exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to experience work from the next generation of artists, designers, filmmakers, photographers, illustrators, and makers, with projects spanning installation, sculpture, moving image, digital design, sound, fashion, and print.

This year’s exhibition features work that explores identity, environment, technology, and contemporary culture, reflecting the range of creative practices developed by students during their studies.

A young woman, Izzy Sayer, stands next to a giant purple knitted spider

Izzy Sayer

A young woman (Kayleigh Hogarth) stands next to a giant chair

Kayleigh Hogarth

Featured artists

One of the eye-catching works on display this year comes from Fine Art BA student Izzy Sayer, whose large-scale crocheted insect sculptures invite visitors into a colourful and immersive world inspired by the natural environment. Drawing on a lifelong fascination with insects, Sayer uses crochet to create oversized beetles and other creatures that challenge perceptions of both scale and material.

Her work reimagines a traditional craft technique within a contemporary fine art setting, encouraging viewers to engage with the natural world through curiosity, detail, and a sense of wonder.

Also featured is Fine Art BA student Kayleigh Hogarth, whose final project features a nine-foot-tall armchair designed to tower over visitors. By dramatically enlarging an everyday household object, Hogarth transforms something associated with comfort and familiarity into an installation that feels both playful and unsettling.

The oversized sculpture explores how changes in scale can alter the way we experience domestic spaces, encouraging audiences to think differently about their relationship with objects they encounter every day.

Also featured is Fashion Communication with Business Studies BA student Karys Powell, whose final project takes aim at modern wellness culture through fashion film, photography, and editorial storytelling.

Inspired by her early interest in psychology, Karys’s project, explores impulsive decision-making, imperfect routines, and the pressure to present polished versions of ourselves online. The work includes a self-directed print publication alongside two short fashion films, including an 80s-inspired “anti-fitness” campaign that uses humour, bold styling, and deliberately contradictory exercise imagery to challenge ideas of self-optimisation and performative health culture.

Courses taking part in this year’s Graduate Show include:

Grand Parade, City campus

Edward Street, City campus

The exhibition is free and open to the public. 

2026 Brighton Summer Shows

Art, Media and Design Graduate Show

Where: Grand Parade, City campus 
Private View: Friday 29 May, 6 –10pm 
Public exhibition: Saturday 30 May – Sunday 7 June
Opening times: Weekdays 10am – 5pm | Weekends 12 – 4pm

Architecture and Design Graduate Show

Where: Mithras House, Moulsecoomb campus 
Private View: Thursday 11 June, 5 – 9pm
Public exhibition: Friday 12 June – Sunday 14 June
Opening times: Weekdays 10am – 5pm | Weekends 12 – 5pm

Art, Media and Design MA Show

Where: Grand Parade, City campus 
Private view: Friday 3 July, 6 – 10pm 
Public exhibition: Friday 4 July – Saturday 11 July
Opening times: Weekdays 10am – 5pm | Weekends 12 – 4pm