About Us
Flatland Projects is an artist focussed organisation that focusses on commissioning and the development of artists at fragile or critical moments in their careers. Akin to Flatland’s artist-led origin (est. 2018) it’s programme of exhibitions, studio development opportunities, and community engaged work is based in Beeching Road Studios; a terrace of light industrial units dedicated to developing viable career pathways for the creative industries in Bexhill on Sea. Since 2021 Flatland has been leading Beeching Road Studios in it’s development as a centre for the development of emerging practices; housing 27 artist studios, arts organisations, and creative commercial businesses to facilitate and build infrastructure for the arts in the ever-changing political and economical landscape of coastal Britain.
Flatland’s exhibition programme focuses on presenting artists of hyper-local contexts concurrently to hosting international artists in dialogue with one another. Flatland encourages artists to take new risks, and to present their work amongst new discourses within the industrial neighbourhood of Bexhill. Parallel to the exhibitions programme we provide essential development opportunities that offer artists time and space to locate their practice within the artistic ecology of East Sussex; through programmes such as our year long studio development programme, and our 6 month young persons studio residency. Flatland is a small team of four people; our Director, Technical team, and our Young Persons Studio Lead. Our team albeit small focus on our critical work which is developed directly for the community which we serve in Bexhill on Sea.
Our Team
Director
Ben Urban
Artist Development Lead
Amy Mock
Head Technician
Billy Stanley
Programme Assistant
Kitty McCarron
Castodian of BARC
Elaine Mullings
Advisory Board
Kim Byford (Chair)
Hannah Robinson
Joseph Constable
Motunrayo Akinola
Kim Byford is the Head of Skills at the De La Warr Pavilion leading the Talent Accelerator Programme and Coastal Catalyst, in partnership with the Brighton Dome. Her work focuses on connecting young people with the skills and opportunities that they need for a career in the creative industries. With over 20 years of experience in Post 16 education, she has worked with various colleges and sixth forms in the UK developing creative learning. Kim is committed to introducing young people to new experience which she believes builds their confidence and increase their ability to overcome any barriers they face.
Hannah Robinson is a curator and arts leader with more than 20 years' experience in the contemporary visual arts sector. She is Senior Director at Sylvia Kouvali, London, where she leads on artistic strategy, artist liaison, exhibition programming and sales. Previously, Hannah held senior roles at Alison Jacques and founded and directed the internationally recognised Glasgow gallery Mary Mary from 2006 until its closure in 2019.
Joseph Constable is a British curator, writer and editor. From 2021-25, he led the visual arts programme at the De La Warr Pavilion, a multidisciplinary art institution located in a historic, modernist building in Bexhill-on-Sea, UK. During his four-year tenure, he curated a series of acclaimed exhibitions, including Betty Parsons: Sheer Energy (2025), the first European survey of the seminal American artist and gallerist; Hélio Oiticica: Waiting for the Internal Sun (2023–24), an immersive exploration of one of Brazil’s most influential artists; Angelo Madsen: A Crisis of Human Contact (2023), a multidisciplinary commission examining trans intimacies and kinship structures; and Barbara Kasten: Site Lines (2024), a site-specific response to the Pavilion’s distinctive architecture. In 2023, he facilitated the arrival of Tschabalala Self’s monumental sculpture Seated at the Pavilion.
Motunrayo Akinola is a cross-disciplinary artist, working across sculpture and installation. His work explores themes of class, access and a sense of belonging. The work, made primarily from cardboard and tape, reflects the artist's concerns with lives and indeterminate spaces; part of a post-colonial dialogue guided by conversations of care, collective memory and the politics of hierarchy. As a British-Nigerian who has lived in both countries, Motunrayo's work examines the subtle differences in how place, identity and movement are experienced.
Funding and Support
Flatland Projects receives regular funding from Arts Council England's Project Grants, and Rother District Council. The organisation has also previously received funding from the likes of Fluxus Arts Projects, Chalk Cliff Trust, East Sussex Arts Partnership, and Talent Accelerator.
Mission Statement
Flatland was founded to combat the gentrification of the coastal art scene which has been established majorly by a down from London community over the last 10 years. The founders of the organisation were born in East Sussex to working class parents, Flatland designs, develops, and establishes meaningful and progressive support for artists to realise, commission, and afford space to the production of ambitious contemporary art. Flatland's work combats sector-wide issues of socio-economic imbalance, and advocates to funders, local government, and gatekeepers for the improvement of the conditions which artist make their work in.