A display of 42 one-metre lighthouse sculptures will sit among the galleries at The Box Plymouth this summer, decorated by local schoolchildren and placed through the main building as part of St Luke’s Hospice’s Guiding Lights project.
The family-friendly trail is one part of Summer of Expression at The Box Plymouth, a season of exhibitions, displays and creative events running from 20 June to 21 October 2026.
The venue is The Box Plymouth. The council source did not state daily opening times, a venue address or ticket prices, so visitors should check The Box Plymouth’s own event information before travelling. The season is aimed at the general public, families, children and young people.
Major exhibitions anchor the summer season
At the centre of the Exhibition Season are two major shows: Echoes of Us, running from 20 June to 20 September, and Gillian Ayres: A Life in Colour, running from 4 July to 4 October.
Echoes of Us brings together work from the Government Art Collection, described in the source as one of the world’s largest and most dispersed collections of British art. The exhibition is arranged around three themes: Belonging, Memory and Connection.
The show spans more than 300 years of art and includes works by Barbara Hepworth, Cornelia Parker and Chris Ofili, alongside contemporary artists including Phoebe Boswell, Alvaro Barrington and Alberta Whittle. The Box’s own collection is also represented, including work by Devon-based George Shaw and Cornwall-based Denzil Forrester.
The exhibition has been shaped through a year-long programme of workshops and conversations with young people from Plymouth. Their ideas helped inform the themes and interpretation, making local youth voices part of the way visitors encounter the collection.
Victoria Pomery, CEO at The Box, said the partnership had created “a unique opportunity” to share the Government Art Collection’s historic, modern and contemporary holdings with audiences in Plymouth and the wider region.
Gillian Ayres show traces seven decades of colour
Gillian Ayres: A Life in Colour focuses on one of Britain’s influential abstract painters, bringing together 26 works from across seven decades.
The exhibition follows Ayres’ experiments with colour and form, from an early painting made as a teenager to large-scale works from later in her career. It also draws attention to her connection with South West England: Ayres lived in Morwenstow, on the North Cornwall and North Devon border, from 1987 until her death in 2018.
The Box says the show also considers Ayres’ role as a female artist and educator who built a career in the post-war art world. Hannah Hooks, contemporary art curator at The Box, said Ayres’ “fearless commitment to painting” was central to the exhibition.
Alongside A Life in Colour, visitors can see In the Making, a display marking the 170th anniversary of Arts University Plymouth. It uses archive material and artworks to reflect on the city’s history of creative education.
Family displays and young artists get gallery space
Where’s Your Head At? runs from 4 July to 4 October and will feature winners and selected entries from a Children and Young People’s Open held earlier this year.
Children and young people aged 0 to 25 from Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset were invited to submit work inspired by the theme Art and Emotion. The winners are due to be revealed at a launch event on Thursday 2 July.
Little Lights runs from 7 July to 13 September. The display features 42 lighthouse sculptures, each one metre high, designed and decorated by local schoolchildren. The sculptures will be installed throughout The Box’s main building, linking community creativity with one of Plymouth’s best-known landmarks.
Another strand of the season is Pro Grip (How to be Humans), a British Film Institute-supported commission by filmmaker and visual artist Jordan Baseman. Running from 23 June to 21 October in The Box’s Media Lab, it combines footage from the 1990 UK Arm Wrestling Championships with an interview with psychologist Dr Gray Atherton from the University of Plymouth.
The work reflects on movement, gestures and facial expressions as ways people communicate and form bonds.
Dates visitors can plan around
| Event or display | Dates |
|---|---|
| Echoes of Us | 20 June to 20 September |
| Pro Grip (How to be Humans) | 23 June to 21 October |
| Gillian Ayres: A Life in Colour | 4 July to 4 October |
| Where’s Your Head At? | 4 July to 4 October |
| Little Lights | 7 July to 13 September |
The Box Plymouth says the wider Summer of Expression programme also includes exhibition tours, artist-led events and hands-on family activities. More information about exhibitions, displays and events is available through The Box Plymouth.
Source: Plymouth City Council
Source check Source trail
This preview is based on Plymouth City Council’s published notice about The Box Plymouth’s Summer of Expression season.
- Checked the event title, venue and season dates against the source text.
- Matched each exhibition or display date to the published programme details.
- Flagged missing visitor details where the source did not state opening times, ticket price...
- Used only named people, artists and organisations included in the supplied source.
- Source
- Plymouth City Council
- Scope
- Plymouth
- Updated
- 2026-06-15 14:23
Source check
Report a trust issue
Send a clear signal to community moderation if the source, facts or context need review.
Comments