The Lightbox is a public gallery and museum located in
Woking
Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in northwest Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'' and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settlement o ...
, Surrey, in the South East of England. Three galleries host a range of exhibitions, changing regularly and it has a free museum of local history - 'Woking's Story'. It was opened on 14 September 2007.
Overview
Located in the centre of Woking on the banks of the
Basingstoke Canal
The Basingstoke Canal is an English canal, completed in 1794, built to connect Basingstoke with the River Thames at Weybridge via the Wey Navigation.
From Basingstoke, the canal passes through or near Greywell, North Warnborough, Odiham, Do ...
, The Lightbox was built to provide arts and heritage services to the local region and beyond. The project began in 1993 when a group of local volunteers decided to try and establish a cultural centre in the Woking area. Following a fundraising campaign the contemporary building was designed by
Marks Barfield Architects
Marks Barfield Architects is a London-based architectural firm founded by husband and wife David Marks and Julia Barfield. Their work has included the London Eye, the treetop walkway in Kew Gardens, the i360 observation tower in Brighton, Englan ...
, the architects behind the London Eye.
In 2008 it won the Art Fund Prize Museum of the Year award, and in 2016 it was awarded a Green Tourism silver award.
The Lightbox holds charitable status and is part-funded by Woking Borough Council, and it has received support from the
Heritage Lottery Fund
The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom.
History
The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
and the
Arts Council.
The Lightbox hosts around 20 temporary exhibitions per year, the majority of which are devised in-house.
Admission

General Admission Free: This includes the Café, the Shop, the Art Fund Prize Gallery and Woking's Story museum. Entrance to Main and Upper Gallery exhibitions only with a £9.50 Day Pass (with the option of an additional £1 donation to The Lightbox charity programme). Lightbox Members and under 21s visit free.
Lightbox Membership comes in four tiers: Individual Members pay £30 per annum, Individual Plus Members pay £40 per annum, Joint Members pay £50 per annum and Joint Plus Members pay £60 per annum.
Exhibitions
Past exhibitions at The Lightbox have included collections of work by
Elisabeth Frink
Dame Elisabeth Jean Frink (14 November 1930 – 18 April 1993) was an English sculptor and printmaker. Her ''Times'' obituary noted the three essential themes in her work as "the nature of Man; the 'horseness' of horses; and the divine in ...
,
Gertrude Jekyll
Gertrude Jekyll ( ; 29 November 1843 – 8 December 1932) was a British horticulturist, garden designer, craftswoman, photographer, writer and artist. She created over 400 gardens in the United Kingdom, Europe and the United States, and wrote ...
,
Auguste Renoir
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (; 25 February 1841 – 3 December 1919) was a French artist who was a leading painter in the development of the Impressionist style. As a celebrator of beauty and especially feminine sensuality, it has been said that "R ...
,
Damien Hirst
Damien Steven Hirst (; né
Brennan; born 7 June 1965) is an English artist, entrepreneur, and art collector. He is one of the Young British Artists (YBAs) who dominated the art scene in the UK during the 1990s. He is reportedly the United King ...
,
Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
, and
John Constable
John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedham Vale, the ...
.
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lightbox
Museums in Surrey
Museums established in 2007
2007 establishments in England
Woking
Art museums and galleries in Surrey