Art galleries in Portsmouth
Portsmouth, England has 23 art galleries on the map. That's 23 galleries mapped around Portsmouth. The exhibition schedule matters more than the count: a small gallery with a great current show beats a big one between exhibitions. Many are free to enter, so the only cost of a gallery afternoon is your time.
This guide covers every art gallery we could verify in and around Portsmouth (within about 40 km), built from OpenStreetMap's community-maintained data. Names you'll run into include Aspex and Southampton City Art Gallery, plus Wisteria Framing. If a gallery's missing from Portsmouth's list, it probably just hasn't been mapped yet.
The Portsmouth gallery lineup
23 mapped within about 40 km:
Aspex
Art gallery
Aspex is Art gallery. Aspex also notes on the map: a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
Portsmouth, PO1 3BF
Phone: +44 2392 778080
Southampton City Art Gallery
Art gallery
Southampton City Art Gallery — Art gallery, found on Commercial Road in Southampton. Also worth knowing about Southampton City Art Gallery: the map lists its hours as Mo-Fr 10:00-15:00; Sa 10:00-17:00; it has a website with more detail.
Commercial Road, Southampton, SO14 7LP
Hours: Mo-Fr 10:00-15:00; Sa 10:00-17:00
Wisteria Framing
Art gallery
Wisteria Framing is Art gallery.
Cowes Gallery
Art gallery
Cowes Gallery is Art gallery on High Street, Cowes.
High Street, Cowes
Bath Road Gallery
Art gallery
Bath Road Gallery — Art gallery, found on 2 Bath Road in Cowes.
2 Bath Road, Cowes
Special Collections Gallery
Art galleryRun by University of Southampton
Special Collections Gallery is Art gallery run by University of Southampton on University Road, Southampton. Special Collections Gallery also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo-Sa 10:00-16:00; it has a website with more detail.
University Road, Southampton, SO17 1BJ
Hours: Mo-Sa 10:00-16:00
Monkton Arts
Art gallery
Monkton Arts — Art gallery, found on 11 East Street in Ryde.
11 East Street, Ryde, PO33 1JP
The New Gallery
Art gallery
The New Gallery — Art gallery, found on 28 High Street in Shanklin.
28 High Street, Shanklin, PO37 6JY
God's House Tower
Art galleryRun by a space arts
Run by a space arts, God's House Tower is Art gallery, found on Town Quay Road in Southampton. Also worth knowing about God's House Tower: the map lists its hours as Mo-Su 10:00-17:00; it has a website with more detail.
Town Quay Road, Southampton, SO14 2NY
Hours: Mo-Su 10:00-17:00
The First Gallery
Art gallery
The First Gallery — Art gallery, found on 1 Burnham Chase in Southampton.
1 Burnham Chase, Southampton, SO18 5DG
Re:Box
Art gallery
Re:Box is Art gallery. Re:Box also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as 24/7.
Hours: 24/7
Video Vault
Art gallery
Video Vault — Art gallery, found on 18 St James' Street in Newport.
18 St James' Street, Newport, PO30 5HB
Neil Williams Photography
Art gallery
Neil Williams Photography is Art gallery on 21,22,23 Shooters Hill, Cowes. Neil Williams Photography also notes on the map: it has a website with more detail.
21,22,23 Shooters Hill, Cowes
The Earth Museum
Art gallery
The Earth Museum — Art gallery.
Newlands House Gallery
Art gallery
Newlands House Gallery is Art gallery.
The Hammond Gallery
Art gallery
The Hammond Gallery is Art gallery.
Duff Gallery
Art gallery
Duff Gallery is Art gallery. Duff Gallery also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Seasonal; it has a website with more detail.
Hours: Seasonal
The Art of Buckler's Hard
Art gallery
The Art of Buckler's Hard — Art gallery.
Pallant House Gallery
Art gallery
Pallant House Gallery — Art gallery, found on 8-9 North Pallant in Chichester. Also worth knowing about Pallant House Gallery: the map lists its hours as Tu-Sa 10:00-16:00; Su 11:00-16:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
8-9 North Pallant, Chichester, PO19 1TJ
Hours: Tu-Sa 10:00-16:00; Su 11:00-16:00
Phone: +44 1243 774557
John Hansard Gallery
Art gallery
John Hansard Gallery — Art gallery, found on 142 Above Bar Street in Southampton. Also worth knowing about John Hansard Gallery: the map lists its hours as Tu-Sa 11:00-17:00; it has a website with more detail.
142 Above Bar Street, Southampton, SO14 7DU
Hours: Tu-Sa 11:00-17:00
Coastguard Studio
Art gallery
Coastguard Studio — Art gallery on 91 Clarendon Road.
91 Clarendon Road
Stephen Lees Gallery
Art gallery
Stephen Lees Gallery is Art gallery on 1 Quay Street, Lymington. Stephen Lees Gallery also notes on the map: the map lists its hours as Mo 11:00-15:00; Th-Su 10:00-15:00; a phone number is listed — worth a call before a special trip; it has a website with more detail.
1 Quay Street, Lymington, SO41 3AS
Hours: Mo 11:00-15:00; Th-Su 10:00-15:00
Phone: +44 7979 351802
Forge Gallery
Art gallery
Forge Gallery is Art gallery. Forge Gallery also notes on the map: it has a website with more detail.
What the map tells us about art galleries in Portsmouth
8 of the 23 list their opening hours on the map, which is genuinely useful — galleries keep proper public hours, so plan around the listed times.
10 have websites listed. That's where the current exhibition is announced — the one thing worth checking before you visit.
10 galleries list websites — that's where the current exhibition is announced, and it's the one thing worth checking before you visit.
The Portsmouth gallery walk
Making a day of it in Portsmouth? Work this order: Aspex, Southampton City Art Gallery on Commercial Road, Wisteria Framing, Cowes Gallery on High Street, Bath Road Gallery on 2 Bath Road, Special Collections Gallery on University Road, Monkton Arts on 11 East Street, and The New Gallery on 28 High Street. That's the gallery walk in one sensible loop, no backtracking. 15 more are listed below.
Gallery tips for Portsmouth
How the regulars do Portsmouth's galleries:
- Look at the building too at Aspex. Galleries often live in the most interesting architecture in town — converted warehouses, old banks, heritage houses.
- Ask what's coming next at Southampton City Art Gallery. Gallerists love talking about the next show. It also tells you when to come back.
- Take the long way through. Galleries reward slow looking. One extra lap always reveals something the first pass missed.
- Visit twice if it moves you. A second visit to a strong show is never wasted. You see completely different work the second time.
Good to know
We searched about 40 km around Portsmouth — that covers the town itself plus the surrounding communities you'd reasonably drive to. Listings come from OpenStreetMap, mapped by local volunteers, so a brand-new art gallery in Portsmouth can take a while to appear. If you spot one of the 23 that's closed, or a great art gallery we missed, the fix is to update the map itself — that's where this guide reads from.
We don't review exhibitions — shows change too fast. What we list is the where: real galleries, verified by real mappers.
If you run one of the 23 listed here and something's wrong — a closure, a move, new hours — the fix is the same: update the shop on OpenStreetMap and the correction flows through to this page on the next daily refresh.
Art gallery listings for Portsmouth: 23 mapped from OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Photos from Wikimedia Commons contributors; individual photo credits appear in captions. Listing data was last refreshed automatically — verify hours before visiting.