In the year that they retire, West Dean Gardens is establishing a fund and seeking donations, to establish a Trainee Horticulturalist post in honour of the legacy that Head Gardeners Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain have left in the gardens; to give someone at the start of their career, the chance they need to work towards managing a garden like West Dean.

West Dean College of Arts and Conservation is pleased to announce its Open Call for their 2019 residency programme. It will be launched on Thursday 25 April 2019, with the deadline being Monday 1 July 2019 and the public announcement being w/c 22 July 2019.

Before West Dean's celebrated Head Gardeners Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain retire at the end of March, on Tuesday, March 5, 2019 (between 7-10pm), there will be an Evening with Jim Buckland and Sarah Wain in the Old Library, West Dean College of Arts and Conservation.

Students in the Ceramics Conservation department at West Dean College of Arts and Conservation learn to conserve a wide range of objects from Chinese ceramics to Saxon glass, but it was difficult to say no when the family of a former College staff member now in a nursing home came to the College with a broken Father Christmas owned by a fellow resident.

Alison Richmond, the outgoing CEO of Icon (the Institute of Conservation) has become a newly
elected Trustee of The Edward James Foundation - the charity responsible for West Dean College
of Arts and Conservation. (Photo credit: Eric Richmond)

West Dean College of Arts and Conservation announces Renee So as Artist-in-Residence in 2019. The three-week residency in May 2019 will support a solo exhibition of So's work at the De La Warr Pavilion in Autumn 2019.

West Dean Tapestry Studio is working on a tapestry conceived and commissioned by the Charterhouse; the almshouse and heritage site in London with a strong emphasis on learning. Uniquely but fittingly, the Charterhouse has involved a team of children to create the design, working with the internationally acclaimed UK tapestry studio's expert weavers. The project has been funded by Neil and Emma Redcliffe.