Brighton Skies: My BookBench for The Story Trail in Brighton & Hove
I’ve been keeping a rather colourful secret… I’ve painted a giant BookBench for The Story Trail in Brighton & Hove, and I’ve named it Brighton Skies!
You can now find it in Queen’s Park, Brighton, near the pond. It will be there from Saturday 12 September until Sunday 8 November 2026, as part of a wonderful free, family-friendly sculpture trail raising vital funds for Amaze Sussex.
The Story Trail has transformed the streets, parks and open spaces of Brighton & Hove into a city-wide gallery. There are 74 BookBench sculptures to discover: 30 large benches designed by artists, alongside a heartwarming collection of smaller benches created by schools and community groups.
It is such a joyful way to explore the city, discover lots of brilliant art and support an incredibly important local charity along the way.
Here I am with my BookBench, Brighton Skies installed in Queen’s Park.
Painting a BookBench in a secret location
It all began at a secret painting location, where rows of blank BookBenches were waiting to be transformed. Walking in on that first day was very exciting—a whole room of enormous open books and a wonderful group of artists, each with a completely different idea.
Over the painting days, the benches gradually came to life. I had the particular pleasure of painting next to Pinky Vision and Martha Mitchell Designs. As an artist, you tend to work on your own, so I cannot tell you how special it was to spend time with them—and with all the other talented artists at the painting space. We covered all subjects! There was lots of painting, chatting and laughing, and it was wonderful to watch everyone’s completely different designs developing around me.
It was such a lovely experience to share the slightly strange challenge of turning a very large sculpture into a piece of public art. I think we all left feeling rather attached to our benches!
I took lots of photographs while I was painting, but of course I had to keep them under wraps until the trail was revealed.
The story behind my Brighton Skies BookBench
My design is inspired by the simple joy of looking up: the movement of clouds, the changing Sussex light and those glorious flashes of colour that make you stop for a moment and properly look.
On the front, a vibrant sky sweeps over the sea and green Sussex landscape, with a winding path or river drawing you towards the horizon. The reverse moves into a deep blue night sky scattered with stars. It changes as you walk around it—just as our skies do.
I named the bench Brighton Skies after the online community I started nearly ten years ago. The group has grown to more than 80,000 members, all sharing photographs and the joy of looking up. I love that something as simple as the sky can connect so many people, and I wanted the bench to celebrate that sense of colour, community and belonging.
Most of all, I hope it gives people a place to pause, sit down and look up. 💙
Find Brighton Skies in Queen’s Park
My BookBench is in Queen’s Park, Brighton, on the path in the gardens just inside the South Avenue entrance and close to the pond.
There is step-free access through the park’s internal concrete paths, although some approaches at the northern end are quite steep. The nearest buses include the 1, 2 and 7 to Park Street. Full directions and detailed accessibility information are available on the official Brighton Skies sculpture page.
Please do sit on it, take photographs and tag me—I would absolutely love to see them. And if you are a member of the Brighton Skies group, perhaps between us we can photograph every bench with a little bit of Brighton sky in the picture!
Brighton Skies BookBench beside the pond in Queen’s Park Brighton
A huge thank you to One Digital
My BookBench was generously sponsored by One Digital, a Brighton-based print company that has supported artists and businesses locally and beyond for 30 years.
I’ve worked with the team over the years and they are always brilliant: hugely experienced, full of helpful advice about materials and printing processes, but also great fun to work with. It was lovely when they came to the secret location for a sneak peek while the bench was still being painted.
Public art trails like this are only possible with the support of local businesses, so a very big thank you to One Digital for choosing my design and helping Brighton Skies become part of The Story Trail.
You can discover more about their printing services at One Digital.
What is Amaze Sussex?
Amaze is a local charity supporting families with disabled children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) across Sussex.
The Story Trail is delivered by Amaze in partnership with Wild in Art. It is completely free to explore, but visitors can also donate, buy trail merchandise or take part in events to help raise money for Amaze’s vital services.
I am so pleased that Brighton Skies is part of a project that brings art into the everyday life of the city while supporting local families.
How to explore all 74 sculptures on The Story Trail
The trail runs across Brighton & Hove from 12 September to 8 November 2026, and you can explore it in whichever way suits you. You could visit a few benches on an afternoon walk, choose a different area each weekend or make it your mission to find all 74.
To plan your trail:
View all 74 sculptures online. Each sculpture has its own page with information about the artwork, artist or learner group, sponsor, location and accessibility.
Download The Story Trail app free for Apple or Android and use it to find the sculptures as you explore.
Download or collect a printed trail map from one of the distribution points around the city.
Pick up a £5 Story Trail Sticker Book, which includes a map and gives younger trail hunters another lovely way to record their discoveries.
Check the individual sculpture pages before visiting if you need detailed accessibility, public transport or facilities information.
Remember, you don’t have to complete the whole trail in one day. Stop for a drink, sit on the large benches, explore somewhere new and enjoy the stories our wonderfully creative city has to tell.
What happens to the BookBenches after the trail?
After the trail closes on 8 November, all 30 large artist-designed BookBenches will be brought together for The Story Trail Farewell Weekend from 27–29 November 2026.
They will then be auctioned on Monday 30 November 2026, with bidding available online and at a live, in-person event. Every bench will be looking for a forever home, and the money raised will support Amaze’s work with families of disabled children and young people in Sussex.
If you might like to give Brighton Skies—or another one of these completely unique artworks—a permanent home, you can register your interest in The Story Trail auction.
The smaller BookBenches will return to the schools and community groups that created them, to be enjoyed for years to come.
Come and find Brighton Skies
It is a rather magical feeling to see something I painted sitting in Queen’s Park for everyone to discover. I hope you will go and find Brighton Skies, take a seat, share a photograph and—most importantly—remember to look up.
Happy hunting! 💙
The Story Trail, Brighton & Hove
Saturday 12 September–Sunday 8 November 2026
Brighton Skies location: Queen’s Park, near the pond
Auction: Monday 30 November 2026