firstsite Reviews

Very Creative gallery. The autor of their piece of art is makind you think about what they wanted to express. Each person visitimg the place will unterstad everything differently. One of the rooms called the dark room is based in paying with colors and mind it Will also Tell you a beautiful story Using powerful words making you think even more. Definitively will come back to this place.

Great gallery to visit always something inspiring for the whole family

Great building. Knowledgeable friendly staff. Always something worth going to see.

The building, a stunning mixture of Essex bling and Italian fine lines, it's regular films, exhibitions and coffee bar, provide a quiet enclave, behind busy Queen Street.

Empty and cold like walking into a gauche 1980s refrigerator that is manned by malnourished hipsters

Amazing calm space in the midst of this busy town. Lovely book shop and interesting displays. Felt a bit of an intruder as staff bustled about.

Firstsite gallery is an amazing place, I visited from Nottingham and felt really inspired by such an imaginative building. It's a massive draw to Colchester. I met an amazing group of young people creating sound art and experimental music, inclusive, sensitive and talking about mindfulness. In my mind we have something to learn from this all over the UK.
Thank you for your courage, the people of Colchester in creating this place to inspire us.

Went to see a film. Great auditorium except it was so uncomfortably hot. It has put me off going again which is a shame as I love the variety of this place. Staff are always very friendly and helpful. Great cafe and gift shop. Toilets are great. Free to get in but films are at a price although we did get a free poster of the film this time which was great. If they could sort out air conditioning in the auditorium it would be 5 stars.

Good interesting events, Overpriced food and drink

Great bright fun arts venue offering creative installations

Top venue for anything and everything. Really enjoy Firstsite although I recognise it could do a lot more.

Art exhibition open until late October. Lots of pictures and exhibits of the stour valley and constable country.

The staff are friendly helpful and pleasant when you greet them with friendly smile. And saying hello and good bye in a friendly way or good night goes a long way...

Great show, art by prisoners and detainees. And Bronze Age, not to be missed.

I often visit as an art student. They change the exhibitions quite often so you can visit again and again without art repeated

Went into a free exhibition, thought it was really good!

Like marmite you'll either like it or hate it .interactive art for children every Saturday

innovative local gallery with a regularly changing series of exhibitions, always something of interest

Really nice to have this on my doorstep ...really nice exhibitions ...great atmosphere

Fantastic venue, we were in the cinema, would like to visit again soon

Fab place to visit, always something new to experience. Cafe for a quick coffee or lunch. The shop stocks art work and cards by The Quirky Artist, a Colchester artist, her original lino prints of Colchester Castle! Beautiful. And pointillism art as well. Worth a look!

Inside it is possible to admire a Roman mosaic for free.

It is a beautifully contemporary building, very light and peaceful inside. Helpful friendly staff.
Delicious food in the cafe.
The exhibitions are superb THANK YOU!!

Our must have day out during the school holidays. We love visiting for the cinema, always so clean. We tried out the canteen this week and felt very welcome. Great place for a wonder around the art and so many learning opportunities for the children.

Really nice gallery, relaxing space that triggers emotions and creativity!

I love this place, I really do. There is no entry fee, and they do host some very intriguing artwork. Firstsite supports a lot locally, and it does get rather busy, meaning a lot of positive exposure for local artists in particular. There's a little screen room that acts as a cinema on event days, and they host small groups for the younger generations to explore their own artistic streaks. I do feel that maybe they could fill up all that area a little better, as they have an awful lot of empty space.

A free place. Went a couple times with college. Feels a bit alienating outside however

Interesting mostly modern art gallery. Recent structure, large spaces inside. Very nice staff. Cafe service available.

Nice art in the whole site. Once you get to the end, there is a small cafe with food and drink. You do have the option of either sitting in inside or outside (I recommend sitting outside) I think there is a lot of unused space where art could be placed. What I like about this as well is the general admission is free however you should give a donation to help them (i did :)

It's clean. Some of the exhibitions are quite good.

I'm so glad Colchester now has this space. Full of interesting art it's always worth a visit. The staff are friendly and frequently run events open to all. A step in the right direction.

Fantastic to see the Grayson Perry exhibition, just wished there was more of his work on display. Still lots of blank space. I love the building and it is excellent to see a prominent locally born artist displayed here.

Cafe service wasn't great. Polite but slow and easily distracted. Lady in front of me had to remind them top make her coffee. While making my sandwiches they kept stopping to talk sand I had to chase them.

Hands on for kids. Good exhibitions. Live beamed opera etc

Always something interesting here, but Grayson Perry work is a real treat at the moment...

A first class artistic venue, which shows a wide range of exhibitions, by both renowned artists, and others local to Colchester. It also plays host to events such as today's Pride.

Love this space, it always has great exhibitions, especially at the moment (Dec 19). Excellent gift/book shop and a nice cafe. What more could you want from an exhibition space. Keep up the good work, always try to visit when we're in town.

This place is such an inspiration for my children, we always love going to see inspirational art. The building is so grand as well, one of the best parts of colchester.

Do not understand why this building exists. Very little stuff inside the premises, feels like a complete waste of space and resources

What a hidden gem of Colchester fantastic modern building entrance is free great cafe and restaurant. Only downside is that there is no parking, but priory street is only a short walk away.

Really enjoyed my visit here, it's the one photograph or exhibit that makes it worthwhile. That's the memory I take away. Check out the cafe too, and the local hipster bars nearby. Really glad I stopped, ok had a meeting there too :) /thanks

Great creative space with events happening almost constantly!

Big building, not much to look at.
Conference room is pretty good

Pretty dull to be honest. When I went there was a photo exhibition and it just looked like someone's holiday snaps. Also the descriptions of the displays are in unintuitive places. The lovely historic mosaic had no text at all to explain its history.

We're really lucky to have a high quality arts space like this in Colchester. I've been numerous times to enjoy live music, film and exhibitions/installations - and have always found the staff friendly and helpful.

Large Arts building. auditorium, cinema, exhibition space, meeting rooms, cafe, shop and all other facilities. Very nicely done, and quite large. Well done Essex & Colchester for funding this.

Fantastic building and interesting exhibition, friendly staff

Thought this was a great space, and was especially impressed by the activities and food offered ( free to those 9n free school meals). Gallery space was interesting and vibrant.

It's free! Yes one of the few places you can go for nothing and get a bucket load of creative inspiration! Antony Gormley's exhibition is stunning.

Nice exhibition to explore in the heart of the Colchester city. Missing 1 star only due to lack of interactive activities/information for children. Great small cafe available.

Seats in main auditorium are a bit uncomfortable, but a great venue otherwise putting up a variety of arts and entertainment.

Rather unusual modern design, but suitable for exebitions.

Trying to find this from Google Maps, we nearly walked past because it is a bit tucked away but glad we found it. The exhibits are varied and staff are on hand and helpful. We both found material in the shop to assist further study. Being the summer holiday, there was a children's activity nearby which engaged them well - very inspiring. I'm not conveniently local to Colchester but would pop in again.

I'm a big advocate of firstsite. It sits in an awkward spot physically and in its utopian vision of itself which the building exudes and which possibly the general non art loving lumpenproletariat refuse to acknowledge. The issue isn't either of the polar opposites, yet the distance between them.

I would recommend visiting, even if you are quite a distance away; it is awe inspiring and somewhere to add to the 'check back again' list.