Sea Dog Bar & Art Gallery

Sea Dog Art is an artist-led gallery, cafe and bar on Beacon Hill, run by Anna Fitzgerald and Ellie. It opened with a launch party in October 2022 that drew more than 400 people, including the town mayor and the town crier, and has become a fixture of the Exmouth Art Trail that Fitzgerald also helps run. The gallery shows contemporary art and pottery from independent artists, alongside community paint sessions, workshops and art talks through the year.

The business operates as a non-profit, so takings from the bar and coffee shop side go back into funding the creative programme rather than out as profit. The coffee shop pours what regulars call seriously good coffee and serves cakes and savouries alongside it, while the bar and gallery space doubles as a spot to browse work from local makers over a drink. It's a quirky, unpretentious set-up rather than a formal gallery, and the friendliness of the welcome comes up again and again in how people describe it.