The National Association of Decorative & Fine Arts Societies (NADFAS) was the brainchild of Patricia Fay OBE. She started the Chiltern Antique Group in 1965, which later became Chiltern DFAS. Other Societies were soon set up along similar lines, and in 1968 eleven of them joined forces to form NADFAS. Chichester DFAS was founded in 1978 (No 92) and became a registered charity with the purpose of education in the decorative and fine arts.

In May 2017 NADFAS was rebranded under the operating name of THE ARTS SOCIETY. In November of that year The Charities Commission approved our society's change of operating name to The Arts Society Chichester, and in January 2021 it became the new registered name of our charity.

Our annual subscription - currently £50 - permits attendance at our monthly lectures, and includes membership of The Arts Society whose quarterly magazine The Review is posted direct to members.

Today The Arts Society has over 90,000 members worldwide, mainly UK and mainland Europe, with a head office in London.

If you already love or want to discover more about topics such as art, ceramics, silverware, sculpture, and architecture to name but a few, then please do find out more about The Arts Society by clicking here.