Whitworth Art Gallery : A New Chapter

Whitworth Art Gallery

Anew

chapter

21st centurygallery in the park

Visitors should be able to enjoy the beauty of the outdoors as a counterpoint to what is within. Margaret Pilkington, Whitworth Director, 1935__58

A new chapter 3Whitworth Art Gallery 2

It has started a new and exciting chapter in its history. A major building project is now taking place to transform and extend the 120-year-old gallery, doubling its public areas whilst reducing its carbon footprint and improving facilities for visitors. This new development by architects MUMA will extensively refurbish the existing gallery and re-connect the 19th century building with Whitworth Park through an elegant contemporary extension. Two new wings will embrace the park, creating an art garden between, housing a landscape gallery, a café in the trees, a study centre and learning studio. Within the historic building, exhibition galleries will be restored, a collections access zone created and the original 19th century Grand Hall will be reinstated to public use. All of these elements are things our visitors have told us we need.

The new Whitworth will bring you more art, more activities, more events and more space. It will be all things our many visitors have always loved about the Whitworth but it will become, fully, Manchester’s gallery in a park.

We look forward to welcoming you.

Maria Balshaw Director, Whitworth Art Gallery and Manchester City Galleries.

We celebrate our final season from 5 July__1 Sept 2013

The new building will open in Summer 2014.

The Whitworth was founded in 1889 as the first English gallery in a park and is one of Manchester’s best-loved cultural treasures. It is a free gallery with an internationally significant exhibition programme showing its own collection and international artists. The programme aims to make surprising connections between the historic and the contemporary, the local and the international.


Serious in intent, playful in execution. A place where good, odd things happen.


The early history of Whitworth Art Gallery is rooted in Manchester’s industrial past. When it opened, 120 years ago, Manchester was the world’s first industrial city and its public figures were intent on establishing cultural institutions that were in keeping with Manchester’s international status and outlook. They wanted to create galleries to rival those in London. The Whitworth was one of these and its perspective has always been to be locally relevant with international perspective and reach.

The gallery was created to inspire the region’s textile industry, give pleasure to Manchester citizens and instruct students and artists about the visual arts. As a university art gallery with research collections, and a year round series of public activities, the Whitworth still does all these things. The gallery’s founding mission states it to be for ‘the perpetual gratification of the people of Manchester’. We still believe this is our purpose.

Today we have a significant and eclectic collection of over 55,000 historic and

contemporary works including an internationally important collection of works on paper, one of the finest outside of London, a world textile collection and a unique wallpaper collection, reflecting the North West roots of these industries. We still collect works by emerging as well as internationally renowned artists to develop the collection as well as respond to the cultural make up of Manchester today.

We are a creative laboratory for ideas about art as well as a research library for students and researchers from all over the world. We are a green oasis on the edge of the city centre, a place to learn, play and enjoy historic and contemporary art. We’re serious in intent, playful in execution. A place where good, odd things happen.

With almost 180,000 visitors a year, the gallery is thriving but bursting at the seams. Our expanded gallery will offer more space to show the collection and welcome visitors. We hope to see 250,000 visitors in our first year.

Why is Whitworth Art Gallery special?

The Original Modern Gallery

#galleryinthepark www.manchester.ac.uk/whitworth


Your 21st century gallery in the park


Space to be

A new second entrance from Whitworth Park will connect the gallery

directly with the park and the surrounding communities.


The brilliant new café sits amongst the trees in Whitworth Park overlooking the art garden – the most beautiful place in Manchester for a cup of tea.

The promenade gallery will connect the two new wings displaying artworks and giving views of the park.

The Clore learning studio opens up into the art garden so children can engage in a range of hands on activities and connect with the park.

The new landscape gallery will display historic and contemporary landscapes and larger works of art in a wonderful new space which looks out onto the park.

The three barrel ceiling exhibition galleries in the original building will be restored and expand the Whitworth’s capacity to stage internationally significant exhibitions.

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The beautiful new orchard garden by Sarah Price (co-designer of the 2012 Gardens at the Olympic Park in London) will be a tranquil space to rest and reflect and see sculpture outside.

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The collections access zone and study centre will house some of the most popular works from the collections in accessible storage, for individual study for scholars and visitors.

The Grand Hall will give a flexible performance and lecture space for events and private hire.

The Oxford Road entrance will be transformed with new landscaping, a sculpture terrace and improved accessibility.


The project to extend the gallery and refurbish the existing building has been funded by public donations and:

The DCMS/Wolfson Museums & Galleries Improvement Fund

The Zochonis Foundation

Whitworth Art Gallery 18

Whitworth Art Gallery : A New Chapter

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