The Manchester Art Gallery
by Sabrina Atherton

One of the UK's most spectacular collections of fine and decorative art is exhibited at the Manchester Art Gallery, an awe-inspiring building situated in the very heart of the city centre.

The gallery, fresh from a £35m renovation, is famous for its fantastic art collection containing works by British artists including Dante Gabriel Rossetti, John Constable, Paul Nash and Ben Nicholson, alongside many more historical and classical works. The collection is vast, with over 2000 oil paintings, 3,000 watercolours and 1,000 prints to admire, so you might need a second visit just to take it all in.

Other than the spectacular fine art collection, the gallery also houses three other galleries, each taking their own perspective on art. The CIS gallery presents the city's creative accomplishments with its themed exhibitions, illustrating how art and culture is entwined into the very heart and soul of the city. Then there's the Gallery of Craft and Design, with its visual and theatrical display of over 2,000 craft items from six centuries, ranging from furniture and textiles to glassware and ceramics. The third gallery is the Clore Interactive Gallery, providing children with a hands-on experience of art and creative design, opening their eyes to many of the inspiring and artistic subjects exhibited at the gallery.

As well as the individual exhibitions, each floor of the gallery itself has been specially fashioned by leading exhibition designers, using the architecture of the building to create special interest galleries, each displaying different features of the city's culture.

Manchester Art Gallery boasts an extraordinary collection. It's a place to be inspired, to be educated, and to experience art in all its facets - a venue that deserves to be visited again and again.

Manchester Art Gallery
Mosley Street
Manchester
M2 3JL
tel: 0161 235 8888

MyVillage, 05th May