Swindon Museum and Art Gallery (SM&AG has announced that from 4th April it is extending its opening times from 16 hours a week to 35. Under the new scheme the current facility, based in Apsley House, Bath Road, will more than double its current opening hours.
The new opening times will start on Tuesday 4th April. The venue will be open from Tuesdays through Saturdays, from 10am until 5pm and there will be a late-night Thursday opening once a month.
To celebrate the new opening hours, the Museum and Art Gallery will be hosting a celebration weekend on Saturday 1st and Sunday 2nd April. Working with Creative Museums, SM&AG will be open from 10am until 5pm on both days and will be offering creative and fun activities for all the family. Information about the event will be available on the SM&AG Facebook page.
The additional opening hours will prepare the venue to not only support the delivery of a new museum and art gallery, but, more importantly, enable the people of Swindon and further afield to access the wonderful collections. Since holding an exhibition in the heart of Mayfair at the Osborne Samuel Gallery earlier this year, interest in the art and museum collections has thrived amongst local visitors as well as those coming from further away.
In order to meet this increasing demand, and working with the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Trust who are leading on the project for a new museum and art gallery, these additional hours will help raise the profile of one of the best collections of British Modern Art and make the collection much more accessible.
The additional opening hours will be funded through the museum and art gallery’s existing budgets, while the Friends of SM&AG will be providing volunteers to help with additional staffing.
The collections are displayed at the museum and art gallery through a series of engaging and beautifully presented exhibitions. Over the past three years, 75% of the Modern British Art has been displayed and three galleries within the museum have been refreshed and updated. A successful Heritage Lottery Funded project, Archaeology Swindon’s Archaeology in Context, will also see the current Archaeology Gallery refreshed.
The team at Swindon Museum and Art Gallery look forward to even more people visiting this excellent FREE museum and art gallery.
Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, Bath Road, Old Town, Swindon SN1 4BA email smag@swindon.gov.uk www.swindonmuseumandartgallery.org.uk www.facebook.com/MuseumandArtGallery