After more than four years - Swindon's Museum and Art Gallery reopens
It's now called Museum and Art Swindon
Last updated 9th Jul 2024
Four years and two months ago, Swindon's Museum and Art Gallery closed its doors - and it's only today, July 9th 2024, that it's finally reopening once again to the pubic.
The exhibitions space initially shut for the first Covid-19 lockdown in early 2020, and it took years of campaigning, and a change of location, for the day to finally arrive, giving locals the chance to explore our region's fascinating history.
Since the closure, the Borough Council’s collection of historic artefacts and modern art has moved home from Apsley House in Old Town to an especially converted space on the upper floor of the Art Deco Civic Offices.
It was impossible to keep very broad smiles off the faces of all those involved in getting the museum and galleries opened as they showed a special audience around for a sneak preview.
'I'm very happy that this is opening'
Mayor of Swindon Imtiyaz Shaikh had the honour of cutting the ribbon.
Beforehand he said: “I’m very happy that this is opening and we will soon be seeing the people of Swindon, and from further afield, coming here to see the collection.
“I haven’t had a look myself yet, I was tempted, but thought I’d wait to see it with all the people here.”
In the happiness stakes, it was a toss-up between Councillor Marina Strinkovsky, the cabinet member in charge of the project for the last 14 months, and Frances Yeo, the council’s museum’s manager, as to who was most joyful.
Cllr Strinkovsky inherited the plan to refurbish the Civic Offices’ second floor to provide the museum and gallery space from the previous Conservative administration and drove it forward to completion.
She told us: "During covid, the previous administration made the decision to not open the museum. Then started a very big campaign to make sure Swindon gets a proper museum.
"We have one of the most important collections of 20th Century British art anywhere in the country - in fact, probably, the most important outside of London.
"We have a completely new feature which is the History Gallery, with a snazzy timeline on the wall. It starts all the way to before the dinosaurs, and comes all the way up to the almost present day. That's one of my favourite things here.
"On a personal note, I just couldn't be more delighted that the first big exhibition here of new art is by a female artist - it is genuinely world-class. We also have an exhibition made by school students in Swindon, who made their own art in response to the art on display here - and it's amazing how imaginative it they are."
'I am totally delirious with happiness'
She added: ”I am totally delirious with happiness.
“I did very little of the work, really – it was the museum’s team which did it all and they’ve done a phenomenal job.
“But I did give it some impetus – because when we came into office, we decided we wanted to this, it was something we took seriously, and not something just nice to have.
“Jim Robbins told me he had a job for me, to get the museum and gallery opened, and to get on with it.”
Ms Yeo said: “It’s been four years in the making, a bit less than the 155 million years of the story of Swindon.
“The team has worked really hard to make this happen since the first proposal to bring the museum and gallery here was made in 2021.
“I can’t wait to welcome the people of Swindon and from elsewhere to see what we have here and to enjoy the collections and the temporary exhibitions.”
The museum spaces show the history and development of Swindon from pre-human times all the way up to the 21st century.
You can find out more at the Museum & Art Swindon website.