Behind the scenes at The St Albans Museum and Gallery
St Albans is a lovely city with a great history and a thriving culture and I was lucky to be invited for a sneak peek of the newly renovated St Albans Museums + Gallery, prior to its opening to the public.
The old town hall, that was built in the 1830s, has been converted over the past two years into a museum and art gallery, combining the now closed University’s Margaret Harvey Gallery and the Museum of St Albans. The old town hall is a Georgian Grade II listed building and the Renaissance St Albans project team have done a great job of keeping a lot of the original features, which include a grand staircase, the Courtroom and much more.
Several exhibitions and art installations will be featured in the upcoming months. This includes the First Impressions exhibition, showcasing over 500 years of printing in St Albans, with the original printing press being on display. The museum will also offer printing workshops this summer, that will cater for all age groups. A very special exhibition from the V&A Museum will also be displayed at St Albans Museum +Gallery later in the year.
The old Courtroom may be used as a café, which is a very unique and trendy idea, making it one of a kind. Below the courtroom are the Cells, where suspects were held before hearings. This area has also been converted into a more modern space, where the history behind the Cells will be explained.
On the first floor, you will find the Georgian Assembly Room, once used for balls, concerts and events, which will be showcasing artist Susie MacMurray’s dramatic sculptures. There are several other galleries, such as the Landing Gallery which will display changing artefacts and the Grand Staircase Gallery, showcasing a permanent exhibition on St Albans being a Roman city and how it has changed to the modern city that it is today. The Keeper’s galleries will showcase more artefacts and exhibitions from Lyndall Phelps, Abi Spendlove and Katie Gillam-Hull.
St Albans Museum + Gallery opens to the public on the 8th June 2018 and will be free of charge to the public. The Museum is set to become a local attraction, putting St Albans back on the national cultural map.
Go to www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk for more information about the upcoming opening and exhibitions.
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