Buxton Museum and Art Gallery welcomes visitors back after months of closure

Buxton Museum and Art Gallery has been welcoming visitors back this week after months of closure.
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The museum, on Terrace Road, closed in late October last year because of the coronavirus pandemic. But on Tuesday, it reopened to visitors with a number of new exhibitions on show.

Councillor Barry Lewis, Derbyshire County Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Leadership, Culture and Tourism said: “We are delighted to be opening Buxton Museum and Art Gallery after so long.

"The staff are very much looking forward to having visitors back and can’t wait to show people the changing programme of exhibitions they have worked hard putting together for them.”

Buxton museum reopens. Buxton museum reopens.
Buxton museum reopens.

During the lockdown, the museum’s staff have provided a digital service through the blog at https://buxtonmuseumandartgallery.wordpress.com/blog/ and made sure that the collections have not been put at risk while staff have been working from home.

The annual Derbyshire Open Art exhibition has been postponed for this year, but the museum will be showing Across Time – A Retrospective, the work of Brian Nolan (1931-2019). Brian’s beautiful picture Kestrel at Kinder painted in the landscape towards the end of his painting career because of failing eyesight, won the Derbyshire Open Art Exhibition trophy in 2004. For more than 40 years, Brian was a familiar figure in the Dark Peak, setting out from his Hayfield home to paint outdoors, sheltering under trees and in barns and capturing the majesty of the Dark Peak landscape in all weathers. The exhibition runs until September 5.

Full Circle – Back to Where We Began features recent work by long-time friends Susan Dodd and Penny Kealey. The works share a common thread of interests and preoccupations in their love of the strange, obscure, and mystical, and how these are manifest in ideas and symbols. This exhibition closes on July 25.

Buxton museum reopens.Buxton museum reopens.
Buxton museum reopens.

The museum is also celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Pavilion Gardens with an exhibition of objects relating to the gardens in Victorian times.

As well as special exhibitions, the permanent installations tell the story of the geology and archaeology of the Peak District, a fitting tribute to the Peak District National Park which is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year.

Admission to the museum is free and visitors can find out more, and pre-book admission tickets at www.derbyshire.gov.uk/buxtonmuseum.