University of Salford Art Collection

The University of Salford Art Collection began in the late 1960’s. It now holds around 700 works in its permanent collection, which is stored and displayed on campus for the benefit of students, staff, alumni and the public; as well as being made available for loans for museums and galleries both in the UK and internationally.

The early collection policies were quite broad, but consisted mainly of post-war and contemporary British print-making, painting and photography. In particular works with a connection to Salford or Greater Manchester were acquired; including examples by Northern school painters (Adolphe Valette, LS Lowry and Harold Riley) and prints by the Manchester Print Workshop (Adrian Henri and Kip Gresham).

Over the years the collection has evolved to include an extensive body of work by expressionist painter Albert Adams and a number of works by the Young British Artists (YBA’s).

Since 2013, there has been a more clearly defined and articulated approach which focuses on three collecting areas: About the Digital, Chinese, Contemporary Art and From the North. The University of Salford Art Collection places great emphasis on partnership working and co-commissioning in order to develop the collection and exhibition programmes further.

Museum Accreditation from Arts Council England was renewed in 2016.