Museums Sheffield was created in 1998 as an independent charity to take over the running of the city’s non-industrial museums and galleries from Sheffield City Council.
Our first major project was the launch of the newly-built Millennium Gallery in 2001, a cornerstone of Sheffield’s Heart of the Cityregeneration project. The Millennium Gallery set the tone for our work over the following decade; fundraising for and delivering major improvement projects to enhance the city’s galleries and museums.
Major successes have included:
The £19m redevelopment of Weston Park museum, culminating in nomination for the Gulbenkian Prize and winning the Guardian Family Friendly Museum Award 2008
Achieving ‘Designated Collection’ status from the Department of Culture, Media & Sport for the city’s unique metalwork collection
Fundraising for the acquisition of significant artworks and historic objects for the city, including the Bill Brown cutlery collection and The Kiss by Marc Quinn
Fundraising for largescale refurbishments and redisplays of the Graves Gallery, Ruskin and Metalwork Collections
Becoming an Arts Council Major Partner Museum for the period 2015-2018
Securing a £650k HLF grant to improve Weston Park museum in 2015-17
Welcoming over a million visitors annually across all sites
As we look to the future, it’s clear that museums and galleries across the country face tough economic challenges in the coming years. We hope to meet these challenges head on, and will continue to champion the culture which now forms an essential part of the life of our great city.
