Taking Stock – Tours and Talks

Get ready for a unique opportunity to delve behind the scenes of Manchester Art Gallery’s remarkable collection.  

Since late 2023, we have embarked on an extraordinary journey of Taking Stock of the collection.
Step into Gallery 17, transformed into an ‘open store,’ with over 6600 objects from paintings to ceramics and sculptures, many of which have remained hidden from public view until now. 

Due to this being a storage space, numbers on tours are limited to 12 people. Booking is therefore essential. Please meet your group outside the doors to Gallery 17 (top floor of the gallery) five minutes before your tour start time.    

Please book below.

Public Tours

Meet curatorial and learning staff and hear more about Manchester’s civic collection. 
Join in the discussion as we explore ideas of what the city’s art collection looks like now and how it can best meet the needs of the future. 

In Conversation With…. 

Many different people work in Manchester Art Gallery – have you ever wondered what they do?
Come along to an ‘in conversation with’ session and hear from conservators, technicians and our collections access teams and learn what these specialised roles do within the gallery. Staff will give you an insight into the work they are doing as part of our Taking Stock project, much of which is usually unseen behind the scenes, but is vital in creating the vibrant and interesting displays you see in the galleries, and to the ongoing care of our wider collection.  

Group bookings

Owing to the limited number of spaces available on these tours, we would urge groups looking to tour the space to contact us separately, rather than book out tour spaces. Please email [email protected] and we will do our best to accommodate you. Due to staff capacity, we will prioritise groups based in the Greater Manchester area. 

Access 

We want this opportunity to be open to all and will work with the access needs of people booking onto the tour. To make this possible we will need you to fill in the appropriate information on the booking form so we can plan and make sure the space is safe for everyone. For general information on accessibility at Manchester Art Gallery please see: Accessibility – Manchester Art Gallery