Museum developments
The Lady Lever Art Gallery has recently completed the following much needed improvements:
In order to further improve access and facilities for all visitors we are currently planning to redevelop the existing basement space into an improved, flexible learning suite.
The first stage of these new developments is the fully accessible ramped entrance and reception desk at the west side of the gallery, which opened on 17 October 2007, giving all visitors direct access to the heart the gallery's stunning collections.
These changes are in keeping with the existing listed building, enhancing the arrival space for the benefit of visitors. When the gallery was opened in 1922, there were four entrances but only one, the south, was used.
In recent years a ramped entrance was created alongside the building to give access to the basement café and shop. This entrance remains open but the south door will no longer be used.
All visitors can now enter the gallery through the west door, which is fully accessible with a new ramp. There is a new reception desk which is more spacious than the former cramped entrance lobby at the south. Two bronze statues, 'Linus' and 'Dancing' by Edward Onslow Ford, greet visitors as they enter. It is many years since they have been seen together. In addition, two large stone urns which had been in store have been conserved and placed at the new entrance.
From here visitors can go straight into the magnificent main hall of the building.
This new introductory gallery, which opened on 5 July 2008, reveals more about the man who founded the Lady Lever Art Gallery and how he came to be both a businessman-philanthropist and a passionate collector of fine art.
The displays include material from the Leverhulme Family Archive, never seen in public before, to bring the story of Lever’s collecting to life. Visitors can learn about what he collected and why. A number of works from the gallery's own collection have also been brought out of storage and displayed for the first time in many years, giving a much fuller picture of his unique art collection.
The displays not only introduce the diversity of the collections, they also explore building of the gallery itself and its place within the community of Port Sunlight Village.
Further information about the Lever the Collector gallery is available on the Lady Lever Art Gallery website.
National Museums Liverpool has received funding from the DCMS/Wolfson Foundation Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund for this project.
In October 2007 the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) announced a grant of £275,000 towards the creation of the Lever the Collector gallery. At the announcement Peter Fellows, Heritage Lottery Fund Casework Manager for the North West, commented:
“The story of Lever is of great relevance to the region’s heritage and to the history of art collecting. Today’s news will transform the way this intriguing story is told and open up the treasure trove of collections to a much greater audience.”
The creation of the Lever the Collector gallery is supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund.