The Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate has been shortlisted in this year’s Museums + Heritage Awards.
Councillor Caroline Bayliss and Jane Sellars, Harrogate’s Curator of Art will attend an Award Ceremony this evening (16 May 2012) in London.
The Museum is shortlisted for the Classic Award, and competes with Coventry Transport Museum: Museum of British Road Transport Trust (Coventry) Ltd, National Museums Liverpool: World Museum, The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust: Ironbridge Gorge Museum, Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums: Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens.
In 2011 the Mercer had an interior makeover funded by the council, the Friends of the Mercer and the Burton Trust, which revived and refreshed this elegant building for its 20th anniversary as a gallery, making it ever more accessible and inviting.
The gallery had a high-profile re-opening with the exhibitions Atkinson Grimshaw: Painter of Moonlight and new photography inspired by Grimshaw’s paintings by Liza Dracup. The exhibitions attracted 36,000 visitors from all over the UK and abroad over the four month run – bringing many first time visitors to Harrogate – sold over 5,000 catalogues and took over £18,000 in donations.
