A National Centre

On the 27 October Gainsborough’s House closed to transform itself as a national centre for art.

A National Centre for Gainsborough
This ambitious project aims to fascinate and inspire audiences to enjoy the art, life and passions of one of Britain’s foremost artists, in the special setting of his childhood home. It seeks to upgrade and expand the Grade I listed Georgian townhouse, to ensure the museum is financially sustainable and no longer at risk. The project will refurbish and redisplay the historic buildings while constructing a new three-storey wing that will create the largest gallery in Suffolk. Visitors will be able to see Gainsborough’s masterpieces, exhibitions of international appeal, contemporary art created in East Anglia and a landscape studio with panoramic views over Sudbury. A new café overlooking the beautiful 18th century garden will enhance the visitor experience, along with improved facilities, more spaces for learning, talks and concerts. Nowhere else in the world can such a wide collection of Gainsborough’s art and those he inspired be seen in a single setting. The project will maximise this great asset, transforming the museum’s ability to develop a secure future by drawing twice as many visitors, encouraging a three-fold increase in dwell time and generating more income.

Where Are We Now
Demolition is now complete and the former labour exchange seems a distant memory. We are on the brink of becoming the national and international centre we have been working so hard to achieve. This is very exciting news for Gainsborough’s House, after years of planning, work has begun in earnest. This development won’t just secure the future of Gainsborough’s House, but will also be the start of regeneration of an historic market town, the creation of a long needed centre for visual art in Suffolk and a national centre for Thomas Gainsborough. We are increasingly feeling the international reach of the project and with the collection going off to the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow later this year we look forward to welcoming masterpieces from Russia after we re-open. When we re-open we will have effectively doubled our staff and provided five apprenticeships, and be ready to deliver a nationally significant programme of exhibitions, events and displays. We will certainly have much more scope to host national and international exhibitions.

Timescale

2019
• Building will begin in Autumn 2019
• We close Gainsborough’s House to visitors on 27 October

2020
• We open our Information Centre on the project and art in Suffolk at No.47 Gainsborough Street (next to Gainsborough’s House) on 2 March 2020.

2021
• We will open our doors with the completed project in Summer 2021