Graves Gallery prepares for a new chapter as Sheffield's art collection moves home

For more than 90 years, the Graves Gallery above Sheffield's Central Library has been the home of one of the finest public art collections in the North. Now it is preparing for a new chapter, and there is still a little time to say goodbye to it in its current home.

The gallery will close on Saturday 31 October 2026, ahead of a move to an interim home in the Heart of the City in 2027. Sheffield Museums explains that a significant failure in the building's heating system earlier this year forced most of the display spaces to close. The collection was unharmed, but the heating system cannot be repaired, so the artworks will move while Sheffield City Council works on plans for a major redevelopment of the Grade II listed building on Surrey Street.

The Graves Gallery opened in 1934, thanks to the generosity of the city philanthropist J.G. Graves and the vision of the Corporation of Sheffield. Its aim was to showcase a nationally important collection of great art, available to all. That collection includes work by JMW Turner, Edward Burne-Jones, John Singer Sargent, Paul Cezanne, Gwen John, Stanley Spencer, David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Claudette Johnson, Grayson Perry, Hew Locke and Helen Chadwick.

"For almost a century, the Graves Gallery has been an oasis of inspiration," said Kim Streets, Chief Executive at Sheffield Museums. Kirstie Hamilton, Director of Programmes, described the collection as "wide-ranging, surprising and much-loved", from "the awe-inspiring Turner and Cezanne's beautiful garden" to the great Sheffield painter John Hoyland.

Since 2021, a five-year programme of redisplay supported by the Ampersand Foundation has seen 40% of the displays rehung each year, letting visitors enjoy even more of the collection.

Before the doors close, visitors can still catch Revolution, Revelation, Reinforcement: Queer Legacies in Sheffield's Art Collection, which runs until 31 October. Entry is free, with a suggested donation of £5.

The future looks exciting. Council Leader Fran Belbin called the transformation of the building "one of the most significant cultural opportunities Sheffield has seen for many years", and Sheffield Museums says its priority is securing the gallery's long-term future in its rightful home on Surrey Street. British Art Show 10 will also go ahead in autumn 2027, with works planned for the Graves shown at the Millennium Gallery.

Opening times and news about the interim gallery are on the Sheffield Museums website.