The Millennium Gallery is an art gallery and museum in the centre of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, England. Opened in April 2001 as part of Sheffield's Heart of the City project, it is located in the city centre close to the mainline

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

, the Central Library and

Graves Art Gallery Graves Art Gallery is an art gallery in Sheffield, England. The gallery is located above the Central Library in Sheffield city centre. It houses permanent displays from the city’s historic and contemporary collection of British and European ...

Sheffield Hallam University Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The university is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield station, Sheffield railway station, whil ...

, and

Sheffield Theatres Sheffield Theatres is a theatre complex in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. It comprises four theatres: the Crucible, the Lyceum, the Tanya Moiseiwitsch Playhouse, and (as of January 2025) the Montgomery Theatre. These theatres make up ...

. Designed by architects Pringle Richards Sharratt, the building is primarily made from concrete and glass, with a series of galleries extending from a central avenue, which connects Arundel Gate with

Sheffield Winter Garden Sheffield Winter Garden is a large temperate glasshouse located in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the largest temperate glasshouses to be built in the UK during the last hundred years, and the largest urban ...

. In 2011, the gallery was listed as the 15th most-visited free attraction in the country by Visit England. It is managed by

Museums Sheffield Sheffield Museums Trust, is a charity created in 2021 to run Sheffield City Council’s museums and galleries. It was formed from the merger of Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust (Museums Sheffield), and Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust. I ...

. The gallery has two permanent collections, two temporary exhibition spaces, space for corporate events and weddings, and a cafe and shop.

Ruskin Collection

Eminent Victorian scholar

John Ruskin John Ruskin (8 February 1819 20 January 1900) was an English polymath a writer, lecturer, art historian, art critic, draughtsman and philanthropist of the Victorian era. He wrote on subjects as varied as art, architecture, Critique of politic ...

established a collection of material he hoped would inspire Sheffield's workforce at the newly founded St George's Museum, Walkley, Sheffield in 1875. The collection of watercolours, drawings, prints, plaster casts, minerals, illustrated books, manuscripts and coins is owned by the Guild of St George and managed by Museums Sheffield at the Millennium Gallery. The gallery displaying it was refurbished in 2011, to allow more frequent rotation of items from the collection which is too large and fragile to display at any one time.

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust ( ; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, literary critic, and essayist who wrote the novel (in French – translated in English as ''Remembrance of Things Past'' and more r ...

wrote of the Ruskin Collection:

Its catalogue is like an epitome of all the arts and all the sciences. Photographs of paintings by the masters are found next to collections of minerals, as in Goethe's house. Like the Ruskin Museum, Ruskin's oeuvre is universal.Marcel Proust, ''John Ruskin'', in ''Days of Reading'' (translated by John Sturrock) (Penguin Books, 2008), p.1.

Metalwork Collection

Sheffield's metalwork collection comprises more than 13,000 objects and has been awarded Designated Collection status by DCMS, signifying a 'pre-eminent collection of national and international importance held in England's non-national museums'. The collection includes what is probably the most extensive grouping of Sheffield-made cutlery, flatware (forks and spoons) and holloware (e.g. bowls, teapots, containers) in existence and was amassed as a reference collection; showcasing examples of excellent design and high quality craftsmanship from around the world to inspire the city’s manufacturers, designers and makers.

Craft & Design

The Craft & Design gallery is a temporary exhibition space intended to build on the tradition of the Ruskin and Metalwork collections in providing creative inspiration through examples of excellence. Following the theme of historic and contemporary craft and design, recent exhibitions have include
Kill Your Darlings
by Kid Acne an
Graphic Nature
in 2011
Under the Sea
in 2012, an
Designed to Shine
in 2013, marking the 100th anniversary of the discovery of stainless steel in Sheffield.

Special exhibitions

The special exhibition space is the largest in Sheffield and was designed to accommodate major touring exhibitions from national partners such as the V&A and

Tate Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the UK ...

. Major exhibitions in recent years include Vivienne Westwood: the Exhibition in 2008
Watercolour in Britain
an
Restless Times
in 2010
John Martin: Painting the Apocalypse
in 2011
The Family in British Art
an
Paul Morrison: Auctorum
in 2012 an
Force of Nature: Picturing Ruskin's Landscape
in 2013.

References

External links

Official Website
{{authority control Art museums and galleries in Sheffield Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust Contemporary art galleries in England Buildings and structures completed in 2001 Art museums and galleries established in 2001 2001 establishments in England Museums in Sheffield