First created as the Royal Manchester Institution for the Promotion of Literature, Science and the Arts, Manchester Art Gallery has been the beating heart of Manchester’s artistic and cultural centre for nearly 200 years.
Today, Manchester Art Gallery is one of the UKs leading galleries - it houses an outstanding fine art collection of more than 2,000 oil paintings, 3,000 watercolours and drawings, 250 sculptures, 90 miniatures and around 1,000 prints, as well as over 13,000 decorative art objects and antiques. The building itself is one of Manchester’s most iconic - a Grade 1 listed Victorian structure designed by legendary architect Sir Charles Barry.
This historic, central Manchester location is also available for private hire and can host a variety of corporate events, as well as large scale conferences and dinners. The Charles Rutherston and Mary Greg Meeting Rooms are ideal for small board meetings, with flexible seating arrangements to fit up to 18 people, and in-house catering also available. For larger corporate gatherings, the airy, spacious Lecture Room will seat up to 100, and has built-in AV equipment as well as blackout blinds and food and drink available if necessary. The meeting rooms can also be hired as breakout rooms for the Lecture Room.
If you’re planning something more along the lines of a drinks reception, dinner or party, many of the Manchester Art Galleries' beautiful individual galleries are available separately for private hire too.The Pre-Raphaelite, Lowry and Valette Galleries, as well as the grand Victorian Hall and stunning glass Atrium are all available for seated dinners and drinks receptions for up to 120 and 700 guests respectively, with all food and drink provided by the Gallery’s superb in-house catering team.