Kelham Island Museum, Millennium Gallery and Weston Park Museum will all reopen on 20th May, with the trio welcoming the public for the first time since the merger between Museums Sheffield and Sheffield Industrial Museums Trust was formally launched last month.
Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet is then expected to reopen on 29th May, with Shepherd Wheel following a week later on 5th June. Pre-booking and reduced capacities will be in operation across the portfolio of sites, with some areas also benefiting from an air handling system to continuously bring in fresh air.
“Our team are really looking forward to welcoming visitors back – and we have a great programme lined up for them,” says Kim Streets, chief executive of Sheffield Museums.
Another change to the city’s offer since museums were last open is the introduction of free entry to both Kelham Island Museum and Abbeydale Industrial Hamlet, meaning there is no mandatory charge to enter any of the museum group’s sites.
“The city’s museums and the collections they house belong to the people of Sheffield, so we’re delighted that free entry at all sites will make them available to everyone. Being open and free is only possible thanks to the incredible generosity of our visitors,” Streets adds.
Programming for the summer includes Cecil Beaton’s Bright Young Things, a major National Portrait Gallery exhibition being hosted at Millennium Gallery. The city centre site will also debut My Path, a new exhibition curated in partnership with Koestler Arts and the Sheffield Youth Justice Service which features artworks created by people in the criminal justice system across Yorkshire.
Reopening also coincides with Kelham Island Museum firing up its River Don Engine once again – the first time in over eight months this will have been seen by the public.
