Manchester Art Gallery is the city’s main public gallery and it doesn’t charge a penny. Three floors of art in a handsome Charles Barry building on Mosley Street, right in the middle of town. You can be in and out in an hour or spend a whole afternoon – either works.
The Pre-Raphaelite collection is the headline. Works by Rossetti, Millais, Ford Madox Brown and others fill the Victorian galleries, and the quality is genuine – this is one of the most important Pre-Raphaelite collections outside London. The decorative art galleries cover furniture, ceramics, wallpaper and fashion, which sounds dry but the curation makes it interesting. Upstairs, contemporary galleries rotate exhibitions that range from photography to installation work.
The gallery of craft and design on the ground floor is often overlooked but worth your time. There’s a solid gift shop and a cafe that does the job for a post-gallery coffee. Family-friendly throughout – they run regular workshops and activities for kids, and the interactive elements are thoughtfully done rather than tokenistic.
Special exhibitions are occasionally ticketed but the permanent collection is always free. Central location means you can fold it into any city centre visit without planning. Open Tuesday to Sunday. One of those places every Mancunian should know but not enough actually visit.
