Birmingham, UK Art Galleries, Museums, Supplies & More
Art in Birmingham, UK will be covered in full detail for you today and our opening section will discuss the best art galleries and museums near you.
After that we will get into a variety of other topics like local art supply stores, events, festivals, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures and statues, art classes, studios for rent, and the top frame shops in your area.
If you are after any specific section you can jump straight to it using the table of contents on the left and you can look through more of our posts on art in the United Kingdom at that link. To get us going we will share this Birmingham art map before you find all of our lists with addresses, links, and some business info.
Best Art Galleries & Museums In Birmingham
The best art galleries and museums in Birmingham would be:
Believe it or not there are around 800,000 objects in the collection at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. which is open from from 10am to 5pm daily including one of the finest collections of Pre-Raphaelite art in the world. They provide consultations and conservations and even do training in conservations and advisory plus they have many education programs and hands-on activities around the museum.
The great collection at the Barber Institute of Fine Arts can be viewed from 10am to 5pm every day but Monday when they are closed with unique pieces by Monet, Botticelli, Rubens, Degas, Gainsborough, and many other major names in the Western art scene on display. Throughout the year they host their popular Tuesday Talks with Artists events along with concerts and demonstrations of performing arts.
Everyone is free to enter the Ikon Gallery who hosts lectures and seminars in addition to having local workshops and lessons for all ages. Ikon Gallery is open from 11am to 5pm six days a week and is closed on Monday.
From 10:30am to 5pm Tuesday through Saturday you can visit the free to enter Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Gallery who has a Photography Prize Exhibition that includes cash prizes of up to 1,000 euros for the winner and a solo exhibition at the RBSA Gallery.
Every year more than a million people check out the collection at the Midlands Arts Centre and the numerous performing arts shows they put on. Their instructors also teach practical lessons in a wide variety of creative media.
Grand Union hosts free public exhibitions, programs, and other events while also being a good place to rent out high-quality art studio space near you.
Emerging artists may want to look into the Black Hole Club Program at Vivid Projects which is free and offers a supportive space for newer creators to get together with more well established practitioners.
Materials & Supplies Near You
The best stores to buy art supplies and materials in your area are:
At Harris Moore you will find a wide selection of handmade oil and acrylic paints and some of their other specialties include producing artists’ canvases and stretcher bars or services like canvas stretching and custom framing.
There are materials and supplies for all kinds of local artists and craftsmen at Web Craftshop.
Shows & Events
Some of the best art shows and events near you are:
Birmingham Weekender is a great free arts festival that goes down in the creative quarter of Digbeth every October when you will find live music, dance, art, and plenty of other cool stuff.
High Vis Street Culture Festival is another great free event that is held every September that mostly focuses on street art, graffiti, and illustration.
Fierce Festival is a bi-annual event that takes place every other October and you can expect to find all kinds of interesting things going on like theatre, dance, performance art, music, installations, and more.
Moseley Park is the home of the Moseley Folk & Arts Festival every September which is a celebration of folk music, comedy, art, crafts, and fun.
Art Dealers & Appraisers
When you are trying to find a new piece for your collection or to figure out the true value of something visit one of these local art dealers and appraisers:
Castle Fine Art is a great place to go for consultations plus you can submit your art for sale and they have free shipping all throughout the UK.
You can also get free delivery throughout the UK or try out the bespoke consultations from Whitewall Galleries.
Local auctions are held at St Pauls Gallery plus they do high quality custom framing.
Walking Tours
We mentioned the Digbeth creative quarter just a minute ago, well the Graffiti Art of Digbeth Walk tour will show you why. The walk starts and ends at the Moor Street Train Station and is 4 kilometers long.
Sculptures & Statues
You may also want to take some photos of these sculptures and statues:
Boulton, Watt and Murdoch at 300 Centenary Sq
Faraday Statue at University Rd W
King Edward VII Memorial at 2 Centenary Sq
Queen Victoria at 38 Paradise St
Joseph Sturge Memorial at Harborne Rd
The House of Sport on Broad Street is where you can find Boulton, Watt, and Murdoch which was created by William Bloye and sculpted by Raymond Forbes-Kings in the 1950’s.
Sir Eduardo Paolozzi created the Faraday Statue around the turn of the last century which sits at the West Gate of the University of Birmingham.
In 1913 Albert Toft created the King Edward VII Memorial that has been in Highgate Park since the early 50’s.
Victoria Square is the home of the Queen Victoria statue in your area which was a creation of Thomas Brock.
12,000 people gathered to watch the unveiling of the Joseph Sturge Memorial all the way back in 1862.
Birmingham Art Classes
Whether you are trying to find private lessons or group classes for kids, teens, or adults the best art schools in Birmingham would be:
Birmingham School of Art is the UK’s largest regional center for art, architecture and design but they also have classes in other media and are believed to have one of the largest jewelry schools in Europe.
You can try the group classes or the one-on-one classes from the instructors at Art Courses Birmingham who offers weekend and night classes while also doing life drawing with real models.
The lessons at The Seasons Art Class are only for adults who have beginner or intermediate level skills.
Pottery lovers will enjoy the classes and workshops at Sundragon Community Pottery which are available to kids and adults of all ages.
Ikon Gallery and Midlands Arts Centre from the best local museums list also offers art classes.
Studios For Rent Near You
You can try to rent art studio space in your area at:
We shared as much as we know about the best galleries, museums, events, shows, supply stores, dealers, appraisers, walking tours, sculptures, classes, studios, and framers that you may want to check out.
If you made it this far you might just know quite a bit about the local art scene yourself. Feel free to share your own tips, or to let us know if we may have gotten anything wrong in the comments.
We hope you enjoy your time at the best Birmingham, UK art galleries, museums, supply stores, or doing whatever else you plan to do with the info.
This post and all of the posts on our site are edited by Dan Soloman who has been a huge fan of art since he was a little kid. His mother was a good local artist, and she taught him the trade from a very early age. He studied art and its history in both high school and college, has worked at multiple galleries, and recently has begun creating and editing online content for this site and some other online media platforms.
