The Rugby Art Gallery and Museum is a combined art gallery and
museum
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
in central
Rugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...
, in England. The purpose-built building housing it is shared with Rugby
library
A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vir ...
; it was opened in 2000 and was built in the place of Rugby's previous library.
The art gallery holds "The Rugby Collection", over 170 items of 20th century and contemporary British art, including prints, drawings and paintings by artists such as
L. S. Lowry
Laurence Stephen Lowry ( ; 1 November 1887 – 23 February 1976) was an English artist. His drawings and paintings mainly depict Pendlebury, Lancashire (where he lived and worked for more than 40 years) as well as Salford and its vicinity ...
,
Stanley Spencer
Sir Stanley Spencer, CBE RA (30 June 1891 – 14 December 1959) was an English painter. Shortly after leaving the Slade School of Art, Spencer became well known for his paintings depicting Biblical scenes occurring as if in Cookham, the small ...
,
Paula Rego
Paula or PAULA may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Fictional characters
* Paula, in video game ''EarthBound''
* Paula, in ''The Larry Sanders Show''
* Paula Campbell (''EastEnders''), in 2003
Film and television
* ''Paula'' (1915 film), a si ...
and
Graham Sutherland
Graham Vivian Sutherland (24 August 1903 – 17 February 1980) was a prolific English artist. Notable for his paintings of abstract landscapes and for his portraits of public figures, Sutherland also worked in other media, including printmaking ...
. The collection was built up by
Rugby Borough Council from 1946 onwards and still collects "works by British artists of 'promise and renown' ". There is also a "Local Art Collection".
[
The museum hosts a collection of ]Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
artefacts, excavated from the nearby Roman town of Tripontium
Tripontium ( Latin for "Place of three bridges") was a town in Roman Britain. It lay on the Roman road later called Watling Street (and known today as the A5) at a site now chiefly within the civil parish of Churchover in the English coun ...
. It also has a display of the social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
and industrial history of Rugby,[ and the "Redding Collection" of some 25,000 mid-20th-century photographic negatives taken at the Rugby photographic studio of George Redding.] In December 2006, the Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup is a men's rugby union tournament contested every four years between the top international teams. The tournament is administered by World Rugby, the sport's international governing body. The winners are awarded the Webb E ...
was exhibited at the museum.
The facility became the permanent physical home of the World Rugby Hall of Fame
The World Rugby Hall of Fame (formerly the IRB Hall of Fame) recognises special achievement and contribution to the sport of rugby union. The World Rugby Hall of Fame covers players, coaches, administrators, match officials, institutions and other ...
in November 2016. However this was closed in 2021, due to financial pressures on the local council, and lower than expected visitor numbers.
The building also houses the town's visitor centre
A visitor center or centre (see American and British English spelling differences), visitor information center, tourist information center, is a physical location that provides tourist information to visitors.
Types of visitor center
A visit ...
.
As part of a national venture called ''Get it Loud in Libraries,'' the building has played host to gigs of various music artists such as Plan B
Plan B typically refers to a contingency plan, a plan devised for an outcome other than in the expected plan.
Plan B may also refer to:
* Plan B, a brand name of levonorgestrel, an emergency contraception drug
Film and television
* Plan B En ...
and British Sea Power
Command of the sea (also called control of the sea or sea control) is a naval military concept regarding the strength of a particular navy to a specific naval area it controls. A navy has command of the sea when it is so strong that its rivals ...
.
See also
* Webb Ellis Rugby Football Museum
The Webb Ellis Rugby Football Museum is a rugby football museum in the town centre of Rugby in Warwickshire, England, near Rugby School. It takes its name from William Webb Ellis who is credited with inventing the game of Rugby football.
The muse ...
, also in Rugby.
References
External links
*
Get it Loud in Libraries
Museums in Warwickshire
Art museums and galleries in Warwickshire
Local museums in Warwickshire
Libraries in Warwickshire
Art museums established in 2000
2000 establishments in England
Rugby union museums and halls of fame
Sports museums in England
Buildings and structures in Rugby, Warwickshire
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