The Dick Institute is a

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 thes ...

and library in Kilmarnock,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It is an important cultural venue in the south-west of Scotland, featuring the largest

and art gallery space in Ayrshire as well as the central library for

East Ayrshire East Ayrshire ( sco, Aest Ayrshire; gd, Siorrachd Àir an Ear) is one of thirty-two council areas of Scotland. It shares borders with Dumfries and Galloway, East Renfrewshire, North Ayrshire, South Ayrshire and South Lanarkshire. The headquar ...

History of the building

The Dick Institute was opened in 1901. The funds which were required to build the institute were provided by James' Dick, who lived in Australia but was born, in 1823, in Soulis Street, Kilmarnock. The building was severely damaged by fire only eight years after it opened. Some of the museum's collections were lost in the fire but it reopened in 1911 and was used as an auxiliary hospital in 1917 during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

Present day

The Dick Institute has a programme that includes nationally important exhibitions, permanent displays of the museum's own collections and work by contemporary artists, film makers and young people from the area, giving the Dick Institute a growing reputation for the quality and scope of its exhibitions and events. Previous major exhibitions have included

Miffy Miffy ( nl, Nijntje, pronounced ) is a Character (arts), fictional rabbit appearing in a series of picture books drawn and written by Dutch artist Dick Bruna. The original Dutch name, "Nijntje", is a shortening of the diminutive ''konijntje'', "l ...

Quentin Blake Sir Quentin Saxby Blake, (born 16 December 1932) is an English cartoonist, caricaturist, illustrator and children's writer. He has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 written by Roald Dahl, which are among his most popular works. For his ...

Wallace and Gromit ''Wallace & Gromit'' is a British stop-motion comedy franchise created by Nick Park of Aardman Animations. The series consists of four short films and one feature-length film, and has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The series ce ...

, Cutting Edge, Radical Nature and

Bill Viola Bill Viola ( , ; born 1951) is an American contemporary video artist whose artistic expression depends upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human experiences such as birth, d ...

. Many of Scotland's leading contemporary artists including Kenny Hunter, Simon Ward and Christine Borland have been shown and creative commissioning programmes have supported artistic talent, by linking with major shows such as Ayrshire Innovators, Creative Burns and South By South West. The South Museum and Loom Room feature stories of the local and social history of the area as well as a

Johnnie Walker Johnnie Walker is a brand of Scotch whisky now owned by Diageo that originated in the Scottish burgh of Kilmarnock in East Ayrshire. The brand was first established by grocer John Walker. It is the most widely distributed brand of blended Sc ...

display featuring a selection of illustrations and objects from the company and from the institute's own collections. The North Museum wing contains objects from the natural history sciences and archaeology collections which have been recently updated and refurbished to display more items, including some previously unseen by the public from the museum stores. The lending library, junior library, learning centre and cafe are all housed on the ground floor. Full disabled access is available.

References

External links

East Ayrshire Leisure: The Dick InstituteVisit Scotland: The Dick InstituteDick Institute
on Canmore, Historic Environment Scotland. {{Authority control 1901 establishments in Scotland Buildings and structures in Kilmarnock Museums established in 1901 Museums in East Ayrshire