University College London’s Art Museum to reopen temporarily
After months of uncertainty, the University College London’s Art Museum will reopen in April 2025 in its new temporary home. It will span across two rooms: a study room and a smaller storeroom.
The Art Museum, an important resource for research, learning, and visitors, closed in October 2024 as part of the university’s redevelopment proposals for the bicentennial anniversary in 2026.
In plans submitted to the planning authority at Camden Council, a document stated that the museum would be converted into “a flexible space to support events such as welcome week, the student union fair, societies and exhibitions”.
A UCL spokesperson said: “While the Art Museum will be temporarily closed, its collections are being carefully stored and can still be accessed for research, teaching and for open days. In the longer-term we aim to provide new gallery and exhibition space, so our students and the public have better access to these important art works.”
The museum housed around 10,000 artworks from the entirety of Western art history, including works by Stanley Spencer and Augustus John, famous alumni of UCL’s Slade School of Fine Art.
The Art Museum was commissioned by George Grote, one of UCL’s founders. As the first university in the UK to allow women to access higher education, UCL also prided itself on its collection of art by female artists, which make up 45 per cent tof Slade’s collections. These include Paula Rego’s Under Milk Wood and Dora Carrington’s Female Figure Lying on Her Back.
Staff, particularly in the History of Art department, expressed outrage at this decision and feared that without a new permanent location, these works would be placed in long-term storage and that consequently, UCL would seriously risk its reputation.
The new exhibition space will not offer wall space for exhibitions and staff say that it will be tucked away in a different part of the university campus, meaning it will be harder for visitors and students to access.
