museums and galleries

We are the department with responsibility for the museums and galleries sector.

We:

sponsor the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, the Government’s strategic body for these sectors
directly sponsor 21 museums and galleries
fund Renaissance in the Regions, a programme to support England’s regional museums
invest in museum and gallery education programmes
co-fund and administer the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund

Websites of interest

Museums at Night 2010

Culture24

Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester

The National Gallery

Related information

8 out of the top ten UK visitor attractions are sponsored national museums. These are the British Museum (1), Tate Modern (2), The National Gallery (3), Natural History Museum (4), Science Museum (6), Victoria and Albert Museum (7), National Maritime Museum (9), National Portrait Gallery. (Source ALVA).

There were a record 40.3 million visits in 2008/09 – with many including the Imperial War Museum, National Maritime Museum, National Museums Liverpool, Natural History Museum, Sir John Soane’s Museum and the Wallace Collection recording highest visitor figures ever.