The weekly feature rounds up the latest updates in museum appointments, openings, funding and new exhibitions from across the UK.
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Appointments
Robert Suss has been appointed to a four-year term as Trustee of the National Portrait Gallery, effective February 10, 2025. Suss is the CEO of Pictet Wealth Management UK and will serve on the gallery’s board through February 9, 2029. He currently chairs The Contemporary Art Society and holds Emeritus Trustee status at the Royal Academy of Arts Trust, where he previously served as Deputy Chair. A thirty-year collector of contemporary art, Suss has supported and promoted emerging artists throughout his career.
Openings & closures
Ceredigion Museum in Aberystwyth will close to the public from 19 May 2025 to allow for essential repair and maintenance work on the Grade II listed building. The temporary closure is intended to ensure the safety of visitors and staff while building contractors carry out the works efficiently. The museum is expected to reopen in spring 2026.
Exhibitions
The first major presentation of Cedric Morris’ work in the North of England features more than 20 significant loans including pieces from Tate, National Portrait Gallery, and private collections. ‘Cedric Morris: Artist, Plantsman & Traveller’ explores the artist’s defining passions through works ranging from playful pencil sketches to vibrant still lifes, including the emblematic ‘Iris Seedlings’ (1943) on loan from Tate. The exhibition runs at The Granary Gallery in Berwick-upon-Tweed from 7 June 2025 – 12 October 2025.
‘Joseph Wright of Derby: Life on Paper’ at Derby Museum and Art Gallery brings together more than 70 works on paper by the internationally-renowned artist, including his earliest known artwork made when he was 11 years old and never before shown publicly. The exhibition is organised chronologically with highlights including ‘Self Portrait Aged Forty’, ‘Portrait study of the artist’s father’, and ‘Vesuvius in Eruption’. The exhibition runs from 23 May 2025 – 7 September 2025.
The new exhibition ‘Cats in Cartoons’ explores the history of feline characters from Garfield to Krazy Kat, revealing why these animated companions have such enduring appeal. Featured artists include Louis Wain, Ronald Searle, Heath Robinson, and Simon Tofield, among others at The Cartoon Museum in London. The exhibition runs from 5 April 2025 – 7 September 2025.
The Natural History Museum’s latest exhibition ‘Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth?’ features rare celestial objects including a piece of Mars, a fragment of the Moon, and the 4.567-billion-year-old Allende meteorite that visitors can touch and interact with. The interactive exhibition explores evidence for extraterrestrial life and takes visitors on a journey from Earth’s extreme environments through the solar system to exoplanets. The exhibition runs at the Natural History Museum’s Waterhouse Gallery in South Kensington from 16 May 2025 – 22 February 2026.
A new exhibition ‘A Job for Life’ explores the career progression from engine cleaner to driver on the Great Western Railway, featuring historical documents from mutual improvement classes and information about Swindon’s Park House where medical examinations for footplate workers took place. Visitors will discover the rigorous process aspiring engine drivers underwent, requiring years of dedication and skill. The exhibition runs at STEAM Museum in Swindon from 5 April 2025 – 31 December 2025.
The exhibition ‘Cecil Beaton’s Garden Party’ explores the role of gardens and flowers in Beaton’s creative practice across his work as a photographer, artist, and designer. The display at the Garden Museum features photographs, paintings, drawings, costume and set designs, including floral backdrops for fashion photography and the famous floral costumes from My Fair Lady. The exhibition runs from 14 May 2025 – 21 September 2025 in London.
