Alistair Hardaker | Image: A concept image of the mobile museum (DCMS)
DCMS and Art Explora to fund UK’s first permanent mobile museum, designed by Ab Rogers, touring three national collections each year.
The government and arts charity Art Explora are to fund the UK’s first permanent mobile museum, which will tour artworks to communities from 2027.
The £1.6m project is funded by £800,000 from DCMS and £800,000 matched by Art Explora.
The funding will build a vehicle to tour three national collections each year, including the Government Art Collection. The vehicle has been designed by architect Ab Rogers following an international competition and is being built in Telford by Torton Bodies Limited.
From 2027, Art Explora will tour the mobile museum with three 12-week exhibitions each year. Government Art Collection artworks will feature in one exhibition annually, with partners including the National Portrait Gallery, Leeds Art Gallery, Birmingham Museums Trust and National Museums Liverpool delivering the remaining programme.
The museum will visit areas identified as having high deprivation and low cultural engagement, setting up within walking distance of local schools and community centres. Over 36 to 40 weeks of touring annually, it will visit 40 to 45 locations, reaching 25,000 visitors and serving 130 to 150 schools each year.
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Ahead of the permanent vehicle, a pilot tour is taking place this summer in the South West and North West using an existing mobile museum. The exhibition, Shaped by the Sea, brings together Government Art Collection works exploring the sea’s influence through themes of exploration, migration and climate change. It runs for 13 weeks from 15 June to 13 September 2026, starting in St Budeaux, Plymouth.
The Government Art Collection was established in 1899 and holds historic, modern and contemporary British art displayed in government buildings in the UK and abroad.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said: “The Government Art Collection belongs to the whole country, and this tour is an exciting step towards making that a reality. By taking the collection directly into communities, to parks, schools, libraries and public squares, we’re breaking down the barriers that have kept people from experiencing the art that belongs to everyone.”
Jemima Montagu, director of Art Explora, added: “There remains a growing gap between those who have access to museums, galleries and arts venues, and those who are left behind. Art Explora is trying to bridge this divide by taking art into the heart of communities and sharing our rich national collections more widely.”
The project builds on two previous Art Explora mobile museum tours, run in collaboration with Tate in 2023 and 2024 across the Midlands and the North.
