Friends

Become a Friend and support your gallery

Our Friends membership allows you to attend inspiring talks, private tours, workshops and previews, and enjoy 10% off in the gallery shop and café.

Your support keeps the gallery free and helps us to create exhibitions and programmes that positively impact the lives of local people and encourage our littlest visitors to achieve their full potential.

Join in the gallery shop or on our website and let’s be Friends!

You can’t put a price on friendship, of course, but ours is just £36 a year.

Thank you for giving back!

Discover What’s On for Friends.

Join Manchester Art Gallery Friends and support your gallery

Become a Friend

Treat someone to the gift of Friendship

Treat someone you love to a year full of art with our Friends Gift Box!

Full of gallery goodies and a membership that includes inspiring talks, private tours, workshops, previews. And with a 10% discount in the gallery shop and café, it is the perfect gift that keeps on giving. Boxes begin at £45 for an individual gift membership or £68 for a joint gift membership for two people.

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What’s On for Friends

Friends Tour

Saturday 1 June, 11am

In Your Face! The Provocative and the Larger than Life at Manchester Art Gallery……..from August Rodin to Vivienne Westwood

Only for Manchester Art Gallery Friends.

Join gallery guide John Ward on an odyssey that will begin with a reflection upon the two formidable Rodin sculptures in the gallery’s entrance hall. An exploration of challenging and newly acquired contemporary pieces in Gallery 11 will then follow. But the culmination will be an encounter with three controversial dress designers in our innovative ‘Unpicking Couture’ show; these being Pierre Cardin, Alexander McQueen and Vivian Westwood.

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Friends online Talk

Wednesday 10 April, 6pm

The Enigma of Joseph Wright of Derby and the Mystique of Iconic Paintings

Only for Manchester Art Gallery Friends

Honour the arrival of Chaucer’s “sweet showers of April” by joining us online from the comfort of your own living room.

No artist could ever master the eerie glow in the dark quite like Joseph Wright of Derby and our gallery has three of his paintings, each of which contains elements of mystery. And yet who exactly was this man who suffered repeatedly from bouts of melancholia and would reject membership of the Royal Academy? John Ward will be seeking to bring us to a deeper understanding through an exploration of the painter’s most dramatic works.

If you were asked to name five truly iconic paintings, which ones would you choose ? The Mona Lisa possibly…..or perhaps Girl with a Pearl Earring ? The Hay Wain is much loved of course and from the world of Manchester Art Gallery, we know that Autumn Leaves would score very highly.

Pauline Keeling will be leading us on an intriguing quest to discover why there is such widespread agreement about those works which rightly or wrongly, have become the biggest box office hits.

Become a Friend

New Friends Tour of Manchester Art Gallery

Date to be confirmed

Enjoy a fascinating introduction to the gallery in the company of one of our highly experienced guides who will provide an insight into the galleries and artwork, a peak at the history of the buildings and much more.

Become a Friend

Friends FAQs

Can I give more than £36 per year?

Yes, you can give as much as you like. A year’s membership starts at £36, but you can also become a Best Friend, or even a Patron, and add as much as you like to your memberships as an additional donation.

Can Friends Get Involved in Volunteering?

We couldn’t do what we do at the gallery without volunteers. Whether delivering guided Friends tours of our collections and exhibitions; supporting, and taking part in, our popular online talks; or assisting other gallery departments, our volunteers help the gallery on a daily basis.

Let’s Be Friends

Stay in touch—follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram

If you have any further questions about membership please email our Friends Coordinator at [email protected]