There's less than a week left to visit Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens before it closes its doors to allow preparations to begin for its exciting £13.6m transformation.
Before work gets underway, residents and visitors are being invited to make one last visit to the museum, explore their favourite exhibits and enjoy a stroll through the popular Winter Gardens before the venue closes its doors to the public.
To mark the occasion, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens is hosting a special Alice in Wonderland Farewell Party on its last day, Saturday 29 August, celebrating the memories, creativity and community that have made the museum such a special place for generations of visitors.
Visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of family-friendly activities throughout the day, including:
Delicious homemade cakes from Sunshine Cooperative
Taking part in a community art project with local artist Kerry Cook
The chance to write a ‘love letter to the museum’, sharing their favourite memories and reflections. These will become part of a special commemorative scrapbook celebrating the museum's story
Making Walrus badges
Viewing the exciting new designs for the museum
In the Winter Gardens, there will be a final opportunity to experience the thought-provoking 404 Birdsong Exhibition, exploring our relationship with nature and sounds.
Meanwhile, Just Let Your Soul Grow CIC will be hosting a Mad Hatter's Garden Party in the Community Garden. Families can create their own nature crowns, help make a muddy mural and enjoy outdoor activities inspired by Alice's adventures.
Councillor Ciera Hudspith, Cabinet Member for Culture, Tourism and Heritage at Sunderland City Council, said:
Our celebration event will have something for everyone as we say a temporary farewell to the museum we know and love. We’d like as many people as possible to help us mark this important milestone as we look forward to its exciting future and celebrate everything the museum means to us all across the city.
While the building itself is closed, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens will continue to play a central role in city life through a vibrant programme of events, exhibitions, learning opportunities and community activities, ahead of its planned reopening in late 2028.
The museum will be taking its handling collection, stories and expertise directly into communities across Sunderland through an ambitious outreach programme. Activities will include family, young people and adult activities at Culture House Sunderland which opens 12 September, loan boxes for schools, pop-up museum events, workshops, and talks in community and partner venues.
A team of Museum Redevelopment Champions is being recruited from the community to give opportunities for people to help shape ideas and research new content.
Residents can look forward to a wide-ranging programme of activities across the city, including the Women in Work: Pyrex project exploring Sunderland's industrial heritage through a co-created digital exhibition and podcast series; a Then and Now Photography Project capturing the changing face of Sunderland through the eyes of local people; and a new Sunderland Stories on Tour programme bringing collections, creative workshops and object-handling sessions into community venues across Sunderland.
Young people will be invited to work with artists to co-create public artworks inspired by the collections through an Urban Art Project and select themed objects and stories for community outreach boxes in the Museum Makers Programme.
Schools will continue to access museum learning through classroom workshops, assemblies, downloadable resources and free Museum in a Box loans, ensuring Sunderland's collections continue to inspire children and young people throughout the redevelopment period.
Visitors will even be able to go behind the scenes, with special hard hat tours offering a rare opportunity to see the redevelopment in progress, and learn about the specialist skills involved in conserving and transforming a historic museum building.
Councillor Hudspith, added:
This once-in-a-generation transformation is about creating a museum that is fit for the future, while protecting its heritage and collections for generations to come.
"While we know people will be sad to see the museum temporarily close, this marks the beginning of an exciting new chapter for one of our best-loved attractions.
"The plans for the museum's future have been shaped by local people from the very beginning, stories from the collections have been shaped by our young curators, and we can't wait to welcome visitors back to an even better museum when the transformation is complete.
The redevelopment will transform the museum's ground floor, creating new galleries that showcase Sunderland's stories, people and rich heritage.
Plans also include a new entrance connecting the museum to Mowbray Park and a new community learning facility, The Growing Space, alongside improvements to the museum collections, interpretation, and overall visitor experience.
The closure period will also enable essential repairs and upgrades to the historic building, helping to secure its future for generations to come.
The £13.6m project has been made possible thanks to support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, alongside funding from Arts Council England, The Wolfson Foundation, Friends of Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens and other partners.
Throughout the closure, museum collections as well as the Winter Gardens Plants and Tropical Fish will continue to be professionally cared for through ongoing conservation, monitoring and collections management, with items relocated and stored where necessary.
Further details regarding the café and Sea Change's plans for their WEAR site in Vine Place will be announced seperately.
For the latest updates and a list of FAQs, visit: https://www.sunderlandculture.org.uk/sunderland-museum-winter-gardens/
For details of family and adult activities at Culture House Sunderland, visit: https://www.sunderlandculture.org.uk/sunderland-museum-winter-gardens/whats-on/
