History
It was founded by Robert Darbishire with a donation from Sir Joseph Whitworth in 1889, as The Whitworth Institute and Park.The first building was completed in 1908. In 1958 the gallery became part of the University of Manchester.
In October 1995 a Mezzanine Court in the centre of the building was opened. This new gallery, designed chiefly for the display of sculpture, won a RIBA regional award. In 2010 the art gallery received 172,000 visitors, making it one of Greater Manchester's ten most-visited tourist attractions.
The Gallery plans to build a new extension which will be operational by 2015 and will double the gallery's public space. An architectural competition was launched in 2008 and funding was secured in February 2011. The new extension will provide more space for displaying the 55,000 items in the gallery's collection and link the building to Whitworth Park.
Read more about this topic: Whitworth Art Gallery
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