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AS RESTORATION work on one of Liverpool’s architectural jewels nears completion, curators are preparing to fill it with some of the University of Liverpool’s most precious artworks.
The £8.5m revamp of the Victoria Building is well under way and expected to be open to the public next June.
It will house a museum and art gallery, showcasing pieces from the university collection, including reliefs of dinosaur footprints, X-rays of Tutankhamen’s mummified body and artwork from international artists.
Building work started earlier in the year and is due to finish in November, when the collection will start to be brought together.
Matthew Clough, Director of Art and Heritage Collections, said: “It is all starting to take shape.
“Contractors came on site in January and a lot has been achieved.
“The building was design by Alfred Waterhouse and is a beautiful piece of architecture – the interior will be stunning once it is finished.
“You can start to see the details, like the cornices, taking shape already.”
The first floor of the building will house the university’s art collections, including early English watercolours, ceramics, fine art, silver and furniture.
Tate Hall, on the second floor, originally created as a library using funds provided by sugar magnate Henry Tate, will also be restored to accommodate items from the university’s heritage collection.
The skeleton of the 1899 Grand National winner, Manifesto, will also be exhibited at Tate Hall.
The heritage collection also includes some of nature’s most unusual creatures, such as a Tasmanian Devil and a rare reptile from the southern hemisphere known as a sphenodon.
The main entrance hall, which is extensively decorated with Victorian tiles, will provide an impressive opening to the building.
The original women’s common room, with spectacular windows and Victorian tiled pillars supporting Gothic arches, will become home to the ceramics and silver collections.
Paintings by Joseph Wright, JMW Turner and the largest collection outside the US of oil paintings by the seminal American wildlife artist John James Audubon, will feature alongside works by 20th century artists including Jacob Epstein, Lucien Freud and Elizabeth Frink in the new gallery.
As well as a striking new entrance on Ashton Street, there will be a cafe and a glass lift installed inside the building’s clock tower, which is currently being constructed.
The ground floor will also accommodate headquarters for the university’s Widening Participation team, which encourages and supports non-traditional potential students and people who would not normally consider going to university.
Primary and secondary school children taking part in Widening Participation projects will also be able to explore the museum and gallery collections.
Mr Clough added: “Our art collections used to be housed in a Georgian house on Abercrombie Square and there was not much space, so it will be fantastic for the city and the university to have this building finished in time for the Capital of Culture.”
Source:
Liverpool Daily Post
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