Dulwich Picture Gallery's £5M Open Art Project Adds Land Art and Children's Pavilion

The Dulwich Picture Gallery, the UK's first public art museum when it opened in 1817, is undergoing a £5 million transformation called Open Art. The project focuses on the surrounding park, adding a permanent ArtPlay Pavilion by Carmody Groarke for children up to 8, designed by HoLD Collective (Sarah Marsh and Stephanie Jefferies) and inspired by collection paintings. The park will also feature the Lovington Sculpture Meadow by landscape architect Kim Wilkie, a 'forest' with 130 trees and a land art installation referencing Rembrandt's Girl at a Window (1645). Artists Amy Stephens and Harold Offeh are involved. The Gallery Cottage becomes The Canteen for school lunches and weekend family café. A new entrance on Gallery Road, geothermal heating, and solar panels with local timber frames enhance sustainability. The museum, which receives no government funding, aims to double visitor numbers and secure economic sustainability. Work began in late 2024 and will complete by early September 2025, with a public opening weekend on September 6-7. The collection of 600 works includes Canaletto, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, and Poussin, assembled by Noel Desenfans and Francis Bourgeois.