New Walk Museum and Art Gallery

New Walk Museum and Art Gallery is situated within the historic New Walk area of the city. In 1849 the Literary and Philosophical Society formally presented to the town its various collections, which have grown and developed over the last 150 years into one of the premier museums in the region. New Walk Museum has been the inspiration for many people including Lord Attenborough and Sir David Attenborough, who pursued their love of art and natural history as a result of spending their formative years as regular visitors to the galleries. Leicester's oldest museum has wide-ranging collections spanning the natural and cultural world. The museum has a coffee shop, and is also a venue for musical performances and civil marriage ceremonies.

Current highlights include:

Wild Space
Wild Space is an exciting exhibition that investigates what we mean by the word 'biodiversity'. By looking at different species and the habitats in which they live, we can see how vital they are to the well-being of the planet. Wild Space is an interactive, hands-on, exciting and fun exhibition that brings you up close to the amazing world of nature.

The Mighty Dinosaurs
Walk in the footprints of giants and discover the awesome power of these fascinating creatures and their sea going cousins, the plesiosaurs and ichthyosaurs. Watch out for the mighty Rutland Dinosaur and the 'Barrow Kipper'.

Leicestershire's Rocks
Leicestershire stands over rocks of many different ages and types, some of which are 600 million years old. Discover Leicestershire's rocks and explore a wide variety of fossils and minerals of wondrous colours and qualities.

Ancient Egyptians
Step back in time and explore a civilisation that has lasted for 3,000 years. Come face to face with ancient Egyptians and find out how they lived and died. Mummies, coffins, gods and treasures greet you in the darkened corners of the tunnels. Interactive displays let you guide your discoveries.

The Art Galleries
The new permanent collections galleries entitled 'Our World Through Art' showcases the brightest and best from the collections while the smaller 'Focus' gallery looks in more detail at specific collections, artists and themes in art.

'Expressionism and Beyond' is the new permanent gallery dedicated to showing Leicester's internationally outstanding collection of 20th century German art. The gallery explores the groundbreaking ideas behind Expressionism, showing how these artists perceived the world through heightened colour and inner emotions.

Three striking and powerful artworks, recently acquired by Leicester Arts and Museums Service, are now on display. The first is a rare and sought after woodcut print dated 1914, "Sailing Boat off Fehmarn", by E. L. Kirchner (1880-1938), the brilliant and radical leader of the German Expressionist art group known as Die Brücke (The Bridge). The second work, donated from a private collection, is an etching from 1912-13, "Young Woman with High Hat", by Kirchner's friend and fellow Brücke artist Erich Heckel (1883-1970). Finally the third and perhaps most unusual work is a rare early self-portrait by Ernst Neuschul (1895-1968), entitled "Messias" (Messiah) signed and dated 1919.

The new thematic art gallery will host a rolling programme of exhibitions exploring different aspects of art.

World Arts
The new World Arts gallery provides insights into the vast range of human creativity and skill, which has gone into making and decorating objects across the world.

Gallery Nine
Leicester is one of the most diverse cities in Britain with a remarkable mix of different cultures, faiths and wide-ranging interests. Gallery Nine provides a space for communities to work together with the museum to present their own exhibitions and tell their own stories. Please telephone 0116 225 4900 for details of current exhibitions.

'Discover' - Where Big Ideas Begin
Children aged between 2 and 8 years can make active links between people, other cultures, the natural world and art in 'Discover', a gallery of play, learning and finding out. Activities encourage children and families to interact with the objects and each other, try on new roles and use 'hands-on' exhibits. Paintings, puppets, photos, masks, birds, animals and fossils break down the mystique of 'museum objects', and show that you do not need a degree in art to 'understand' a painting or be an expert scientist to study nature.