A year ago this week, the extended, refurbished and conserved Gainsborough’s House museum & galleries re-opened to the public.

And what a year it’s been. The wonderful new galleries and facilities have helped propel us into the front rank of Britain’s regional art galleries – and to anchor Sudbury even more firmly on the visitor map. Indeed, visitor numbers to the site over the past year have been more than we could have hoped for: double those who came in the last, pre-Covid year of 2019.

Our new buildings have been praised by critics and institutions across the board. We have been shortlisted for a number of prestigious museum and architectural awards, and last week we won the fiercely-contested category of ‘Restoration of a Georgian Building in an Urban Context’ at the Georgian Group Awards 2023 in London.

As Director Dr Steven Parissien notes: ‘Our new exhibitions, staged in our new, environmentally-controlled exhibition galleries which are the envy of many other galleries nationwide, celebrate the best of old and new, with the sharp, acid wit of Regency cartoonist James Gillray being nicely complemented by the calming compositions of the current President of the Royal Academy, Rebecca Salter. And these shows have already won the plaudits of critics both regionally and nationally.’

The museum has also launched a new, wide-ranging programme of museum activities, ranging from talks to films, family activities, and schools’ projects, to attract visitors of all ages, and to ensure that the arts thrive at the centre of our community.

To encourage families and younger people to visit, we are now offering free entry to the whole of the museum to everyone aged 18 and under.

All this will, we hope, help us to spread a keen awareness of Sudbury’s cultural heritage and potential to both young and old.