Hi everyone,

March is here and signs of spring are all around us—from daffodils emerging to the exciting new exhibitions opening at Museum & Art Swindon!

Keep reading to discover our latest exhibitions, upcoming events, family activities and more.

We hope you enjoy this newsletter and look forward to seeing you soon!

The Museum & Art Swindon Team

The Swindon Stegosaur has returned!

That’s right—you read that correctly! We’re thrilled to announce a new acquisition at Museum & Art Swindon: a vertebra from a stegosaur found right here in Swindon.

With the help of Dr Neville and Sally Hollingworth, we have identified this vertebra (or backbone) as belonging to Dacentrurus, a stegosaur that lived during the Jurassic era, approximately 154 million years ago.

You can now see this incredible piece of Swindon’s Jurassic past on display in our Swindon Rocks gallery.

Opening 11th March 2025

Our new exhibition drawing from the art collection of Museum & Art Swindon opens on the 11th March. Looking at how artists in Britain, responded to the turbulent changes of the 20th century, and how the new creative ideas were shifting how people made and experienced art across the whole of Europe.

A Very British Art Revolution includes work from the Bloomsbury Group, including Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant; pioneers of abstraction Ivon Hitchens and Ben Nicholson; and radical responses to British land and townscapes by artists such as John Piper, Graham Sutherland, and Julian Trevelyan.

This exhibition is FREE to view and is open Tuesday to Saturday 10:30am to 4:30pm.

Open now!

The Friends of Museum & Art Swindon have co curated a new art exhibition, featuring works from the Museum & Art Swindon Collection.

Taking inspiration from the Arts Council's 1950s Chairman Sir Kenneth Clark quote "They take art seriously in Swindon", and in this exhibition the Friends of Museum & Art Swindon are proud to present a selection of works from the collection which illustrates his point.

This exhibition is FREE to view and is open Tuesday to Saturday 10:30am to 4:30pm.

Open now!

This exhibition is FREE to view and is open Tuesday to Saturday 10:30am to 4:30pm.

The Museum offers lots of fun things for Swindon families to do!

• Trail sheets from Reception – earn a sticker by discovering fascinating stories and objects around the Museum. Trails change regularly. Free!
• Activity resources from Reception – try our ’30 things to do at Museum & Art Swindon’ or our fiendishly difficult ‘Challenge Cards’!
• Interactive galleries – build a Roman mosaic from Lego, grind grain like an Anglo-Saxon, dress up as a historical character!
• Activity Space Drop-Ins – free activities linked to the Museum collections – most Saturdays
• Family workshops during school holidays

Visit the Museum website for more information.

We were delighted to launch our brand new learning programme for schools and colleges recently. Schools can now visit the Museum to explore a range of topics and subjects across the key stages, from discovering Swindon’s Jurassic sea monsters and fossils, to meeting Anglo-Saxon warriors and going on an Art Adventure! We offer visits for KS1, 2, 3, 4 and post-16 students. Full details of the school programme are available on our website.

We are working with Swindon teachers to provide CPD opportunities and develop a network for sharing teaching ideas and practice, as part of our commitment to increase children’s access to cultural heritage in the Borough. We recently welcomed 50 Swindon primary teachers to the Museum to find out about our learning programme and collections. As part of our Teaching Programme, we are looking for teachers to join our friendly Teacher Advisory Group and will be holding free Teach Meet events to develop particular areas of teaching practice linked to the Museum’s collections.

Teaching ‘The Romans’ – Tues 22^nd April – 4.30pm to 6pm at Museum & Art Swindon

Teaching ‘Rocks and Fossils’ – Thur 9^th Oct – 4.30pm to 6pm at Museum & Art Swindon

Full details of the Teacher Programme are available on our website.

Remember to follow us on social media for the latest updates and sneak peeks of what’s to come!

We look forward to seeing you at Museum & Art Swindon and sharing our new space with you. Thank you for your continued support, enthusiasm and excellent first month!

Best regards,

Museum & Art Swindon