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The Higgins, formerly known as Cecil Higgins Art Gallery & Bedford Museum, will feature new displays, temporary exhibitions and extensive learning and events programmes.
A new, single entrance foyer will lead through to redeveloped galleries, large activity spaces, a shop, and a cafe.
Brief Overview of The Higgins Art Gallery and Museum
The Higgins Art Gallery and Museum is situated within the Castle Quarter which occupies the site of Bedford Castle to the east of the High Street on the north side of the River Great Ouse Embankment. The Quarter includes the Castle Bailey gardens, the Castle Quay development of apartments, restaurants and shops, the Castle Mound, the John Bunyan Museum and The Art Gallery and Museum itself. The Art Gallery and Museum is scheduled to reopen in spring 2013.
The Higgins Re-branding and Development
A £5.8m project is now allowing the buildings to be joined together and redeveloped throughout, uniting on one site three previous cultural venues: Cecil Higgins Art Gallery, Bedford Museum and Bedford Gallery.
It was felt within the organisation and the council that the new single building needed a new name that encompassed the history of the site and collections while being more straightforward than the interim merged name. 'The Higgins' was chosen for its connection with the site as the Higgins family home and business, and the prominent role the family played in the town including Charles Higgins (1789-1862) being mayor in 1848.
The redevelopment of the Art Gallery and Museum has been a phased process. Phase 1 was completed in April 2009 when Bedford Gallery was reopened. Bedford Gallery, a Grade II listed building and part of the Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum complex, had fallen into disuse in 1973. The reopening of Bedford Gallery as a venue for touring exhibitions, lectures and events gave an insight into what Phase 2 of the reevelopment process could offer.
Phase 2 of the redevelopment has unified three previously separate buildings, Bedford Gallery, Cecil Higgins Art Gallery and Bedford Museum, creating one flagship facility and uniting Bedford's unique collections beneath one roof. Building work began in August 2011. The building work is now complete with a further six months scheduled to refit the new galleries.
Phase 2 of the redevelopment has been made possible through funding from Bedford Borough Council, the Heritage Lottery Fund, Bedford Charity and several other sources.
The new facilty will include increased space for touring and temporary exhibitions, spaces for learning and activities, a new cafe and shop as well as new displays throughout. Among the new displays, nationally significant collections of work by the Victorian architect-designer William Burges and the 20th century designer-printmaker Edward Bawden will be housed in dedicated galleries.
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