Our Audiences
One of the principle aims of Portrait of the Nation is to place our visitors' enjoyment, inspiration and education at the heart of everything we do. We want the new Portrait Gallery to be used by as many people as possible. The gallery was built as a celebration of, and gift to, the Scottish people - and its core subject is all about people. Our displays will appeal to existing and first time visitors, and we will use the web to reach out to audiences who may seldom come in to the Portrait Gallery in person.
On site, the dedicated Education Suite, Auditorium, IT Gallery and Research and Learning Centre - all new facilities - will enable us to offer an expanded and far more comprehensive service for school groups and adult learners.
Our Collection
Portrait of the Nation will mean a dramatic increase in gallery space. This will allow us to show many more works than we do now and is an opportunity to rethink how we display them.
We will spend the next two years working on creating interesting and accessible new displays around 5 broad ‘Key Areas' - Reformation, Enlightenment, Empire, Modernity and Contemporary. There will be a new emphasis on Scottish art and on photography and an Introductory Gallery will help visitors plan their time and explore the displays. Displays will change more frequently than at present, so there should always be something different to see.
The Building
The Scottish National Portrait Gallery building was opened to the public in July 1889. It was designed by renowned Scottish architect Sir Robert Rowand Anderson (1834-1921) as the first purpose-built national portrait gallery in the world. Over its 120 year existence, the interior of the building has been subject to various changes and alterations, and has never undergone a serious overhaul. Since its beginning the building has also been shared with the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and their museum.
With the Society and its museum now part of National Museums Scotland, and the space no longer needed for their collection, the opportunity has arisen for the Portrait Gallery restore and reopen large areas of the building, and thereby show much more of its extensive collection.
In 2008 Glasgow Architects PagePark won the competition to renovate and restore Rowand Anderson's Arts and Crafts masterpiece. Construction work will begin in September 2009.
A Greener Gallery
One of the exciting features of Portrait of the Nation is our commitment to advanced environmental principles. Traditionally, museums and galleries have tried to maintain very rigid levels of temperature and relative humidity. Now, we can use the passive control offered by the building itself (its bulk and structure buffering the internal environment from external conditions) and the air conditioning plant need only operate at low level.
