After 15 years of providing artists with affordable Central London exhibition space, the Menier Gallery will permanently close its doors in June 2020 to facilitate major preservation and refurbishment works on the Grade II listed Menier Chocolate Factory building.

A space for hire, the Menier Gallery is a non-profit initiative of Paintings in Hospitals. Designed to provide much-needed support for both local and international artists, while playing a pioneering role in the regeneration of the Bankside area, the Menier Gallery has also raised hundreds of thousands of pounds to help Paintings in Hospitals inspire better health and wellbeing for patients and carers across the UK.

Built between 1865-1874, the Menier Chocolate Factory is a former manufacturing site of the Menier Chocolate Company and a building of special national interest. It currently houses the Menier Gallery, two theatres, a restaurant, studios, and the Paintings in Hospitals national office. Last refurbished in 2004, the building is now in need of work for preservation and modernisation which will begin in July 2020.

The Menier Gallery has hosted over 650 diverse art exhibitions so far since it opened under Paintings in Hospitals’ management in 2005: from 20th Century greats like Prunella Clough and Keith Vaughan to cutting-edge emerging artists.

Paintings in Hospitals now provides services to 175 care organisations across the UK and will be relocating in mid-2020 to premises that better suit the growing charity’s needs for modern utilities and flexible infrastructure. Paintings in Hospitals aims to continue its support for artists and will provide updates on its new premises and developments in due course.

Ben Pearce, Director of Paintings in Hospitals, said:

“Both the Menier Gallery and Paintings in Hospitals have grown incredibly since we first arrived at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2005. The gallery now supports hundreds of artists every year, while our charity loans thousands of artworks from our national office to health and social care sites all around the country. We want to thank all artists, designers and visitors who have shown us such generous support over the last 15 years, as well as those who will be working with us at the Menier Chocolate Factory into 2020.”

The Menier Gallery remains open for exhibition and event bookings at the Menier Chocolate Factory throughout 2019 up until 30^th May 2020.