Government Art Collection celebrates 125th anniversary with two public exhibitions announced

• Artworks to be displayed at Bradford Council’s Cartwright Hall Art Gallery have been selected by young people from across the district
• A second exhibition at The National Archives will showcase pieces commissioned to mark His Majesty The King’s Coronation in 2023

The Government Art Collection has announced that Bradford Council’s Cartwright Hall Art Gallery will host a public exhibition of artwork from the Collection, as it celebrates its landmark 125th anniversary today. 

Selected by 125 young people aged between four and 25 from across the Bradford district, the exhibition will detail why the young people found these works of art engaging in their own words. The selected artworks will be on display and free to visit from 31 January as part of the Bradford district’s year as UK City of Culture 2025. 

It has been facilitated by Cartwright Hall’s Healthy Mind Collective, a group of young people working across the Bradford district and Craven to support children, communities and schools with their mental health and wellbeing. The exhibition will detail why the young people found these works of art engaging in their own words. 

In May 2025, a second free public exhibition by the Government Art Collection will open at The National Archives in Kew, London. Showcasing pieces commissioned for the Coronation of Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla, artwork by leading British and British-based artists will be on display, including Vanley Burke, Joy Gerrard, Sophie Gerrard, Mohamed Hassan, Dale Lewis, Hew Locke, Cornelia Parker and Leslie Thompson. 

This exhibition will run for six months, with a programme specifically designed to engage schools and young people. The artworks capture events that took place over the Coronation weekend and covered the breadth of the UK, from London and Birmingham, to Belfast and rural communities in Scotland.

Arts Minister Sir Chris Bryant said: 

“Showing off the phenomenal work of some of our great artists is a vital part of explaining to the world how much we value our creative industries.

“The Government Art Collection has supported artists from across the UK for 125 years, putting them on the world stage and giving them the recognition and opportunities they deserve. 

“We are determined to ensure that arts and culture are available to all, not just the privileged few. I look forward to visiting these exhibitions in the New Year and seeing what the young people of Bradford District have selected from the Collection. I would encourage as many people as possible to take this opportunity to see these exhibitions for themselves.”

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s Executive Member for Healthy People and Places said: 

“The young people of our district are such an asset in their approach to art and culture, so it’s only right that they have been involved in bringing these pieces together for this exhibition, especially at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery where a young David Hockney found such inspiration. We are so looking forward to our district’s year as UK City of Culture for 2025.”

Jill Iredale, Curator at Bradford Council’s Cartwright Hall Art Gallery said: 

“The Government Art Collection contains outstanding examples covering the breadth and diversity of art being produced by artists working in Britain today. Being able to access this resource and discuss with young people across the district has been a real pleasure.”

The Government Art Collection was established in 1899 and is a national collection of historic, modern and contemporary British art that is displayed in government buildings in the UK and around the world. These locations include government departments, and the residences of British Ambassadors, High Commissioners and Consulates-General in over 125 countries worldwide.

Originally the Collection had a ‘decorative’ purpose, but is now a unique cultural resource, providing a diverse selection of British art which shows the vibrancy and range of our artistic life and heritage. It is committed to acquiring artworks that reflect the diversity of artistic practice across the Union.

The Collection works alongside Ambassadors and Ministers, to make powerful cultural connections with the location of an art display, to reflect the breadth of British history and creativity in the visual arts and make a powerful contribution to UK soft power worldwide. The works are seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors annually, promoting British art and contributing to cultural diplomacy. 

Since 2020, the Government Art Collection has focused on supporting artists at all stages of their career from across the UK. Since 2020, over 100 artists and 200 artworks have entered the Collection thanks to a number of innovative partnerships. Partnerships include the Robson Orr TenTen Award and Art X-UK, in collaboration with the Contemporary Visual Arts Network (CVAN) and similar networks in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. 

The Collection has consistently taken art out of traditional museum environments and taken them into community spaces through projects like City of Culture, and into schools and, for the next three years, it will take part in a research initiative, measuring the impact of bringing artworks directly to students.

Further details on the exhibitions at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery and The National Archives will be published in due course.