Williamson Art Gallery

Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize
2025-11-14 10:00 - 2026-02-21 17:00 UTC | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
The Williamson is delighted to be hosting the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize 2025 for its only exhibition outside of London.
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize has an established reputation as the UK’s most important annual open exhibition for drawing. Established in 1994 by artist and Professor Anita Taylor, currently Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design at the University of Dundee, and Director of Drawing Projects UK, the annual Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize celebrates talent and excellence in current drawing practice.
The exhibition provides an important platform for artists, designers, makers, architects and other drawing practitioners as a catalyst within their careers, and champions the role, breadth, and value of drawing in creative practices today.
The 2025 awards were announced on 8th October 2025, totalling £27,000 awarded to artists working in contemporary drawing.
The Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize is supported by the Trinity Buoy Wharf Trust – and 2025 marks the 8th year of their generous support for the annual open drawing exhibition.

About the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize

Wirral Libraries Story Patchwork Project
2025-12-17 08:00 - 2026-01-02 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
Introducing Wirral Libraries Story Patchwork Project celebrating Wirral Borough of Culture!
In January 2024, to celebrate library communities, Wirral Libraries hatched an adventure with a message to borrowers and social media followers to create a patch depicting what they
loved about Wirral- YOUR STORY/YOUR WIRRAL

Every single patch handed in was incorporated into the final Story Patchwork which has been touring Wirral since October 2024, promoting the libraries and celebrating the people, places and communities.
When we think of libraries we think of words but there are more ways to tell a story. Residents aged 4-94 drew, painted, stitched, stuck and wrote to tell their stories in the ways they could.
These patchwork stories are now on display at the Williamson Art Gallery until the New Year. After seeing the patches, people have been encouraged to visit places on The Wirral they had not been before or to revisit places they remember from their past.
Find out more about Wirral Libraries

Loyalty
2026-01-15 10:00 - 2026-05-23 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
Loyalty: An Exhibition of Paintings by Steve des Landes

Steve des Landes has been Artist in Residence at the Williamson since early 2025.
This major solo exhibition will include new artwork created in the gallery, alongside more than forty paintings from his recent practice. Together they will present an insight into his bold and singular representations of the human condition.
The exhibition will focus on des Landes representations of figures in the landscape. The people in his paintings are unsentimental; and the artist’s narratives evolve to give an insight into the complex emotional lives of his characters. His paintings are energetic and restless, inviting a constantly evolving dialogue between the painting, artist and viewer.
Des Landes’ personal artistic vision holds a deep connection with the landscape of the Liverpool City Region. His recent move to a studio at the Williamson is part of a continuing journey of engaging with the artistic landscape of the area, which began when he joined the Liverpool Artist’s Workshops in the late 1980s.
The latter cemented his position as an artist with a deep personal psychology and social angle to his work, which continues to be present in his paintings.
View the Exhibition Catalogue online
View Steve des Landes’ Instagram
TAKE THE ART HOME:
Many of Steve’s paintings included in this exhibition are for sale. You can view and purchase online, or speak to a member of staff in the gallery.
Shop Now

Steve des Landes is represented by David Messum Fine Art.
Visit their website.

EVENTS:
In Conversation with Steve des Landes and Angela Samata. Friday 13th March, 6pm, free but booking essential. Book Now
The exhibition will be accompanied by a programme of events including open studios.

Beyond the Brotherhood: The Legacies of the Pre-Raphaelites
2026-01-23 10:00 - 2026-11-07 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
Formed in 1848, the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, shook the foundations of the British art world with their bold colour palettes, truth to nature, and symbolism.
The Williamson collection holds some of the finest examples of works showing this artistic legacy.
The exhibition will also showcase the various ways in which Merseyside has been influenced by, and instrumental in forging new directions for these legacies.
This will include Birkenhead’s Della Robbia Pottery Company, and the ‘Liverpool School’ of landscape painters.

Echoes of the Floating World
2026-02-04 10:00 - 2027-02-06 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
The Williamson possesses a small but notable collection of woodblock prints in the Japanese Ukiyo-e style.
These were made by some of the most important names in the period, from Hiroshige to Hokusai.
Their motifs of flat perspectives, high vantage points, and bold colour distinctions, were a radical influence across European art, including by artists from Wirral.
As such, this exhibition will show local artworks alongside Ukiyo-e prints, communicating how Wirral artists have been influenced by, and in dialogue with, artists from across the world.

Ends 6th February 2027

The Portrait Paradox
2026-02-14 10:00 - 2026-05-09 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
The Portrait Paradox brings together portraits from the Williamson’s collection and Liverpool-based artist Adrian Jeans’ portrait-based sculpture, drawing, photography and video.
Jeans says: “Influenced by the Williamson’s fascinating art collection, I have been inspired by an under-acknowledged progressiveness in portraiture.
At its best it challenges the norms of the time and The Portrait Paradox will show how I and others have taken portraiture beyond a simplistic paradigm and used it to explore our wider humanity”

EVENTS: Click here to BOOK

Follow Adrian

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Frances Carlile: Passage
2026-03-09 10:00 - 2026-07-04 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
Passage is an installation of beautiful and delicate vessel and house structures by environmental artist Frances Carlile. Together they evoke the many types of journeys taken by individuals during their lifetime, and symbolise the transient passage between life and death.
Each one has been handcrafted using organic material collected during the artist’s own journeys through the landscape, including along the coastline of North Wales and Wirral.

Events:
Saturday 11th April, 12-3pm – Drop-in ‘paper bag boat’ workshop. Free, no booking required
Information

Guest Artist: Jo Williams
2026-05-09 10:00 - 2026-08-08 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
Our new Guest Artist is Jo Williams creator of Heavenly Vessels.
“I have been making ceramics for 35 years and it feels as integral to me as breathing or walking; I make pots every single day.
I throw all my pots on the potters wheel and I spend a lot of time getting the surface right before decorating with oxides. I use repetitive marks which is reminiscent of deep, inky marks on damp paper but also sometimes reminds me of Indian woodblock printing. I apply all of the marks individually, one at a time. All my pots are glazed eternally with a soft satin white glaze, contrasting with the outer, unglazed surface.”
You can find a selection Jo’s handmade ceramics on display and to purchase at the Williamson.
May – 8th August

More about HEAVENLY VESSELS

Follow Jo on Instagram

The Garden As Muse
2026-05-30 10:00 - 2026-07-25 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
For centuries, gardens in their myriad forms, from the surreal, to the mystical, contemplative or mythical, have had profound impacts upon artists of all kinds. They act as sources of inspiration and as mirrors reflecting the cultural, social and emotional landscapes in which they were created.

This exhibition traces how artists across time have interpreted gardens not merely as physical spaces, but as symbols of creativity and solace. From delicate, nostalgic studies to immersive and grand paintings, these pieces reveal how gardens can function both as sanctuaries and laboratories of artistic experimentation.

Drawing exclusively from the Williamson’s rich and varied collection, The Garden as Muse invites visitors to wander through these imagined and observed worlds, celebrating the enduring allure of the garden as a site where art and nature meet, influence one another, and continue to grow in unexpected ways.

Small Wonders: Reimagining British Art
2026-06-05 10:00 - 2026-07-25 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
In 1951, the Festival of Britain acted as a beacon of post-war hope, launching a landmark touring exhibition that brought world-class art to local museums and art centres across the UK. Seventy-five years later, Hayward Gallery Touring honours this legacy with Small Wonders: Reimagining British Art, a contemporary reimagining of that original vision.
The exhibition brings together 50 acclaimed artists who have participated in the British Art Show – the UK’s definitive five-year curated survey of contemporary art – since its inception in 1979. Taking inspiration from Marcel Duchamp’s Boîte-en-valise – a “portable museum” contained within a suitcase – each artist has created a new, small-scale work that responds to their original British Art Show presentation. The result is a condensed yet expansive overview of a half-century of British art history.

Alongside Small Wonders, there will also be an exhibition of 21 exquisite photogravure prints of major drawings by Georgia O’Keeffe. One of the most important artists in 20th-century American art, O’Keeffe balanced abstraction with figuration and tenaciously pursued her innovative style.
The 21 drawings featured in this exhibition were made between 1915 and 1963, spanning the period when O’Keeffe established herself as a major figure in American Modernism. O’Keeffe worked with her agent and long-term friend Doris Bry (1920 – 2014) to produce this sublime collection of photogravures of the drawings, which charts key trajectories and motifs in her practice.

Williamson Open 2026
2026-07-24 10:00 - 2026-10-10 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
The exhibition is now open!!!

The Williamson Open returns for 2026! Our much-loved annual exhibition showcases the best in art and photography made by artists across the Liverpool City Region.

Take It Home: Many of the artworks in the Open are available to buy. You can view and purchase artworks online as well as in-person this year.

View the Online Catalogue

On purchases made in the gallery, we offer the Own Art scheme.

Own Art is a national initiative, supported by Arts Council England, to make it easy and affordable for anyone and everyone to buy contemporary art and craft by providing interest-free loans.
Choose the artwork you love, apply for a loan from as little as £250 and pay it back over 10 months, completely interest-free.

Find out more about the scheme and eligibility criteria: www.ownart.org.uk

Please note that Own Art cannot be applied to online artwork purchases.

Coming soon- Leonard McComb: Nature & Humanity
2026-08-14 10:00 - 2026-10-31 17:00 | Williamson Art Gallery, Slatey Rd, Oxton, Birkenhead, Merseyside, CH43 4UE, United Kingdom
The Williamson Art Gallery & Museum will present the largest ever exhibition of work by one of the most important British artists of the 20th century, Leonard McComb.
Leonard McComb: Nature and Humanity will include the best works from the artist’s estate, as well as choice loans from major public and private collections, over 60 of the artist’s best pieces, including painting, watercolour, drawings, and sculpture, will be brought together. These will include ‘Rock and Sea Anglesey’, from Oriel Môn, which, measuring over 10 metres long, is the largest drawing on paper held by any UK public collection. There will also be a selection of choice loans from Manchester Art Gallery and the Royal Academy.
The loans are supported by the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund. Created by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund, the Weston Loan Programme is the first ever UK-wide funding scheme to enable smaller and local authority museums to borrow works of art and artefacts from national collections. The exhibition is a collaboration with Art Space Gallery| Michael Richardson Contemporary Art and the Estate of Leonard McComb RA.
Leonard McComb RA (1930-2018) received acclaim and accolades throughout his career for his work in different mediums including painting, drawing and sculpture. This exhibition at the Williamson will have a particular focus on McComb’s ecological outlook, which can be found throughout his work. Whether portrait, still life, landscape, or sculpture, McComb’s work demonstrates his beliefs on the beauty, energy, and interconnectedness of all life.
Curator Josh Mackarell says that “we are delighted to be able to bring this major exhibition of an important and celebrated artist to Merseyside. McComb’s work is not just relevant to our modern times for its beauty and technical brilliance, but also because its environmental outlook speaks to the fundamental debates of our time.”
The exhibition will open on Friday 14th August 2026 and run until Saturday 31st October.

Opening December 2026: You Gotta Get a Gimmick: The Paul O’Grady Story
2026-12-04 10:00 - 17:00 | Merseyside
“This free exhibition will be Paul’s gift to his hometown”
A major exhibition delving into the private archive of Paul O’Grady, revealing his life in front of and behind the cameras will open in his hometown of Birkenhead at the end of this year. You Gotta Get A Gimmick – The Paul O’Grady Story will be a free exhibition at Williamson Art Gallery and will open on 4 December 2026.

The exhibition, featuring a wider community and participation programme, will give a first glimpse into the extensive archive of Paul, contextualising him as an LGBTQIA+ icon, an award-winning broadcaster, passionate activist and someone who gave a voice to the voiceless, particularly those with four paws. From Tranmere to the Royal Vauxhall Tavern, the “blonde bombsite of Birkenhead” to Battersea Dog’s Home, the exhibition will present Paul O’Grady is one of Britain’s most cherished, and significant cultural figures.
Birkenhead is at the heart of Paul O’Grady’s story, whether it is the acid tongue of Lily Savage, the humour and activism of Paul as a presenter and entertainer, the determination to stand up for a cause and the working-class identity at his core. Premiering the exhibition in the town has been the central ambition of the curatorial team, and The Paul O’Grady Estate with a commitment to keeping access free.

Early Years
Paul James O’Grady was born to Molly and Paddy on 14 June 1955 in Birkenhead and was brought up in a close-knit Irish Catholic household in Tranmere. The youngest of three children, he first attended St Joseph’s Catholic Primary School in Prenton and then St. Anselm’s College in Birkenhead, which was founded by the Christian Brothers. After leaving school Paul worked in a variety of jobs including being a clerk in the Magistrates Courts and a care worker in a Children’s Convalescent Home in West Kirby.

Crossover into mainstream
Set against the turbulent social and political landscape of 1980s Britain, the exhibition charts the rise of Lily Savage within the context of Section 28 and widespread homophobia. Lily Savage emerged as a defiant response to the era’s unrest, channelling working-class resilience into high-glamour, razor-sharp satire.
As we mark the 60th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, the exhibition places Paul O’Grady at the vanguard of LGBTQIA+ visibility. It maps the moment queer culture crossed over from the pub and club underground into the collective heart of the British public, forever altering the national cultural fabric.
Lily’s television career included hosting “The Lily Savage Show” (BBC); “Lily Live” (ITV); and “Lily Savage’s Blankety Blank”. After resting Lily, Paul O’Grady’s career flourished in many directions from the BAFTA award-winning “The Paul O’Grady Show”, “Paul O’Grady: For the Love of Dogs” and “Paul O’Grady’s Little Heroes” to name but a few. He also had a definitive decade-long residency on BBC Radio 2, making him one of the most significant cultural figures of his generation.
He has written four volumes of his autobiography and in 2017 “Paul O’Grady’s Country Life” was published. Paul’s children’s books about Eddie Albert focus on a boy who lives with his dad after his mum has died and who finds he has the ability to talk to animals. They are his friends and they have adventures together which include rescuing a baby orangutan from a cruel owner. Paul wanted his books to encourage children to be kind to animals as well as wanting to support children who are bullied in school or who feel they don’t fit in.
Despite all his success which undoubtedly changed his life he remained passionate about speaking out when he considered people were being treated unjustly and in his TV series about the Working Class and “The Sally Army and Me” he wanted to highlight the day to day struggles of ordinary people and show the hard work that goes on often unnoticed by the powers that be.

The Archive: Craft, Costume, and Character
For the first time, the public is invited to engage with the meticulous craft behind the persona. The exhibition brings together a unique selection of items from Paul O’Grady’s archive:

Iconic Wardrobe: Original Lily Savage and pantomime costumes that defined an era of British drag.
Media: Rare footage, scripts, photography, and oral histories documenting LGBTQIA+ activism and working-class life and entertainment.
Private World: An intimate look at Paul’s personal eclectic collection of objects, figurines, and puppets, revealing the influences that shaped his creative psyche.

A Living Heritage
Thanks to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, this exhibition will spread from behind the gallery walls to document Paul’s legacy and the lived experience of his peers and community. Through a series of oral history sessions, the exhibition documents the lived experiences of the local LGBTQIA+ community, ensuring Paul O’Grady’s legacy is intertwined with the heritage of the Northwest and the Royal Vauxhall Tavern. The exhibition will be accompanied by a year-long public programme of Talking Heads, music, performance and cabaret to inspire and platform the next generation of queer talent alongside reading clubs of Paul O’Grady children’s books in libraries across the Wirral. good causes by National Lottery players to make a decisive difference for people, places and communities.
With thanks to National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England
