The 13 best art galleries in Birmingham

It might be time to get your walking shoes on if you’re planning a visit to the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, because this exceptional cultural space offers a wealth of exhibits to explore. Visitors can peruse one of the largest pre-Raphaelite collections in the world, delve into the treasures contained in the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold ever found or head up to the third level for a detailed, hands-on history of the city and its people.

A whole lotta history runs through the veins of the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists. The RBSA was set up in the 1820s, receiving its royal charter in 1868 from Queen Victoria. It’s had a number of famous presidents, including William Morris and John Everett Millais, while King Charles is an honorary member. It moved from its opulent New Street premises to settle in Brook Street in 2000 and, while the modern building might not be quite as beautiful as its former digs, the gallery has a programme of dazzling exhibitions that make up for it.

Ikon, the beating heart of contemporary art in Birmingham, spent the early days of its existence in the mid-1960s hopping all over the city. Since 1997, however, it has been settled into its permanent home in a striking neo-gothic building in Brindleyplace. Set up by a group of creatives from Birmingham School of Art, Ikon’s programmes mix the local with the international. The food isn’t bad, either – the in-house café offers British classics at reasonable prices.

You might not expect one of the country’s finest collections of art to be found within a rather unassuming building on a university campus, but that speaks to the very nature of Birmingham – a city that has great things, but rarely shouts about them. The Barber Institute of Fine Arts, which is free to enter, holds an astonishing collection of paintings, fine prints, miniatures and sculptures, including works by van Gogh, Picasso and Rembrandt. 

In the heart of Birmingham’s Jewellery Quarter, Iron House is a multifaceted art space with a vision worthy of its historic industrial building. Previously a pawn shop and underground nightclub, its latest iteration was founded by a group of gallerists, event managers, marketers and property developers. Fittingly, its rooms incorporate lofty architecture, well-stocked lounge bars and a private bunker; with such a contemporary setting and tons of natural light flooding its atrium, Iron House shows off its works in style.

Re-opened to great fanfare in 2013 after a multi-million-pound makeover, this institution is a work of art in its own right. One of Europe’s largest regional libraries, the Library of Birmingham’s outer shell features a skin of metal hoops stretching across all six storeys. The interior design ranges from sleek and modern funnel to book-lined Hogwarts-esque staircases. The gallery itself is on the third floor, just next to the BFI Mediatheque, and most of the pictures on offer are taken from the library’s significant photographic archive (including work from the likes of Sir Benjamin Stone, Val Williams and Brian Griffin).

On the edge of Cannon Hill Park, the Midlands Arts Centre has been at the centre of Birmingham’s arts community for decades, and once counted Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies, Mr Turner) among its resident directors. Simply put, anyone interested in the fringes of modern theatre should make the MAC one of their first ports of call, as both the main theatre and smaller Hexagon space play host to some of the most cutting-edge theatre companies working today. There’s a small outdoor arena with theatre and live music in summer and a first-floor gallery that’s filled with both touring works and commissions from Midlands artists.

A number of the city’s empty warehouses and factories have been co-opted by creative types looking to use them for artistic purposes. That’s most obviously the case in Digbeth, where a former cabinet maker’s premises on Heath Mill Lane has been transformed into Eastside Projects. Founded in 2008 by a collective of artists that includes Gavin Wade, Ruth Claxton and architect Céline Condorelli, this vast building is the complete opposite of a cosy gallery space. It has two exhibition spaces, hosting four or five shows in each every year.

Tucked away in Digbeth, Stryx is an artist residency, studio and exhibition space that showcases work by female talent. Founded in 2012, its prerogative is to support and develop artists while hosting both regional and national collaborations. The work on display is modern, colourful and unequivocally unique; recent exhibitions have been politicised and culturally aware, ranging from exploring the symbolism of jewellery within diasporas to contemplating consumerism through shopping bags.

Commercial galleries can sometimes be off-putting to art lovers who don’t have a few grand handy, but that’s certainly not the case with the hugely successful chain Castle Fine Art, which began life in the West Midlands. Founder Paul Green was keen to create galleries that could be enjoyed by everybody, whether they wanted to look or buy, and that ethos stayed relevant even as the outlets grew across the country. The Birmingham outpost in the International Convention Centre has been operating for more than two decades, making it one of the city’s longest-running gallery spaces.

The Vivid art collective was formed in 1992 to honour the legacy of the historic Birmingham Film and Video Workshop by producing interdisciplinary work. It closed in 2012 after a loss of funding but this proved a mere bump in the road: Vivid lives on at Digbeth’s Minerva Works in Fazeley Street as a streamlined, but still risk-taking, version of the original masterminded by Yasmeen Baig-Clifford. Vivid Projects has taken over a warehouse along the Warwick Bar canalside, using this momentous space to offer multimedia exhibitions, live performance and debates.

Part of the burgeoning artistic community in and around the Minerva Works in Digbeth, Grand Union is a free gallery that also includes eight purpose-built studios for local artists. As befits the art that’s been flooding out of Eastside these past few years, the work on offer is multidisciplinary – from video to sculpture to audio work. The great appeal of Grand Union, though, is that it’s a living, breathing space occupied by working artists beavering away behind the scenes.

Here’s another to hit up if you happen to be mooching around Digbeth. Part of the aforementioned Minerva Works, Centrala is a gem of an independent exhibition space. Founded in 2012, the gallery is an an internationally recognised arts centre that celebrates Central and Eastern European artists and showcases their art, culture and heritage with a contemporary twist. There are two floors of art to explore, plus an events space and café too.