York Art Gallery reopens after £8m refurbishment

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-33746286

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York Art Gallery has reopened to the public after an £8m revamp.

It has been redeveloped to be more spacious and now boasts a new artists' garden and better visitor facilities.

A previously unseen painting by LS Lowry and a ceramic figure by Grayson Perry are among the new exhibits.

Tourists are being charged a £7.50 entrance fee after the body that runs the gallery had its council subsidy cut by 60%. Entrance fees were scrapped in 2002.

A decision on whether people living in York should also be required to pay has been delayed until later in the year.

The gallery, which reopened at 10:00 BST, includes a new Centre of Ceramic Art featuring an installation by Claire Twomey of 10,000 ceramic bowls piled in towering columns and Grayson Perry's figure Melanie.

Three oil paintings by Lowry - Clifford's Tower, Wilson's Terrace and the previously unseen A View of York (From Tang Hall Bridge) - that were commissioned by the gallery in 1952 are being shown together for the first time.

Other notable works by 20th Century artists, including David Hockney, are also on display, along with the gallery's collection of Italian old masters.

York Art Gallery is one of four attractions run by York Museums Trust, which has seen its subsidy from City of York Council fall from £1.5m in 2012 to £600,000 this year.