Welcome
The Mining Art Gallery will provide a permanent home for the renowned Gemini Collection of Mining Art, which includes more than 420 works by prominent local artists such as Tom McGuinness and Norman Cornish.
Using this powerful imagery the site will help visitors to understand what it felt like to work in the coalmines and shed light on why some miners felt it necessary to paint the dark, clamorous, claustrophobic and arcane world, otherwise denied to the gaze of those above ground.
The Mining Art Gallery will also offer a wide range of opportunities to explore the history of mining and the impact it had, not just on those who worked there, but on County Durham as a whole.
Level access
Hearing
Visual
General
Getting here
Travel by public transport
Travel by taxi
Other Taxi companies are available.
Parking
The nearest carpark is located on North Bondgate. There are further blue badge parking bays located in this carpark. There is level street access, from the car park to the gallery, the route from the car park to the Mining Art Gallery uses public pavements, and involves crossing the road twice. These crossings do have dropped kerbs.
Arrival
Path to main entrance
Main entrance
Getting around inside
Lift
Central Lift
Ticket/ information desk
Welcome Space
Things to See and Do
The Art of Mining - Gallery 1
Coal to Canvas - Gallery 2
A Dangerous Life - Gallery 3
Beneath the Surface - Gallery 4
Face to Face - Gallery 5
Home and Family - Gallery 7
We have a lovely old building and due to the historic stairs we are only able to offer access to this Gallery to one visitor who would require assisted evacuation at a time.
Community Life - Gallery 8
We have a lovely old building and due to the historic stairs we are only able to offer access to this Gallery to one visitor who would require assisted evacuation at a time.
Public toilet
Ground Floor Toilet
Shop
Mining Art Gift Shop
Getting around outside
Customer care support
You are welcome to use compact mobility scooters inside the building.
Larger mobility scooters or wheelchairs that you do not wish to remain seated in while viewing the exhibition can be stored by us at your own risk.
Emergency evacuation procedures
We have an evacuation chair to assist visitors who are unable to use the stairs during an emergency evacuation. In order to provide assisted evacuation a visitor must consent to staff assisting them to move if required from a wheel chair to the evacuation chair. Please do not be offend if a staff member asks you if you would consent to evacuation by evacuation chair in an emergency.
We are therefore only able to offer access to the upper galleries for one visitor at a time requiring assisted evacuation.
Customer care support
Large print booklets containing the content of the information panels on the walls of the galleries, can be found in some galleries.
Hand held illuminated magnifiers are available on request at the front desk.