Bristol's oldest gallery has reopened following an extensive multimillion-pound refurbishment project to make the building more accessible.
Work began on Clifton's the Royal West of England Academy (RWA) in May last year after three years of fundraising to finance the most significant development at the Grade II-listed building in more than a century. It reopened to the public on Bank Holiday Monday (May 2) following a nine-month £4.1million transformation to make the space safer and more accessible, without which the gallery may have faced permanent closure.
The original projected costs of the 'Light and Inspiration' capital project were £3.8million. But the Covid pandemic, supply chain delays and other unforeseen issues meant the costs increased to £4.1million and the re-opening, originally planned for January 2022, was delayed by three months.
