Restore a painting
Save our heritage
Painting 130
Bamboos, Cocoa Nut Trees, and other vegetation in the Bath Valley, Jamaica
The 120 year old Marianne North Gallery is a unique building housing a fascinating collection of one woman’s botanical art. Yet the Gallery and its contents are under threat, and we have launched an appeal to save this extraordinary Victorian treasure house.
The Gallery has no proper environmental controls so heat and damp can affect the paintings and promote mould. The roof is no longer sound and the walls are not always weather tight. Without significant restoration the fabric of the Gallery will further deteriorate to the point where the building would have to be permanently closed to the public and the paintings removed to storage.
Kew is embarking on a comprehensive scheme to conserve the Gallery and its paintings, and we invite you to help safeguard their future by adopting a painting, or making a donation.
The total cost of the Marianne North Gallery Project is £3.7 million, and we hope to secure a grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for up to half the cost of the project, leaving us £1.8 million to raise from other sources.
Through our Adopt a Painting scheme we are offering people the chance to play a part in safeguarding each painting’s future, and in supporting a unique historic collection.
Be part of the project
- Every single painting in the Gallery is available for adoption.
- You can select a painting with particular locations, buildings, plant or animal species – whatever has particular importance for you.
- Paintings are priced at £1,000, £750 or £500, and payment can be made in monthly instalments.
In adopting a painting you will receive
- A ten year adoption of your chosen painting
- A print of your painting
- Acknowledgement in the refurbished Gallery
- A dedication on the touchscreen gift register in the Secluded Garden glasshouse at Kew
- An opportunity to see painting conservation in progress
- You will receive an invitation to a special event at the Gallery when it is reopened in the autumn of 2009