Things to Do in Liverpool

Creative Tourist

Last Updated 7 February 2018

You’ve only to look up: a skyline that’s part of a World Heritage Site, a waterfront that never fails to impress, and Georgian streets that are as graceful as they are grand. It is these architectural cheekbones that, along with the grand sweep of the River Mersey, make Liverpool such a visual treat. There’s plenty of things to do in Liverpool too, with a world-class visual arts offer alongside theatre and great places to eat and drink.

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Exhibitions 15 March–26 August 2019, from £2

Charles Rennie Mackintosh: making the Glasgow Style at Walker Art Gallery

Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool prepares to present its blockbuster exhibition of 2019, dedicated to the life and work of the Glaswegian artist, architect and designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh – father of the UK’s part in the international Art Nouveau movement.

Exhibitions 29 March–16 June 2019, FREE

Ericka Beckman and Marianna Simnett at FACT

A duo-exhibition of work by the eminent American filmmaker Ericka Beckman and rising London-based video artist Marianna Simnett marks a strong start to FACT’s year-long season focusing on identity, representation and gender.

Exhibitions 13 March–26 October 2019, FREE

Developing History at the Hardmans’ House

As one of Liverpool’s lesser known gems prepares to reopen its doors for 2019, we look forward to encountering a rare series of photographs only recently discovered by chance in the cluttered darkroom of the Hardmans’ former, perfectly-preserved home.

Exhibitions 8 September 2018–28 July 2019, FREE

Serena Korda: The Bell Tree at Speke Hall

The Bell Tree by award winning contemporary artist Serena Korda responds to England’s alternative history of fairy-tale folklore, the ancient forest at Speke Hall and the legacy of hidden rebellion that surrounds the historic Tudor home.

Exhibitions 17 November 2018–31 March 2019, FREE

The Art Schools of North West England at Bluecoat

There were over 150 art schools in England in the mid-1960s; now most of them are closed or absorbed into other institutions. Bluecoat’s new exhibition, ‘Art Schools of North West England’, asks: What did it mean to have an art school in every town and what can we learn by discovering their fate?

Exhibitions 26 September 2018–29 March 2019, FREE

Stability and Survival at Speke Hall

This autumn, learn about the inspiring life of Miss Adelaide Watt – an independent and powerful Victorian woman who fought the forces of modernity to preserve Speke Hall and all its treasures for generations to come.

Exhibitions 1 February–6 May 2019, FREE

Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing at Walker Art Gallery

‘Leonardo da Vinci: A Life in Drawing’ at Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool explores the diversity of subjects that inspired the Renaisance master’s creativity across 12 drawings, from botanical and anatomical studies to the design of theatrical costumes, hairstyles and ferry-boat plans.

Exhibitions 15 December 2018–23 March 2019, FREE

ARTIST ROOMS: Robert Mapplethorpe at The Atkinson

Robert Mapplethorpe is widely regarded as one of the world’s most important artists of the late twentieth century. A group of his photographs on display at The Atkinson will include iconic self-portraits, studies of ﬂowers, portraits of many of the most inﬂuential artists and celebrities of the New York cultural scene in the 1970s &1980s.

Exhibitions 14 June–10 November 2019, FREE

Sol Calero at Tate Liverpool

Tate Liverpool presents a new commission by Venezuelan-born, Berlin-based artist Sol Calero, whose brightly coloured, large-scale immersive installations offer a sharply satirical critique of the surreal set of stereotypes and clichés attached to different cultures.