Maclaurin Art Gallery

About the museum

The Maclaurin Art Gallery exists thanks to a bequest from Mrs Mary Ellen Maclaurin. Her will asked the appointed curators to set up an art gallery or museum in Ayr, named in memory of her husband, within five years of her death. The Maclaurin Trust took on this task and opened the gallery in 1976.

It is housed in the converted coach house and stables of Rozelle House, a Georgian mansion in Rozelle Park built in 1760 in the style of Robert Adam. The mansion was given to the Royal Burgh of Ayr in 1968, and the park and house are now visited together with the separate Rozelle House Museum and Galleries.

Over the years the Trust has built up a collection of twentieth-century art that now extends into the twenty-first century. Parts of it are shown from time to time and lent to other galleries. The gallery also offers wall space to local art groups, hosts touring exhibitions from elsewhere and runs an annual Ayrshire art exhibition and sale. Its stated aims include supporting artists at every stage of their careers, encouraging young people’s interest in the arts and caring for the permanent collection. The Trust is a registered Scottish charity and the painter Peter Howson is its patron.

Highlights

• Collection of 20th- and 21st-century art
• Five galleries with a changing exhibition programme
• Annual Ayrshire art exhibition and sale
• Former coach house and stables of Rozelle House in Rozelle Park
• Tearoom with homemade cakes next to the galleries

Founded

1976

Operated by

Maclaurin Trust

Admission & discounts

Admission is free.

Entry is free. Works in the exhibitions are usually for sale.

Accessibility

• Wheelchair accessible
• Elevator: no information
• Accessible restroom
• Accessible parking
• Service dogs welcome: no information
• Tactile models & exhibits: no information
• Sign language tours: no information
• Easy-to-read materials: no information
• Audio description: no information

The gallery has step-free routes across the courtyard and through the galleries to the tearoom. There is an accessible toilet and a marked parking space right outside the entrance arch. An AccessAble guide is listed by the local tourism board.

Kids & families

The tearoom offers children’s menus and toys. The gallery runs occasional children’s competitions around exhibitions.

Getting there & parking

The gallery is inside Rozelle Park, off Monument Road in Ayr, next to Rozelle House. Cyclists and walkers are welcome.

Amenities & dining

• Café

A tearoom run by a separate operator opens at 9am; closing times vary (tel. +44 1292 440003). Dogs are welcome there and children have their own menus and toys.

Events & venue rental

The museum hasn’t published any information on this.

Plan your visit