The art gallery started 2025 by showcasing the timeless designs by William Morris then opened its flagship Harland Miller exhibition, which saw the York-born artist return to the gallery he had first set foot in as a teenager.
“Rather than this being a dream come true, I would never have dreamt of coming back to York with what are very contemporary paintings,” Miller told The Press at the time, adding: “We weren’t really encouraged to think about becoming artists in the seventies. Art was something other people would do.”
September saw the Future Tense and Aesthetica Art Prize exhibitions find a new temporary home at the art gallery – as part of the wider celebrations around York’s position as a UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts.
And in November sculptor Harold Gosney opened his new exhibition at the gallery – celebrating his more than 65 years as a mixed media artist.
The art gallery is now preparing to bring centuries of Japanese art to York through its Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Prints exhibition which opens in February 2026.
More than 100 traditional Japanese crafts – including artworks, armour, costume and printed materials – will be featured as part of the display, running from February 27 to August 30, 2026.
The exhibition will include works by renowned artists Katsushika Hokusai, Utagawa Hiroshige and Kitagawa Utamaro, and will explore the history and evolution of Japanese woodblock printing.
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Siona Mackelworth, head of audience and programme at York Museums Trust which runs the art gallery, said it was “thrilled” to be opening Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Prints.
“This exhibition features iconic works like Hokusai’s ‘The Great Wave off Kanagawa’, kindly on loan to us from Maidstone Museum, contemporary pieces inspired by Japanese artistic practices and stunning costume and textiles, alongside information on the techniques and processes of printmaking,” she said.
“With an exciting programme of events, talks, workshops and interactives accompanying the exhibition, Making Waves will be an exhibition you won’t want to miss.”
Siona said 2025 had seen the gallery showcase an “incredible range of exhibitions” which provided a “rich and varied experience for visitors”.
The year also saw the gallery continue its work on extending into the nearby Museum Gardens which created a “beautiful, peaceful space where art and nature meet in the heart of the city”, she said.