The Natural History Museum's Jerwood Gallery has hosted some of our most exciting and ambitious temporary exhibitions since it's refurbishment in 1999 which was supported by the Jerwood Foundation. Iconic NHM events including the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition and the award winning theatre production of The Wider Earth have enabled us to inspire our visitors with the natural world in new and innovative ways. None of this would have been possible without the transformative support of the Jerwood Foundation.

- Sir Michael Dixon, Director Natural History Museum

  • Jerwood Foundation made a grant of £900,000 towards the restoration and modernisation of the Natural History Museum’s magnificent Gallery 26...

    Jerwood Foundation made a grant of £900,000 towards the restoration and modernisation of the Natural History Museum’s magnificent Gallery 26 by Robert Warren Architects. Originally named The Shell Gallery, it had been bomb damaged in the Second World War and covered with cladding when it reopened in the 1950s.

     The renamed Jerwood Gallery with its Waterhouse terracotta work, triple arched entrance and stained glass windows, is the home to the Museum’s arts and science exhibition programme.  It was officially opened by Lord Palumbo in September 1999.

     Over the past 21 years, the Jerwood Gallery has hosted a wide range of exhibitions from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year; Venom: Killer Cure to Luke Jerram’s Museum of the Moon (2019/2020) and was transformed into a temporary theatre in 2018 to host the European premiere of The Wider Earth, a magical and ingenious theatre production which brought to life the intrepid journey undertaken by the 22 year old Charles Darwin on HMS Beagle.

    Installation view: Extinction Not the End of the World?, 2013. Jerwood Gallery, the Natural History Museum, London © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London
  • Matt Tait and Melissa Vaughan in rehearsal for The Wider Earth in the Jerwood Gallery. © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London. Photo: Mark Douet (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    The Natural History Museum's Shell Gallery, May 1911. © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Jerwood Gallery, Natural History Museum Architecture. © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
    Installation View of Coral Reefs in Jerwood Gallery, 2015. © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).