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Venue Details

  • Contact Details

    Elmbank Avenue
    Kilmarnock
    KA1 3BU

    Enquiries:

    Call 01563 554300
    info@eastayrshireleisure.com

    For School Or Groups:

    info@eastayrshireleisure.com

  • Opening Hours

    • Sunday: CLOSED
    • Monday: CLOSED
    • Tuesday: 10.00am - 6.00pm
    • Wednesday: 10.00am - 6.00pm
    • Thursday: 1.00pm - 8.00pm
    • Friday: 10.00am - 4.00pm
    • Saturday: 10.00am - 4.00pm

    Venue closed:

    • 23 December 2024
    • 25 December 2024
    • 26 December 2024
    • 29 December 2024
    • 30 December 2024
    • 1 January 2025
    • 2 January 2025
  • Facilities

    • Wheelchair Access
    • Disabled Toilet Facilities
    • Car Parking
    • Lift Access
    • Available for Hire
    • Cafe
    • Car parking nearby
    • Baby Changing Facilities
    • Toilets

Dick Institute

The Dick Institute

Opened in 1901, the Dick Institute is a 4 star attraction, attracting over 120,000 visitors each year.

It houses the largest museum and gallery spaces in Ayrshire and East Ayrshire’s central library. A recent refurbishment and the addition of a cafe has breathed new life into this stunning building ensuring it will continue to be enjoyed by a new generation of visitors.

Featuring a programme of nationally important exhibitions, permanent displays of the museum’s diverse collections and innovative work by contemporary artists, film makers and young people from the area, the Dick Institute is well worth a visit.

It has been described by the Glasgow Herald as ‘Scotland’s finest municipal gallery’ through hosting an ambitious range of temporary exhibitions and is regularly the only Scottish venue for significant shows.

Previous major exhibitions at the Dick Institute have included Quentin Blake, Wallace and Gromit, Bill Viola, Michael Morpurgo: A Lifetime in Stories, Robert Colquhoun, Abram Games, Pop Art in Print and Gerhard Richter, often in partnership with national institutions including the V&A, National Galleries Scotland and TATE Modern. Many of Scotland’s leading contemporary artists including Christine Borland, Dalziel and Scullion, Nathan Coley, Rachel MacLean and Graham Fagan have been shown through creative commissioning programmes that support artistic talent by linking with major national initiatives.

The South Museum and Loom Room feature stories of the local and social history of the area - what job did your grandparents do? How were prisoners dressed 200 years ago? How many copies of Robert Burns’ ‘Kilmarnock Edition’ were published and how many survive today? Find the answers to these questions and more! The North Museum contains objects from our natural history sciences and archaeology collections. You’ll find favourites such as Brian the Lion, Samantha the dinosaur and the whale jawbone, plus fascinating objects like our 400 million scorpion fossil!

The Young People’s Gallery is a dedicated space programmed for, and by, young people in East Ayrshire.

The lending library, housed on the ground floor, all offer a vast range of resources as well as regular Bookbug sessions for youngsters, Little Explorer groups, adult and children's book groups, digi-classes, art classes, meet the author events, literary festivals and much more! Contact the library for more details. 

Admission Free.

The building also boasts a tearoom serving barista coffee and sweet treats making the Dick Institute a must visit destination in Ayrshire.

 

Browse the what's on section to see what's coming up

Venue Details

  • Contact Details

    Elmbank Avenue
    Kilmarnock
    KA1 3BU

    Enquiries:

    Call 01563 554300
    info@eastayrshireleisure.com

    For School Or Groups:

    info@eastayrshireleisure.com

  • Opening Hours

    • Sunday: CLOSED
    • Monday: CLOSED
    • Tuesday: 10.00am - 6.00pm
    • Wednesday: 10.00am - 6.00pm
    • Thursday: 1.00pm - 8.00pm
    • Friday: 10.00am - 4.00pm
    • Saturday: 10.00am - 4.00pm

    Venue closed:

    • 23 December 2024
    • 25 December 2024
    • 26 December 2024
    • 29 December 2024
    • 30 December 2024
    • 1 January 2025
    • 2 January 2025
  • Facilities

    • Wheelchair Access
    • Disabled Toilet Facilities
    • Car Parking
    • Lift Access
    • Available for Hire
    • Cafe
    • Car parking nearby
    • Baby Changing Facilities
    • Toilets

For Sat Nav

The postcode is KA1 3BU. The venue is signposted once you are in Kilmarnock and there is car parking around the venue. Alternatively there is town centre parking and the Dick Institute is a 5 minute walk from the centre of town.

Arriving by Train

Exit the train station and cross the road ahead, bear left along West George St, turn right at Gala Bingo and proceed down the pedestrian precinct to The Cross. Look diagonally to the left and you will see Burns Mall. Make your way across the mall, exit the glass doors and proceed through the underpass to the venue on the corner of Green Street and London Road where you will see the Palace Theatre. From here walk up London Road, past the Grand Hall and the Dick Institute is a 5 min walk.

Arriving by Bus

Exit the bus station at the south side either through the mall (turn right into the mall then left to the bottom of the mall and left again to exit the mall and proceed through the underpass). Alternatively exit through the perspex tunnel in the bus station and cross Green Street where you will see the Palace Theatre. From here walk up London Road, past the Grand Hall and the Dick Institute is a 5 min walk.