Bushey Museum and Art Gallery tells the story of Bushey, its people and its unique artistic history. The museum’s art collection is the largest in Hertfordshire and is mainly from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Museum Trust was founded in 1983 with the aim of collecting and safeguarding this very considerable artistic heritage of Bushey. 

The Friends of Bushey Museum has over 800 members, making it one of the largest and most successful in the country. It supports the museum through fundraising activities and has a varied programme of meetings and events.

Collections

The museum holds a large collection of items relating to Sir Hubert von Herkomer RA and his world-renowned art school.  There are also displays of the Lucy Kemp-Welch Memorial Trust collection, including many of Lucy's superb paintings of horses. There are also many works from the Monro Circle of artists. Archives relating to these collections, as well as works from their Art Schools and other Bushey art schools are held in the Local Studies Centre. 

Bushey Museum and Art Gallery committed its support to Art UK early in 2015 and as such is an Art UK Founder Partner, with one of the first 200 collections to join Art UK. The Art UK website includes images of over 1000 Bushey Museum collection of paintings. 

Bushey's social history is illustrated in galleries on the ground floor and has a changing programme of temporary exhibitions throughout the year. The Local Studies Centre contains a wealth of documentary material of interest to students of local history relating to Bushey. Please see their website for details and for information on booking a visit.

School sessions

The Education Service offers schools a programme of sessions using the valuable educational resource provided by the museum collections and displays. Sessions link with KS 1 and KS 2 of the National Curriculum to help you in its delivery. The Learning Officer and a team of retired highly qualified and enthusiastic teachers deliver the sessions. Please see the website for more information.

Volunteering

Our museum is run entirely by volunteers and wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for members of our community who give their time freely.

We always need more volunteers so if you have a few hours a month/week or occasionally to spare, we would love your help. There is a surprising variety of activities on offer, so whatever your skills or personality, there is something for everyone volunteering at one of our museums.

Our volunteer team is a friendly and welcoming bunch. Whether you are looking to make new friends, or to add a new skill to your CV, there are many different ways to get involved: 

  • Front of house welcoming visitors to the museum and helping them get the most of their visit
  • Cataloguing objects to helping with displays
  • Researching our past by delving into our archives to find the hidden stories
  • Creating and updating our online content
  • Helping to research, design and curate temporary exhibitions
  • Helping to keep the museum safe and looking at its best
  • Facilitating school visits and helping families get the most out of the museum and our events
  • Helping to research or run our reminiscence events within the local community

Our marvellous volunteers bring our local history to life. We are so proud of what they have achieved.

If you'd like to volunteer, you can find out more in our volunteer handbook (2.69 mb) or please contact the museum.