Cartwright Hall Art gallery
Make a Day of It
To ensure you don’t miss any fun, pick up our ’50 Things to Do Before You’re Five’ trail from the front desk and follow the playful suggestions of Suzie Squirrel. After you do the trail, don’t forget to ask for a mini passport and a Suzie Squirrel sticker. In the Quiet room, you can find self-led arts and crafts activities, and in the Learning room during holidays and weekends, toys and free play activities are available.
If you’d like a break for coffee, a snack or a warm meal, our Refreshment Room café is awarded by Kids in Museums. It’s part of the Breastfeeding Friendly scheme and is equipped with baby high chairs, a bottle warmer, and a play corner. If you bring your own lunch, you’re welcome to enjoy it in the Learning Room when it’s available (eating or drinking anything apart from water is not allowed in the other parts of the museum).
We do have a Quiet Room in Cartwright Hall with a breastfeeding corner with a cover screen. Baby-changing facilities and a baby-changing kit are available in the ground-floor toilets.
Our well-stocked gift shop offers a range of souvenirs and toys – perfect for a keepsake to remember your visit. After visiting the gallery, take a stroll through the beautiful Lister Park with a lake and playground.
Holiday Activities
During each school holiday, Cartwright Hall offers creative and fun family activities for adults and children of all ages. Each family workshop is designed to inspire creativity, play, and family bonding. Celebrating the museum’s art collection, workshop facilitators use different techniques and art motifs, encouraging children and adult visitors to play and express themselves. Most of the time, these drop-in activities are free of charge, suitable for children of different ages.
On the days when we don’t have holiday programmes, you can still find self-led craft activities in the Quiet Room and toys in the Learning Room, as well as the museum’s trail to keep your child entertained.
Find out about our coming family programmes below.
Events for Families at Cartwright Hall
29 October 2026 11:00 am – 29 October 2026 4:00 pm
Enjoy a free family day celebrating nature with wildlife activities, walks, talks and workshops.
30 October 2026 10:00 am – 30 October 2026 7:30 pm
Make a lantern at Cartwright Hall, then join a magical evening parade through Lister Park featuring illuminated puppets, live music and a theatrical finale.
Museums for Play and Growth
On the second Friday of each month from 10.30 until 12.30, Cartwright Hall offers free drop-in stay and play sessions for children 0-5. These sessions are inspired by 50 Things to Do Before You’re Five activities, and you can expect museum-themed toys to spark imagination, rhyme and story time to support language development, and games to encourage socialisation among children. While children are playing, parents can rest, enjoying a cup of tea or coffee.
Come and spend quality time with your child, build positive habits of visiting museums from an early age, and grow together!
How can you find us
Lister Park, Bradford, BD9 4NS
Opening times
Monday Closed (check Social Media for Bank Holiday openings)
Tuesday – Friday 10am-4pm
Saturday – Sunday 11am to 4pm
By public transport
Cartwright Hall Art Gallery is in the middle of Lister Park, one and a half miles from the City Centre on the A650 Manningham Lane. There is limited parking in Lister Park, accessible from North Park Road (off Oak Lane). Lister Park is served by many city centre bus services including 23, 25, 26, 49, 51, 52, 53, 54, 622, 647, 662, w5. Cartwright Hall is about ten minutes’ uphill walk from Frizinghall railway station.
For help in planning your journey by public transport, please visit www.wymetro.com.
Accessibility and Visitors with Neurodivergence
Visitors with mobility impairment
The front entrance is accessible by stairs only. For step-free access, use the back entrance and press the green button on the right side of the door, and a member of staff will help you with the lift. All galleries are located on the high ground floor and first floor, and are accessible via lift. To get to the café from inside the museum, you have to go one level down using the staircase, but step-free access to the café is available from the outside.
An accessible toilet is available on the ground floor. Unfortunately, we don’t have a Changing Places toilet on site. The nearest Changing Places toilet is located at Mind the Gap Studios, about 0.6 miles from Cartwright Hall.
We have two Blue Badge parking bays just behind the building, near the accessible step-free entrance. To gain access to these spaces, you need to ring the bell on the ramp. Additionally, there are two Blue Badge parking bays in the Lister Park/Cartwright Hall car park.
Cartwright Hall has one foldable transit wheelchair, which you can borrow on request at the front desk if they are available. Pre-booking of the wheelchairs is not possible.
More detailed access information and pictures are available in our Visual Story.
Visually impaired visitors
We allow assistance dogs in the Gallery. You can ask for a large-print guide at the front desk. Museum is working on Braille interpretations.
Visitors with hearing impairment
On request at the front desk, a portable Induction Loop System (AFILS) is available, as well as ear defenders. We allow assistance dogs in the Cartwright Hall Art Gallery.
Visitors with neurodivergence
Cartwright Hall Art Gallery doesn’t tend to be too busy apart from school visits. Feel free to get in touch if you would like to know how busy the Gallery is before your journey. We do have a Quiet room with tables, chairs and toys.
More access information and pictures can be found on our Visual Story. For potential sensory triggers and more details about accessibility, click here.
Donate
Your donations are really important to us and we welcome any support you can offer.
Volunteer
Would you like to volunteer at Cartwright Hall Art Gallery? Find out more on how to become a volunteer.