Lowry celebrates 25 years of culture on Salford Quays

Twenty-five years ago the derelict docks of Salford were given a new centrepiece. Lowry, the arts centre named after the painter L.S. Lowry, opened to the public on 28 April 2000 and was officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II that October. In 2025 it celebrated its silver anniversary with a year-long programme called Lowry Turns 25.

The building brings together two main theatres, the 1,730-seat Lyric and the 466-seat Quays, along with a studio space and around 2,000 square metres of galleries. Those galleries hold a collection of around 400 works by L.S. Lowry in oil, pastel and watercolour, gathered by Salford Museum and Art Gallery from the 1930s onwards.

Ahead of the anniversary, the venue introduced a brighter and bolder visual identity, with a more accessible tone of voice, a new strapline and a new website. The centre says it welcomes around a million visitors a year, a remarkable figure for a venue built on former dockland.

The anniversary programme mixed big names with free events. Families were drawn to a free Quentin Blake exhibition, the French artist Camille Walala was invited to transform the Promenade Gallery with a large-scale mural, and Manchester-born writer Jeanette Winterson gave a lecture reflecting on how L.S. Lowry captured the lives of working people.

On stage there was a new production of Dear England, while a Live at Lowry comedy night on 7 May 2025 came with 500 free tickets for Salford residents, a gesture that underlined the centre's commitment to its own neighbourhood.

Community work sat at the heart of the year. A £200,000 grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund supported projects including One Lowry, Many Stories, an oral history and photography project run with the University of Salford, and Together We Create, a fund of small awards for creative projects across the city.

Lowry is run by a registered charity and sits alongside Imperial War Museum North and MediaCityUK, making the Quays an easy place to spend a full day of culture.

Shows, exhibitions and events are listed on Lowry's website, where tickets can be booked. The galleries are a good place to start if you are visiting the Quays for the first time.