Artists’ Garden
The Artists Garden is situated within the original abbey walls at the rear of York Art Gallery. Together with the Edible Wood, it was created to coincide with the gallery’s £8 million development. The site is used to display contemporary art for free.
The two acres of land were previously closed off to the public but now link with the original York Museum Gardens and through to Exhibition Square via a new snickleway to the side of the gallery. Museum Garden opening times apply.
Current Installations
Japanese dry landscape garden (2026):
York Museums Trust’s Gardens Team have been working hard on the creation of a Japanese dry landscape garden, or ‘karesansui’, situated in the Artists’ Garden directly behind York Art Gallery. This temporary garden installation has been created in response to York Art Gallery’s Making Waves: The Art of Japanese Woodblock Print exhibition, open until 30 August 2026.
Karesansui gardens are often seen as ‘zen’ spaces associated with meditation and reflection, and we wanted to offer visitors a place to pause for a moment and reflect on simplicity, harmony and balance, surrounded by nature in the heart of York city centre.
The use of stones in Karesansui gardens are important and symbolic. We have used old stones from the ruins of the Benedictine Abbey that once occupied the site of the Museum Gardens within our Karesansui garden, thereby developing a deeper tie between the history of our site and our Japanese garden. Whilst our Japanese garden is primarily made from natural materials such as stones, gravel and bamboo, we have also used some Japanese Acers, Cherry trees and a Japanese Black Pine to soften the surrounding area.
Previous Installations
Wildflower Meadow (2025):
Following its popularity in 2024, attracting over 500,000 visitors alongside insects, birds and pollinators, the Wildflower Meadow undoubtedly had to become a reoccurring feature of the garden landscape.
Planted with 27 native species including corn cockle, field poppies, and corn camomile (a daisy-like plant), the meadow provided a wealth of habitat for wildlife, both whilst in bloom and into the winter months with the dried grasses being used as nesting material for birds and small mammals.
York Museum Garden’s Team were able to get to grips with heritage farming techniques such as scything (aided by St Nick’s Nature). Once cut, the grasses were used throughout the gardens and the wildflower seeds were sold in the York Art Gallery and Yorkshire Museum gift shops, with all proceeds reinvested into the Museum Gardens.
Living Art: Harland Miller’s ‘Far Out’ in Florals (2025)
Art and nature beautifully blended in York Museum Gardens, with a floral installation inspired by York Art Gallery’s exhibition Harland Miller: XXX. Far Out, a popular letter painting showcasing Harland Miller’s signature exploration of colour, form and letter styles, was carefully re-created in a floral display alongside the Wildflower Meadow.
The Gardens Team replicated the vibrant colours by selecting flowering plants and foliage of similar hues and mapping out a planting plan to ensure the living art would burst into bloom during the height of summer.
Jade Blood: Gardener’s World (2023)
An outdoor installation, part of a special exhibition, Bloom at York Art Gallery. Jade Blood is a York-based artist and printmaker who co-founded York Zine Fest, a free biannual self-publishing event and Artists with(out) green space, a project which encourages growing without a garden. Blood embeds ‘D.I.Y ethos’ and ‘radical ecology’ in her work, often working collaboratively and facilitating workshops alongside her practice.
