Home to a fine permanent collection of artwork, and host of regularly changing shows of work by contemporary local artists, Bermuda National Gallery (Church St., upstairs in the City Hall and Arts Centre, tel. 441/295-9428, fax 441/295-2055, www.bng.bm or www.bermudanationalgallery.com, 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Mon.–Fri., 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Sat., closed holidays, admission free) was created in 1992 to promote public education and art appreciation through its national collection, exhibitions, and outreach programs.

The original core collection comprised works of European masters—Gainsborough, Murillo, Reynolds—gifted by Bermudian Hereward T. Watlington. The Watlington Collection has since been joined by African art, a provocative collection of black and white photographs by Bermudian Richard Saunders, and Hale Woodruff linocuts.

The Bermuda National Gallery hosts seasonal exhibitions featuring artwork by international and local artists, including the popular summer-long Bacardi Limited Biennial every two years.

Join a free tour of the gallery Thursday mornings at 10:30 a.m. The Bermuda National Gallery also hosts a regular program of films, seminars, cocktail parties, and evening lectures by visiting curators and art historians, and free lunchtime lectures on Wednesdays (12:30–1:30 p.m.) by Bermudian historians and artists.