Someone at Manchester Art Gallery, which reopened six years ago after a major refurbishment and extension scheme, said to me the other day: "In the old days, parents used to drag their kids in here. Now the kids bring the parents."
MAG has a very popular interactive gallery, with many devices (including one that wisely encourages young visitors to sit still as if for a portrait) to keep children happy. Liverpool's Walker has the Big Draw, where children can go to dress up, read, watch videos - and draw.
Both galleries, which drew on the pioneering work for children at the art gallery in Walsall, now have a buzz that was missing before and some of the former silent reverence has gone.
New galleries have opened: Gallery Oldham has staged some fascinating shows and tried, by a careful choice of exhibitions, to attract members of local ethnic minority communities.
These fragments from the north-west suggest that regional galleries may be enjoying a renaissance. And today the government seems to agree: it hails its £150m investment in regional museums as a success, with 580 new posts to be created by 2008.
There were more than 13 million visits to key regional museums in 2005-2006 - a 5% increase on 2002-2003. Over the last three years, visits by school groups have increased by nearly 19% and the number of visits by people from "non-traditional backgrounds" has increased by nearly 7% since 2002-2003. More details are on the Museums, Libraries and Archive Council's website.
But what's your experience? Have museums near you been reborn, or are they still in need of a short in the arm?
