Happy Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day, the Whitworth Art Gallery is inviting you to "fall in love again" as it reopens its doors to the public after a year and a half's worth of £15million renovations. And I promise there'll be something for you to fall in love with - if not the newly uncovered Victorian ceilings in the back galleries, if not the cafe in the trees run by The Modern Caterer with ingredients sourced from places like Frosts of Chorlton, if not the Promenade overlooking the Art Garden and Whitworth Park, if not the exhibitions (including Cornelia Parker's exploding shed in Cold Dark Matter, pictured), if not the pool of water, if not the never-before-seen be-beamed Grand Hall… if not any of these, it'll be because everyone's favourite spaces - the South Gallery and the Sculpture Hall - haven't suffered from re-modelling. Phew. Director of the gallery, Dr Maria Balshaw, could almost be described as giddily excited on the two-hour tour she led the press round yesterday - and rightly so. It might have run behind schedule (don't think we didn't notice the change of date), but it has been worth the wait. And tomorrow at 7.50pm things blast off with a special William Blake-inspired "meteor shower" firework display, featuring Parker tinkering with Manchester-discovered Graphene, the world's thinnest, strongest material. As the Whitworth is just down the road, I think it might become my new destination of choice. And as the cafe is open until 9.30pm Monday to Saturday (7pm on Sundays), it might become a suitable replacement for the soon-to-be-defunct Cornerhouse. Yay, a cultural cafe relay! Out with the old, in with the new…