Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA)

My personal favourite museum in the city, GoMA is housed in an elegant 18th-century Neo-Classical building and is the focal point for the trendy Royal Exchange Square. Featuring work by local, national and international artists, the gallery is the second most popular contemporary art centre outside of London. Exhibits are changed regularly so it is definitely worth visiting more than once: last time I visited, there was a series of thought provoking paintings by local hero Peter Howson on display. On GoMA’s front steps, the statue of the Duke of Wellington – with an orange traffic cone balanced on his head – has come to symbolise the city’s good humour and wayward attitude to authority. Despite numerous attempts from the local council authorities to remove the cone, they eventually gave up after it kept cheekily reappearing the following day.