Anyone who wants to explore their creative side can send in artwork on the theme “The People of Oxford and the History of the City” to a competition to mark the reopening of the Museum of Oxford.

The museum, in the city's town hall, will be re-opening on 11 October after a £2.8million, three-year refurbishment.

To celebrate, the team has launched the MOX Creations Competition with winning entries displayed in a new exhibition and featuring on the museum website, its social media and in publicity.

There are three categories - individual, family and community groups.

The individual category will win a £20 voucher for use in the new gift shop. The best family submission will receive a free family activity pass for one year. Top community group entries will have a private tour followed by refreshments with members of the team.

To enter, a clear image, video or sound files of the creation should be sent to museum@oxford.gov.uk by midday on 1 November, using the subject ‘MOX Creations’ and including a contact name and details, title of the work, plus age of the entrants.

Community groups should include some details about their group including where they are based.

It can be in any artform from painting or poem to poster. It should include the words ‘Museum of Oxford’ and celebrate the city and its people.

The Museum of Oxford is the only museum in the city that tells the story and history of the town and its inhabitants from prehistoric times to today.

It was opened in 1975 in what was previously the Oxford Public Library in the city’s Town Hall. It was closed in 2018 for an extensive re-modelling project.

Galleries and learning spaces have been redesigned to create bigger display areas, there are more opportunities for visitor interaction with exhibitions and even more space for public use.

The winning competition entries will be displayed alongside highlights from projects that have taken place during the period of closure: Windrush Years, looking at the lives of Oxford’s Windrush generation and their descendants; Healing Spaces, about child healthcare in Oxford’s hospitals; Queering Spires, exploring the history of LGBTIQA+ spaces in the city; and Mixing Matters, connecting communities and celebrating culinary heritage.

Kate Toomey, the Museum’s Community Learning Manager, said: "We’re very excited about seeing people come back into the museum and emphasise how much this place is for them, telling their stories and their history. The competition is an opportunity to add even more of a community stamp by encouraging and displaying the work of local people in the heart of the city.”