LONDON – Visitors entering the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) are greeted by the striking etchings of Tracey Emin. Now depicted on the bronze doors of the Museum of London, 45 women; on the roof, the busts of 18 famous portrait painters – all men – look down, as they have done since 1896, when the NPG’s current home near Trafalgar Square was built.

It’s the perfect summary of the new and improved NPG, which has just reopened after an ambitious £41.3m (~$52.4m) three-year rebuild. Emin, arguably best known for her controversial work”My bed(1998), and the NPG, best known for its many Tudor and Victorian portraits, are not a natural couple. But the museum hopes to reverse its stifling image.

In general, it succeeds. From the entrance, the brand new “History Makers Now” gallery exhibits the work of contemporary Britons. Of course, it still contains two early portraits of King Charles and the Prince and Princess of Wales. But there are also delightful portraits of relatively ordinary British citizens: a statue of author Jacqueline Wilson, an oil of a relaxed Ed Sheeran and another of football player Lucy Bronze, among many others.

Another big change: many more women. “Reframing the Narratives: Women in the Portrait», a three-year project in partnership with the Chanel Culture Fund, aims to strengthen the representation of women in the collection. A new exhibit shows a range of female self-portraits that defy the typical male gaze, with her subjects staring directly into the camera, defying expectations. The best is the cheeky”Sarah Lucas (‘Self-Portrait with Fried Eggs’)(1996), with Lucas posing in jeans with two fried eggs on his chest.

“We made 48% of portraits of women after 1900,” assistant curator Constantia Nicolaides said at a press event, speaking of the many new works added. One of them is Jann Haworth and Liberty Blake’s new mural of 130 women in British history titled “Work in progress” (2021-2022), inspired by the album cover Haworth herself created for the Beatles Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. Among the less expected inclusions of the mural are COVID-19 vaccine inventor Sarah Gilbert, nurse Elizabeth Anionwu and wheelchair racer Tanni Grey-Thompson.

Diversity is more difficult to achieve, given that portraits in the UK are traditionally of white Britons. Only 3% of portraits before the rehang were people of color; this figure has now risen to 11%. Recent commissions and acquisitions include a self-portrait by Gambian-British photographer Khadija Saye, who died in the 2017 Grenfell fire, and Olivia Rose photograph of British rapper Stormzy with his mother. Old exhibits have been updated to draw attention to the legacy of colonialism and slavery. A 19th century portrait of Toussaint L’Ouverture, a slave who helped overthrow French rule in Haiti and later became governor general of the world’s first black republic, is highlighted. NPG’s proud new acquisition is Joshua Reynolds”Portrait of Omai(c. 1776), which depicts a Polynesian man who visited Britain in 1774. It was acquired after a massive fundraising campaignalthough some critics think it’s orientalist.

So far, so good. But that may not be enough. The NPG’s neighbor the National Gallery reported 2.7 million visits in 2022, down 55% from its 2019 figure of 6 million. Many arts institutions are dependent on tourists, who have still not returned to London in the same numbers as before the pandemic. And the latest available data on visitor demographics, while a few years old now, suggests that those who frequent museums are overwhelmingly white Britons; in 2018-2019, 51% of whites had visited a museum, compared to 33% of blacks and 43% of Asians.

Funding is also a challenge, as government grants for many museums and theaters have been slashed Last year. Institutions now increasingly rely on unpredictable philanthropy, and willing donors may not always be the right type. In 2022, the NPG lost one of its sources of funding when it separates from British Petroleum in the middle of a permanent reflection on the links between big oil and art.

Meanwhile, other options for art lovers, like immersive art, are growing rapidly. There has been a flood of immersive art and virtual reality exhibitions in London in recent years, turning works by van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dalí and Klimt into engaging ‘experiments’. Frameless, London’s first permanent immersive art exhibition, covers 30,000 square feet, allowing viewers to wander through the art of Monet, Cézanne and Canaletto. Last year, 200,000 people visited the immersive Dalí and van Gogh art exhibitions in London.

Now, living artists join them. David Hockney has teamed up with the new Lightroom space for a show titled David Hockney: Bigger and Closer (not smaller and further), which invites visitors to “see the world through his eyes”. Indeed, the NPG will open a traditional exhibition of Hockney’s portraits in November, as its immersive show continues to draw crowds.

“Advances in technology and mapping techniques have led to more artistically complex displays,” said Mario Iacampo, CEO of Exhibition Hub, which curates van Gogh and Dalí exhibitions. Hyperallergic. “Audiences discovered this approach, really liked it and now want more.”

Immersive art is particularly attractive for children and young families: noise is tolerated, children run around, and there is no hushed atmosphere imposed in museum galleries. It can also be a great educational tool for students. At the Dalí exhibition, interactive presentations explained the artist’s deep interest in science, cybernetics and new technologies, with video and audio clips. And, of course, you can take a selfie against the backdrop of van Gogh’s “sunflowers”, a big selling point for the Instagram generation.

Would this group of art lovers prefer to be in a Monet painting rather than looking at it? Those most involved do not believe that immersive art and traditional galleries are in competition. “I think we offer a different experience. The two can complement each other,” said Nicolaides Hyperallergic.

But with immersive galleries charging an average of £20 (~$25) per person and the UK cost of living crisis worsens, the public is likely to find its way back to free museums, as Nicolaides hopes – and London institutions will be looking at the NPG to see if its strategy is working. Like the new mural he commissioned, it’s a work in progress.