33 museums and galleries across England are set to receive a share of £4 million from the DCMS/Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund so that they can improve displays, protect collections and make exhibitions more accessible to visitors.
Of the 33 museums awarded funding, 26 are outside London. Both the Department for Digital Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and the Wolfson Foundation contributed £2 million to this round of the fund, which has benefited more than 400 projects in its 20-year history.
The fund aims to help museums and galleries make their collections as accessible to the public as possible, whether that be through building accessible ramps and facilities, improving collection storage to protect them for the future or getting more of their collections out on display.
This year there has also been a particular focus on supporting museums and galleries in adopting energy saving measures and improving sustainability.
The full list of awards by region:
1. East Midlands
o Pickford’s House: £71,700 for The Reimagined Home: Changing views of Home, Work and Family for an Inclusive, Digital Age
2. East of England
o Food Museum: £89,600 for Bridge to the Future
3. London
o Grant Museum of Zoology: £100,000 for Species under threat
o Royal College of Music Museum: £33,000 for Bringing early instruments to life through 3D modelling
o Jewish Museum London: £80,000 for Build of new collections storerooms: Under-represented heritage
o Museum of the Home: £200,000 for Homes Through Time Redux
o London Transport Museum: £80,000 for LTM Lab
o The Wallace Collection: £50,000 for the creation of a new display space and relocation of the cloakroom
o Natural History Museum (South Kensington): £100,000 for Mammals Galleries Project (Mammals Hall)
4. North East
o Oriental Museum: £104,500 for New Voices: Redisplaying and Reinterpreting the Malcolm MacDonald Gallery of Chinese Art and Archaeology
o The Bowes Museum: £254,900 for Inspiring Communities – Collections, Curiosity and Conversations
5. North West
o People’s History Museum: £214,300 for Nothing About Us Without Us – Creating Access for Everyone at People’s History Museum
o Manchester Art Gallery: £150,000 for transforming storage and access for Manchester’s Civic Collection
o The Whitworth: £80,000 for The Whitworth Welcome
o Abbot Hall Art Gallery: £40,500 for Testing Ground
6. South East
o Discover Bucks Museum: £60,000 for Creating Collections Capacity
o Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust: £100,000 for No.1 Smithery – Forging the future of display, conservation, and interpretation of maritime collections.
o Mary Rose Museum: £74,900 for safeguarding and storing the Mary Rose Collection and Archive
o Museum of English Rural Life: £54,300 for Developing Display: Improving Exhibition Spaces at St Andrew’s Hall
o Museum of Natural History: £125,000 for Life, as we know it – Redisplaying Oxford University Museum of Natural History
o National Motor Museum: £200,000 for Motoring into the Future – Phase 1
o Hampton Court Palace: £201,400 for Re-opening of the Wolsey Rooms and re-interpretation of an iconic Tudor Art collection
7. South West
o Tate St Ives: £54,300 for Barbara Hepworth Museum Accessibility Ramp
o The Wilson Art Gallery and Museum: £202,500 for Making Connections
o Torquay Museum: £250,000 for its ‘Journey Through the Ice Age’ – re-engaging communities with its Designated Quaternary Collection.
o The Etches Collection – Museum of Jurassic Marine Life: £219,500 for protecting and preserving our internationally important fossil collection
o The Tank Museum: £100,000 for the transition to passive storage
o National Maritime Museum Cornwall: £237,000 for revitalising the museum’s boat hall
8. West Midlands
o Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery: £150,000 for enabling the redisplay of Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery’s (BMAG) Ancient Civilizations Galleries
9. Yorkshire and The Humber
o Experience Barnsley Museum & Discovery Centre: £37,500 for Barnsley’s Chamber of Treasures
o National Science and Media Museum: £100,000 for Sound & Vision
o Kelham Island Museum: £45,000 for More to See
o Temple Newsam: £140,100 for What the Butler Saw: revealing treasures, improving access and creating capacity at Temple Newsam House
The full press release is available on the GOV.UK website, while the Wolfson Foundation has also announced the awards on its website.
Image: Torquay Museum. The museum was awarded £250,000 for its ‘Journey Through the Ice Age’ – re-engaging communities with its Designated Quaternary Collection