Nine museums have won a share of £75,000 in the final year of the Art Fund Collect scheme. The fund enables the purchase of a piece of contemporary craft from the Crafts Council’s COLLECT art fair. Museum curators pitched to a panel of judges, with the aim of convincing them that their chosen piece deserved to become part of their museum’s collection.
Stephen Deuchar, Director of the Art Fund, said: “This year’s Art Fund Collect was hard fought by all the talented curators involved, making the decision process for the panel more difficult than ever. We’re delighted to have run the scheme in partnership with the Crafts Council for the past six years and to have supported the acquisition of some extraordinary pieces of craft to the permanent collections of the UK’s museums and galleries.”
This year’s successful museums
This year’s successful museums are:
– Birmingham Museums Trust (Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery), represented by Martin Ellis and Rebecca Bridgman. Work purchased: Calliope by Halima Cassell (Joanna Bird Gallery).
– Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives, represented by Kate Newnham. Work purchased:Forms in Succession by Nagai Shigekazu (Yufuku Gallery).
– Cumbria, Lakeland Arts Trust (Blackwell, The Arts and Craft House), represented by Beth Hughes. Work purchased: Composition in Yellow and Red by BØdil Manz.
– Durham University Oriental Museum, represented by Craig Barclay and Lauren Barnes. Work purchased: -+, – by Min Soo Lee (Gallery LVS).
– Gallery Oldham, represented by Dinah Winch. Work purchased: Blue Loop (2013) by Merete Rasmussen (Sarah Myerscough Gallery).
– New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester, represented byJane May, Hugo Worthy and Lisa Jacques. Work purchased: Prtlnd Vase by Michael Eden.
– British Museum, represented by Nicole Rousmaniere. Work purchased: Large Feather Leaves Bowl 2013 by Hosono Hitomi.
– Harris Museum and Art Gallery, Preston, represented by Caroline Alexander. Work purchased: Forms in Succession by Nagai Shigekazu (Yufuku Gallery).
– Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust, Telford, represented by Gillian Crumpton. Work purchased: Grand Galibier by Drummond Masterton.
Judging panel
The judging panel for this year’s Art Fund Collect was: Stephen Deuchar; Sir Nicholas Goodison, Former Chairman of the Crafts Council and former Chairman of the Art Fund; Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director of the Crafts Council; Anthony Griffiths, Art Fund Trustee and former Head of Department of Prints & Drawings, the British Museum; and Tanya Harrod, writer and Associate Research Professor at Bath School of Art and Design.
Rosy Greenlees said: “All curators put forward strong cases for their chosen pieces. We are sure that the acquired pieces will become much-loved additions to the museum collections they are going to.”
More on www.a-n.co.uk:
Art Fund Collect: “We aim to develop the curator’s way of thinking” – Rob Allen talks to Crafts Council Director Rosy Greenlees and one of last year’s winning curators.
