New scheme to fund sharing of major works across UK museums and galleries

A new funding scheme by the Garfield Weston Foundation and Art Fund is set to help the UK’s regional museums and galleries borrow major artworks from larger national institutions.

The Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund is a £750,000 funding and training programme designed to support the wider sharing of national collections with museums across the whole of the country.

Grants to museums will cover costs including: transportation of works of art and objects, insurance, conservation, installation, advocacy, marketing and audience development.

The £750,000 initiative will award a minimum of £600,000 in grants, provide up to £100,000 for training and networking opportunities for museum professionals, and cover up to £50,000 in detailed evaluation and reporting of key learnings for the scheme and sector.

Successful museums for year one of the three-year funding programme will be announced in December 2017. Loans of works of art will go on display from 2018 onwards.

Philippa Charles, The Garfield Weston Foundation’s director, said: “This much-needed funding scheme will help museums the length and breadth of the country to realise their ambitions – for their institutions, audiences and curators. This collaborative way of working together promises to unlock so much potential.”

Stephen Deuchar, Art Fund director, said that the new scheme will help broker new relationships between museums. “It will give curators the skills they need, and empower museums to determine their own priorities in direct response to local audiences. We encourage all interested museums to apply.”

Art Fund is encouraging interested UK museums to participate in one of the Preparing to Borrow workshops taking place around the country from April to September.

The Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund will open for individual applications of between £5,000–£25,000 via artfund.org/supportingmuseums from 6 July 2017

Image:
1. ICA. © Andy Smith

More on a-n.co.uk: