This adds to the £2.25 million already distributed by the charity since lockdowns began to cause chaos for visitor attractions last March. Despite this hefty sum having been injected into struggling businesses, sectoral demand for Art Fund support remains more than seven times greater than can be provided.
The three quarters of a million pounds awarded today via the third round of Respond & Reimagine grants was even more oversubscribed than previous stages, with 192 applicant organisations seeking just shy of £7 million.
Respond & Reimagine
The 23 recipients of Respond & Reimagine’s third round are:
Culture&, London
David Parr House, Cambridge
The Cinema Museum, London
Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery, London
Roman Vindolanda Site and Museum, Hexham
Museum Nan Eilean, Stornoway
Firstsite, Colchester
Museum of East Anglian Life, Stowmarket
The Point, Doncaster
Barts Pathology Museum, London
People’s History Museum, Manchester
The Collection Museum and Usher Gallery, Lincoln
Rhayader Museum and Gallery, Rhayader
Cornwall Museums Partnership, Truro
Portland Museum, Portland
National Justice Museum, Nottingham
Derby Museum and Art Gallery, Derby
Hastings Museum and Art Gallery, Hastings
Barber Institute of Fine Arts, Birmingham
Autograph, London
Glasgow International, Glasgow
CCA Derry, Derry – Londonderry
MOSTYN, Llandudno
The charity points to the imminent risk of closure for sites such as London’s Florence Nightingale Museum and the Williamson Art Gallery & Museum in Birkenhead as evidence of just how close the industry has gotten to the brink.
“The latest lockdown is a body blow and is leaving our museums and galleries fighting for survival,” asserts Jenny Waldman, Art Fund director. “Smaller museums in particular, which are so vital to their communities, simply do not have the reserves to see them through this winter.
“Our recent research found that six in ten museums, galleries and historic houses were worried about their survival. Tragically we are now seeing well-known and much-loved museums facing mothballing or permanent closure.”
Together we stand
Another way Art Fund aims to support museums is by raising more capital through its Together for Museums campaign which was launched in November.
More than half of the £1 million target has already been raised thanks to donations from over 1,300 people, but the charity will not be content until its goal has been reached.
Leading artists back Art Fund £1m Together for Museums crowdfund appeal
Artists including Anish Kapoor and David Shrigley were among the first in donating works to support the fundraising drive and now others have signed up to boost the initiative, with Howard Hodgkin, Jeremy Deller and Cornelia Parker the latest recruits.
Donations made now will also be doubled courtesy of a match funding pledge, further bolstering the campaign’s chances.
“We are urging the public to back our Together for Museums campaign, and donate if they possibly can, to help us do all we can to ensure these essential places of inspiration, reflection and joy are there for us on the other side of this crisis,” Waldman adds.
More details regarding the Together for Museums campaign can be found here.
