Appointments
The Chief Executive of English Heritage has announced she will step down from the role later this year. Kate Mavor CBE joined English Heritage in 2015, and will join The University of Oxford as Master of St Cross College from September 2023. Mavor said: “I feel genuinely sad to be announcing my departure this summer from my beloved English Heritage.”
Harewood House Trust has announced Rachel Crewes as its new CEO. Crewes brings senior leadership experience from commercial roles at Harewood, a Yorkshire-based Treasure House of England, alongside the Hepworth Wakefield and the Science Museum Group. She has been working as Interim Co-Director at Harewood since the beginning of 2023.
The Foundling Museum has announced Emma Ridgway as its new Director. Ridgway will take up the new position on 5 June 2023, replacing Caro Howell MBE who moves to Imperial War Museums as their Director-General.
Openings
A plan to reopen Nottingham Castle in June has been given the go-ahead by councillors, it has been announced. Locals will be able to visit the site for a King’s Coronation event in May before the official reopening.
Exhibitions
Opened this week at Jane Austen’s House, ‘My dear Cassandra…’ will explore Jane Austen’s special relationship with her sister. The exhibition will feature a newly acquired Austen letter, written in 1798, following its discovery in Cambridge. Runs until 29 October 2023.
Newly discovered works by 20th century British photographer Yevonde are to go on show in the largest exhibition of her work and the first major exhibition as part of the National Portrait Gallery‘s reopening. The exhibition will include new prints and discoveries, revealed by the latest research on Yevonde’s colour negative archive, acquired by the Gallery in 2021. Yevonde: Life and Colour runs 22 June – 15 October 2023).
In her first major exhibition in Scotland, Glasgow artist Jasleen Kaur (work pictured above) fills Glasgow-based Tramway’s main gallery with a series of installations and kinetic, musical sculptures, which rework everyday items such as Axminster carpet, bottles of ‘blessed’ Irn Bru, football scarves, political flyers and salvaged family photographs . ‘Alter Altar: Jasleen Kaur’ runs 31 March – 8 October 2023.
L.S. Lowry’s ‘Going to the Match’ is the centrepiece of a new exhibition opening today at Bolton Museum. Created in partnership with The Lowry and Bolton Wanderers, ‘Going to the Match’ will also celebrate the history of Bolton Wanderers in the year that marks the 100th anniversary of the club’s first FA Cup Final victory in 1923. Runs until 25 June 2023.
Silverstone Museum’s ‘On Track’ exhibition sees the Silverstone Formula 1 Circuit recreated by partnering brand Scalextric, which will enable visitors to drive toy cars around the two lane Grand Prix circuit. Through Easter the exhibition will also feature a range of full size cars on display alongside their Scalextric versions. Runs 1 – 16 April 2023.
In May, the Museum of London Docklands will open a new free display, ‘Indo + Caribbean: The creation of a culture’, in its London, Sugar and Slavery gallery. Working together with Londoners of Indo-Caribbean descent, it will tell the underrepresented history of Indian indenture in the British Caribbean and explore Indo-Caribbean culture in London today. The display is part of the Museum of London Docklands’ 20th anniversary programme. Runs 19 – May – 19 November 2023.
Funding
The National Portrait Gallery is working with Art Fund to raise the £50m required to purchase ‘Portrait of Omai’ by Sir Joshua Reynolds. The export bar on the painting has been extended as funds are gathered. Almost half of the £50m has already been raised.
Extended export bar aids National Portrait Gallery’s £50m acquisition aim
Arts Council England and DCMS have today announced the recipients of the second Museum, Estate and Development Fund (MEND). Totalling £21.4m, this round has been awarded to 36 non-national Accredited museums and local authorities based in England, and will support infrastructure and urgent maintenance backlogs which are beyond the scope of day-to-day maintenance budgets. The largest single MEND recipient in this second round is Leamington Spa Art Gallery and Museum, which has received £2.28m.
36 museums announced in second round of Museum Estate and Development Fund
Image: Jasleen Kaur, The First Thing I Did Was Kiss the Ground.
