Twenty-nine museums and galleries across the UK have been awarded \u00a31.3m by Art Fund in the final round of its Reimagine funding programme.<\/p>\n
MonLife Museums in Wales, Belfast Exposed art gallery in Northern Ireland and the Museum of Chelmsford in Essex are among those to receive grants for collections-focused projects. <\/p>\n
The Horniman Museum and Gardens in London has been awarded\u00a0\u00a349,992\u00a0for\u00a0Repair: Community Stewardship Model for Care and Treatment of Ancestral Remains, a project that will pilot a community-led stewardship model for ancestral remains, embedding culturally specific care and documentation protocols. The museum hopes this new model will influence practice in this area across the sector.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Oxford\u2019s Pitt Rivers Museum will use its \u00a347,500 grant to\u00a0develop new protocols that \u201cembed ceremony and symbolic welcome into everyday museum practice\u201d.<\/p>\n
An additional \u00a3100,000 worth of micro-grants will be distributed through Museum Development England, Northern Ireland Museums Council and Museums Galleries Scotland to smaller organisations, ensuring that museums of all sizes receive the support they need to continue their work.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reimagine was launched in 2020 in response to the challenges imposed by the pandemic on the museum sector. More than 245 museums and galleries have since received funding.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This final round of grant-giving focuses on collections, one of the areas of museum practice with the greatest demand for funding.<\/p>\n
Art Fund\u2019s Museum Directors Survey in 2024 found that 56% of museums saw a lack of funding for collections as a major barrier to fundamental work like digitising and reviewing collections, and acquiring new materials.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jenny Waldman, the director of Art Fund, said: \u201cAt the core of Art Fund\u2019s purpose is supporting museums to develop, care for and share the collections that enrich people\u2019s lives. From acquisitions and commissions to vital collections work, we\u2019re proud to support organisations of all sizes in every corner of the country.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“This final round of Reimagine funding continues that commitment \u2013 supporting museums to explore their collections, connect with communities and ensure that works of art, objects and their stories are shared and preserved for future generations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Art Fund is continuing to consult with experts from the sector to shape future programmes, including through the next Museum Director Survey in early 2026. It hopes to ensure that its next phase of support continues to meet the evolving needs of museums and their collections.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Funded projects:<\/p>\n
BACKLIT Gallery \u2013 Messing the Archive: Curatorial interventions by emerging practitioners from the margins
\nBath Medical Museum \u2013\u00a0\u201cDoses of History\u201d podcast series
\nBeamish Museum \u2013\u00a0\u201cReclaim the Stores\u201d
\nBelfast Exposed \u2013\u00a0Collection Showcase and Reframing the Past Archive exhibitions
\nBurgh House \u2013\u00a0Communities in Collection
\nChatsworth House Trust \u2013\u00a0Exploring a new model for provenance research at Chatsworth through the Ancient and Classical works in their collections
\nColchester Natural History Museum (Colchester + Ipswich Museums Service) \u2013\u00a0Wild About Essex: Community Curators at Colchester\u2019s Natural History Museum
\nCompton Verney \u2013\u00a0Reimagining Folk Art
\nCragside, National Trust \u2013\u00a0Sparking Curiosity: Recreating the Wonder of Electric Light!
\nCreswell Heritage Trust (Creswell Crags) \u2013 Re-imagining the collections at Creswell Crags \u2013\u00a0an audience centred approach
\nDunollie Museum, Castle and Grounds \u2013\u00a0Returning Regency Fashion to Inveraray Castle
\nHolocaust Centre North \u2013\u00a0Memorial Gestures
\nHorniman Museum and Gardens \u2013\u00a0REPAIR: Community Stewardship Model for Care and Treatment of Ancestral Remains
\nMonLife Museums (Monmouthshire County Council) \u2013\u00a0Shire Hall Stories: Connecting Through Collections
\nMuseum of Archaeology and Anthropology \u2013\u00a0What\u2019s the point? Documenting and recontextualising Pacific arrows
\nMuseum of Chelmsford \u2013\u00a0Your Voice, Our Collection
\nMuseum of the Home \u2013\u00a0Historic Collections Rationalisation and Cataloguing
\nMuseum of the Order of St John \u2013\u00a0Fabric of Community: St John Ambulance Uniform and Volunteer Identity
\nNational Coal Mining Museum \u2013\u00a0Powerhouse of a Nation
\nNewham Heritage Centre \u2013\u00a0Inspired Art: Madge Gill
\nNN Contemporary Art \u2013\u00a0NBHA Archive Studio at NNCA
\nPetersfield Museum and Art Gallery \u2013\u00a0Flora Twort at the Creative Heart of Petersfield
\nPitt Rivers Museum \u2013 Reimagining Ceremony and Welcome: Protocols for Delegation and Community Engagement
\nScience Museum Group \u2013\u00a0Disks and Data: Preserving Our Digital Heritage
\nSleaford Museum \u2013\u00a0Common Ground: Sleaford\u2019s Shared Stories in collaboration with the Hub
\nSpalding Gentlemen\u2019s Society \u2013\u00a0The SGS Museum Reimagined
\nThe Burton at Bideford \u2013\u00a0Burton 2101: Collections for the Future
\nThe Wordsworth Trust \u2013\u00a0\u2018A Tale in Every Thing\u2019
\nWilliam Morris Gallery \u2013 Morris Today<\/p>\n
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