Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft in East Sussex is closing temporarily in order to reimagine its business model due to the “challenging economic context”.
In a statement, the museum confirmed it would temporarily close to the public from 23 February.
“This is a planned pause that allows time to reflect on the focus of our work and to plan our next phase in response to changes in the challenging economic context in which museums now operate,” the statement said.
“The organisation remains active, and we will share further updates in due course. We are grateful for your continued support.”
All staff at the museum have been issued with redundancy notices. Museums Journal understands that no decisions related to redundancy have been confirmed yet.
Jo Myles, the chair of the museum’s board, made clear that the closure was a temporary measure to safeguard the museum and its collections during a “funded period of reimagining”.
“This is very much about responsible stewardship,” she told Museums Journal. “As we all know, this is an incredibly challenging time in our sector. Ditchling is a rural museum with no public transport and that has elevated those challenges.”
Myles said the museum saw a significant drop in footfall last year, which she attributed to the cost of living crisis and changes in visitor behaviour.
“We’re in an incredibly challenging cost of living crisis,” she said. “People want to visit places that offer them multiple things to do. We’re very isolated and we don’t have any natural footfall to pull upon.”
Myles said that the operating model for Ditchling, which opened in 1985 and underwent a lottery-funded redevelopment in 2013, was “no longer sustainable”.
“[The closure] is very much about recognising that,” she said. “We’ve been very active and done a lot of work around resilience and earned income, but it hasn’t been enough.
“This is a pause so the museum can stay open and not close permanently.”
The museum has funding to see it through the closure period. The ongoing redevelopment of the museum’s Dye Garden, funded by South Downs National Park Authority, will also continue.
Myles said the length of the pause is yet to be decided. “We’re still working that out but it’s not going to be a matter of months,” she said. “We need time to research, test and build resilience.”
The museum offer is likely to look quite different when the venue reopens, she said.
“It will be a very different proposition. As a board, we’re really committed and really hopeful – we want to support the museum and take it forward. We’re in active conversations with active and historical key stakeholders and we foresee a mixed model of industry funding and business partnerships.”
Myles urged people to visit the museum before 23 February. “Come and see us before we’re transformed,” she said.
Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft explores the East Sussex village’s legacy as a centre of art and craft in the 20th century.
The museum highlights the lives and work of the artists and craftspeople who made Ditchling their home, and houses a nationally significant collection of art and craft, including direct carving, wood engraving, printing, typography, weaving and silversmithing, alongside works by prominent artists.
A recent groundbreaking project at the museum, co-produced with survivors of sexual abuse, saw a reinterpretation of the painting Annunciation by the artist and sculptor Eric Gill, who was closely associated with the arts and crafts movement at Ditchling and whose diaries show that he sexually abused his daughters.
The museum is ticketed, with adult admission set at £10 with Gift Aid, concessions at £8.50 with Gift Aid, and young people (five to 25-year-olds) at £6 with Gift Aid.
It also has a Friends and Family membership scheme that offers unlimited access to the museum for one year.
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