Museums looking for new partnership opportunities
Museums and galleries facing funding difficulties are increasingly looking at new operating models
Walsall Council announced last month that it was seeking a partner to help it manage and fund the town’s New Art Gallery. It said that it had resolved “to undertake a procurement exercise to find a new partner to share the costs of the gallery and help it develop over the next 10 years, potentially outside the council”.
The authority said it was interested in receiving expressions of interest from the education sector, companies or philanthropists. It will continue contributing to the gallery’s costs until at least 2020, but said the long-term aim was to reduce the institution’s dependency on a subsidy.
Although the council did not comment further on potential arrangements, it is understood that one option being considered is partnering with a university. A statement from Ian Oakes, the deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “Given the university’s campus in Walsall, we are in continual discussion with the council on how we can maximise the impact of the university in Walsall.”
New opportunities
The New Art Gallery is not alone. Museums facing funding difficulties are increasingly looking to develop new governance and operating models that often involve merging, co-locating or otherwise working closely with other organisations and services. Such moves are attractive because, at least in theory, they promise opportunities such as reducing costs, gaining additional funding and aligning heritage more closely with other agendas.
The Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (Mima), previously run by Middlesbrough Council, became part of Teesside University in 2014. The council, university and Arts Council England (ACE) noweach contribute about £500,000 annually to the gallery (the university’s funding includes in-kind benefits such as back-office support).
“We are all university employees and are, in effect, part of the campus,” says Mima director Alistair Hudson, who joined the organisation just after the transfer.
“My position is the equivalent to a dean and I sit on the senior management team. So I am involved in all the decisions to do with the management of the university, as well as Mima itself.”
The Middlesbrough venue works with departments across the university to support and enhance their activities.
“Mima is basically a platform through which teaching can take place and through which research can be facilitated, as well as providing many other benefits in terms of the civic remit of the university,” says Hudson.
Originally, it was anticipated that the institute’s work would relate particularly to fine art, but it now works with a broad range of both arts and science subjects. The Teesside biosciences department has based growing schemes that help neutralise pollution at Mima’s community garden. And students on the university’s forensic science course have come to the institute for classes with a painting conservator, looking at ways paint could be analysed at crime scenes to provide information.
The building is also often used by dance students, and history students help provide research and content for exhibitions. The gallery is also discussing the possibility of working with TV architect George Clarke to build a demonstration house as part of an exhibition on housing next year, to tie in with new university courses on building technology.
Creating a bridge
Hudson says such projects enable Mima to act as a bridge between the university and the town. This role is epitomised by its physical position, in a public square close to Middlesbrough’s town hall, council offices and law courts, but also bordering the university campus.
“It’s an exciting opportunity to think about the role a museum or gallery can play in relation to all aspects of a university and, by implication, all aspects of public life,” says Hudson.
While the university does not try to direct Mima’s content or programming, Hudson welcomes the two entities working more closely together. “I wouldn’t want us to be left to our own devices – I want us to be part of the university’s work, and equally influencing how the university operates,” he says.
He is clear that while the funding situation remains tight, Mima’s situation could have been worse without the arrangement. “It has saved Mima from another fate,” says Hudson. “A solution was needed and the university stepped in.”
Hudson, who chairs Culture Forum North, a network of arts organisations and universities in the north of England, says many other museums are looking to work more closely with universities.
“Virtually everybody is sizing up a relationship with a university, whether it’s direct or indirect,” he says. “It is a shift that’s taking place in the UK as money gets squeezed. Cultural organisations are looking to universities, and universities, in terms of expanding their civic remit and their market pull, are looking at culture and how they do that.”
Range of partners
It is not only universities with which museums are joining forces. Wandsworth Museum formally merged with Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) last year, with staff transferring to BAC. The collection remains in the basement of the old museum site, but it is made accessible through projects that have included working with young people to create an outdoor performance inspired by the history of the River Wandle.
Rebecca Holt, the chief operating officer of BAC, says the merger sprung from work supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) which used the BAC building’s radical history “to inspire people to take creative risks”.
“Wandsworth Museum approached us looking for a solution to remaining operational, and this felt like an opportunity to explore what an integrated arts and heritage organisation can look like,” says Holt.
She says opportunities created by the merger include working on multi-disciplinary projects and developing new relationships with audiences. Challenges have included overcoming cultural differences and tackling complex topics such as Accreditation.
“Two organisations coming together is always going to be a challenge, as different cultures and ways of doing things combine,” says Holt.
Despite such hurdles, there are likely to be more moves such as this – not least because funding bodies are increasingly interested in them. Piloting new operating and governance models is one aim of the HLF Great Place Scheme. There are versions of the initiative running in all four UK nations.
East Kent was granted £1.5m from the scheme, of which £345,000 will go to Canterbury City Council to create a cultural and heritage centre. This involves the Marlowe Theatre moving some activities to the site of the former Canterbury Heritage Museum in a Grade I-listed building.
Janice McGuinness, the council’s assistant director of commissioned services, says visitor numbers at the old museum, which was wound down last month, had fallen to about 7,000 a year, making it hard to justify a subsidy.
Rather than closing the museum completely or planning a major capital injection, the council decided to use the building for a new approach focused on the city’s literary heritage (the Elizabethan poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe was born and educated in the city and the British-Polish novelist Joseph Conrad is buried there).
Since last month, the building has been used by the Marlowe Theatre for activities including youth theatre, community workshops, writing classes and administrative work. From next spring, these will be joined by updated heritage displays, a digital suite where visitors can create responses to the collection and an “escape room”. “It will become a literary centre, taking in contemporary literature and literary heritage,” says McGuinness.
The funding will support five new staff positions, across the museum service and the theatre, for three years. The project will involve a collections review, including the transfer of objects to the city’s other museums, and possibly ethical disposals. The two cultural services are currently run by the council, but the Marlowe Theatre will be transferred to a trust. A steering group including representatives of both services will oversee the work.
McGuinness says the ability of the Marlowe Theatre to contribute financially, as well as creatively, is key to attracting funding. “We have found a solution that will give us a much better offer than we had before,” she says. “But we found it because we were backed into a corner.”
Kelvin Hall benefits from multi-use nature of site
Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall reopened last year after a £24m project designed by PagePark Architects. The venue includes a gym and sports halls, as well as collections belonging to the Hunterian, Glasgow Museums and the National Library of Scotland. It is run as a partnership between the University of Glasgow, National Library of Scotland and Glasgow Life, a charity that manages a range of the city’s services including museums, arts and sport.
Duncan Dornan, the head of museums and collections at Glasgow Life, says that since opening, Kelvin Hall’s multi-use nature has helped to draw in new audiences. “Interestingly and encouragingly, we do see people coming out of the sports halls and then looking at displays and engaging with cultural content,” he says.
The arrangement also helps to save money. “There are savings on both capital and infrastructure costs,” says Dornan. “The sports staff are in here from six in the morning until 10pm at night. That makes using the cultural facilities cost-effective because the building is already open”.
Dornan says the experience gained through working with other services in Glasgow Life helped during the development of Kelvin Hall. “Working closely with people in libraries, sport, music and cultural venues has helped to build confidence and relationships, and it has made it easier to tackle something like Kelvin Hall,” he says.
The authority said it was interested in receiving expressions of interest from the education sector, companies or philanthropists. It will continue contributing to the gallery’s costs until at least 2020, but said the long-term aim was to reduce the institution’s dependency on a subsidy.
Although the council did not comment further on potential arrangements, it is understood that one option being considered is partnering with a university. A statement from Ian Oakes, the deputy vice-chancellor at the University of Wolverhampton, said: “Given the university’s campus in Walsall, we are in continual discussion with the council on how we can maximise the impact of the university in Walsall.”
New opportunities
The New Art Gallery is not alone. Museums facing funding difficulties are increasingly looking to develop new governance and operating models that often involve merging, co-locating or otherwise working closely with other organisations and services. Such moves are attractive because, at least in theory, they promise opportunities such as reducing costs, gaining additional funding and aligning heritage more closely with other agendas.
The Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art (Mima), previously run by Middlesbrough Council, became part of Teesside University in 2014. The council, university and Arts Council England (ACE) noweach contribute about £500,000 annually to the gallery (the university’s funding includes in-kind benefits such as back-office support).
“We are all university employees and are, in effect, part of the campus,” says Mima director Alistair Hudson, who joined the organisation just after the transfer.
“My position is the equivalent to a dean and I sit on the senior management team. So I am involved in all the decisions to do with the management of the university, as well as Mima itself.”
The Middlesbrough venue works with departments across the university to support and enhance their activities.
“Mima is basically a platform through which teaching can take place and through which research can be facilitated, as well as providing many other benefits in terms of the civic remit of the university,” says Hudson.
Originally, it was anticipated that the institute’s work would relate particularly to fine art, but it now works with a broad range of both arts and science subjects. The Teesside biosciences department has based growing schemes that help neutralise pollution at Mima’s community garden. And students on the university’s forensic science course have come to the institute for classes with a painting conservator, looking at ways paint could be analysed at crime scenes to provide information.
The building is also often used by dance students, and history students help provide research and content for exhibitions. The gallery is also discussing the possibility of working with TV architect George Clarke to build a demonstration house as part of an exhibition on housing next year, to tie in with new university courses on building technology.
Creating a bridge
Hudson says such projects enable Mima to act as a bridge between the university and the town. This role is epitomised by its physical position, in a public square close to Middlesbrough’s town hall, council offices and law courts, but also bordering the university campus.
“It’s an exciting opportunity to think about the role a museum or gallery can play in relation to all aspects of a university and, by implication, all aspects of public life,” says Hudson.
While the university does not try to direct Mima’s content or programming, Hudson welcomes the two entities working more closely together. “I wouldn’t want us to be left to our own devices – I want us to be part of the university’s work, and equally influencing how the university operates,” he says.
He is clear that while the funding situation remains tight, Mima’s situation could have been worse without the arrangement. “It has saved Mima from another fate,” says Hudson. “A solution was needed and the university stepped in.”
Hudson, who chairs Culture Forum North, a network of arts organisations and universities in the north of England, says many other museums are looking to work more closely with universities.
“Virtually everybody is sizing up a relationship with a university, whether it’s direct or indirect,” he says. “It is a shift that’s taking place in the UK as money gets squeezed. Cultural organisations are looking to universities, and universities, in terms of expanding their civic remit and their market pull, are looking at culture and how they do that.”
Range of partners
It is not only universities with which museums are joining forces. Wandsworth Museum formally merged with Battersea Arts Centre (BAC) last year, with staff transferring to BAC. The collection remains in the basement of the old museum site, but it is made accessible through projects that have included working with young people to create an outdoor performance inspired by the history of the River Wandle.
Rebecca Holt, the chief operating officer of BAC, says the merger sprung from work supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) which used the BAC building’s radical history “to inspire people to take creative risks”.
“Wandsworth Museum approached us looking for a solution to remaining operational, and this felt like an opportunity to explore what an integrated arts and heritage organisation can look like,” says Holt.
She says opportunities created by the merger include working on multi-disciplinary projects and developing new relationships with audiences. Challenges have included overcoming cultural differences and tackling complex topics such as Accreditation.
“Two organisations coming together is always going to be a challenge, as different cultures and ways of doing things combine,” says Holt.
Despite such hurdles, there are likely to be more moves such as this – not least because funding bodies are increasingly interested in them. Piloting new operating and governance models is one aim of the HLF Great Place Scheme. There are versions of the initiative running in all four UK nations.
East Kent was granted £1.5m from the scheme, of which £345,000 will go to Canterbury City Council to create a cultural and heritage centre. This involves the Marlowe Theatre moving some activities to the site of the former Canterbury Heritage Museum in a Grade I-listed building.
Janice McGuinness, the council’s assistant director of commissioned services, says visitor numbers at the old museum, which was wound down last month, had fallen to about 7,000 a year, making it hard to justify a subsidy.
Rather than closing the museum completely or planning a major capital injection, the council decided to use the building for a new approach focused on the city’s literary heritage (the Elizabethan poet and playwright Christopher Marlowe was born and educated in the city and the British-Polish novelist Joseph Conrad is buried there).
Since last month, the building has been used by the Marlowe Theatre for activities including youth theatre, community workshops, writing classes and administrative work. From next spring, these will be joined by updated heritage displays, a digital suite where visitors can create responses to the collection and an “escape room”. “It will become a literary centre, taking in contemporary literature and literary heritage,” says McGuinness.
The funding will support five new staff positions, across the museum service and the theatre, for three years. The project will involve a collections review, including the transfer of objects to the city’s other museums, and possibly ethical disposals. The two cultural services are currently run by the council, but the Marlowe Theatre will be transferred to a trust. A steering group including representatives of both services will oversee the work.
McGuinness says the ability of the Marlowe Theatre to contribute financially, as well as creatively, is key to attracting funding. “We have found a solution that will give us a much better offer than we had before,” she says. “But we found it because we were backed into a corner.”
Kelvin Hall benefits from multi-use nature of site
Glasgow’s Kelvin Hall reopened last year after a £24m project designed by PagePark Architects. The venue includes a gym and sports halls, as well as collections belonging to the Hunterian, Glasgow Museums and the National Library of Scotland. It is run as a partnership between the University of Glasgow, National Library of Scotland and Glasgow Life, a charity that manages a range of the city’s services including museums, arts and sport.
Duncan Dornan, the head of museums and collections at Glasgow Life, says that since opening, Kelvin Hall’s multi-use nature has helped to draw in new audiences. “Interestingly and encouragingly, we do see people coming out of the sports halls and then looking at displays and engaging with cultural content,” he says.
The arrangement also helps to save money. “There are savings on both capital and infrastructure costs,” says Dornan. “The sports staff are in here from six in the morning until 10pm at night. That makes using the cultural facilities cost-effective because the building is already open”.
Dornan says the experience gained through working with other services in Glasgow Life helped during the development of Kelvin Hall. “Working closely with people in libraries, sport, music and cultural venues has helped to build confidence and relationships, and it has made it easier to tackle something like Kelvin Hall,” he says.