Ashmolean sets sights on Cotswolds outpost
Gareth Harris, Issue 112/02, p4, 01.02.2012
Museum to open in 17th-century building in Worcestershire village
The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford is to open an outpost in a Worcestershire village this autumn.
The partnership with Worcestershire County Council involves the transformation of a 17th-century building called Tudor House in the Cotswolds village of Broadway into an independent museum.
John Keil, Tudor House’s owner, has offered the property on a long-term lease. The project has also been boosted by a £200,000 grant from Worcestershire County Council.
Furniture, objects, paintings and textiles from the Ashmolean’s reserve collections, as well as works from the private collection of the Keil family, will go on display in six rooms of the house. There will also be a gallery space dedicated to rotating exhibitions of works by local artists.
“The museum will recreate the original interior, furnishings and styles of the house, ranging from the 17th to the 19th centuries,” said a spokeswoman for the Ashmolean.
A major refurbishment of the building will be led by staff from the Ashmolean’s curatorial, design and conservation departments.
Broadway councillor Liz Eyre told the BBC: “They [the Ashmolean Museum] are not only lending us exhibits, but the director [Christopher Brown] is taking a prominent role on the board in the new company that is being formed.”
A charitable trust will be set up to manage the museum, with representatives from the Ashmolean Museum, Worcestershire County Council and other stakeholder groups. Brown will be one of the trustees.
MJ review of the museum's Egypt and Nubia galleries
The partnership with Worcestershire County Council involves the transformation of a 17th-century building called Tudor House in the Cotswolds village of Broadway into an independent museum.
John Keil, Tudor House’s owner, has offered the property on a long-term lease. The project has also been boosted by a £200,000 grant from Worcestershire County Council.
Furniture, objects, paintings and textiles from the Ashmolean’s reserve collections, as well as works from the private collection of the Keil family, will go on display in six rooms of the house. There will also be a gallery space dedicated to rotating exhibitions of works by local artists.
“The museum will recreate the original interior, furnishings and styles of the house, ranging from the 17th to the 19th centuries,” said a spokeswoman for the Ashmolean.
A major refurbishment of the building will be led by staff from the Ashmolean’s curatorial, design and conservation departments.
Broadway councillor Liz Eyre told the BBC: “They [the Ashmolean Museum] are not only lending us exhibits, but the director [Christopher Brown] is taking a prominent role on the board in the new company that is being formed.”
A charitable trust will be set up to manage the museum, with representatives from the Ashmolean Museum, Worcestershire County Council and other stakeholder groups. Brown will be one of the trustees.
MJ review of the museum's Egypt and Nubia galleries
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"A charitable trust will be set up to manage the museum, with representatives from the Ashmolean Museum, Worcestershire County Council and other stakeholder groups. Brown will be one of the trustees."
This is as far as we understand it in-correct The project will be a private company with charitable details. We would urge Mr Brown not to be involved in this project until the tax payers monies 200k is returned to the reserves pot (money used in case of a school fire etc.) where it came from.
I was at first pleased to see the news that the Ashmolean was coming to Worcestershire, a welcome addition to culture and the economy in the county
And then I discovered that £200,000 pounds have been granted to the project. Again this in itself is also a welcome investment if it were not for the fact that this sum of money is a very strange exception where other more important funding is needed, being held back, being cut and lacking elsewhere in the visual arts in Worcestershire.
I am further disgusted by the expediency at which these funds were granted over one December cabinet meeting, press release on the 11th December and the presumptuous news on BBC Hereford & Worcester 30th December, wow…. I now understand that the final council decision was taken in the following January Council meeting, where a motion was supported by all Conservative members and apposed by independent and Labour members, there was a request for this to be postponed so a cross-party agreement could be reached but this was denied and pushed through. Councillor Campion and Councillor Eyre must have brought an excellent case forward, and I presume that they presented evidence from their 18 month Broadway ‘community’ partnership with Mr. Keil and the Ashmolean, evidence that is supported by our Museums service and other specialists from the arts? I have yet to find evidence of this scrutiny and diligence.
I have worked in this sector for the last five years in Worcester and each year the annual budget for ALL the arts across the WHOLE of Worcestershire has remained at 200k. This year I’m sure it has probably been cut by the recommended 15% so in real terms it’s a much greater cut and a lack of investment has led to many artists and creatives simply leaving the region and taking their skills, investment and culture with them. I have decided to stay and foster opportunities within the visual arts for artists and audiences alike. Imagine my surprise when the un-princely but rare sum of 200k should pop up over tea and biscuits at ONE cabinet meeting and be awarded to an existing organisation in the Ashmolean and a benefactor in Mr. Keil who happens also to be an antiques dealer in the very same Broadway. All of which who can well afford this expenditure within an area of wealth and an already strong tourism trade.
The shoulders of Broadway are broader than elsewhere in the county, the local business’ and residents (Councillor Eyre and Mr. Keil included) could have easily raised 200k and the further 80k amongst ‘the local community’ and that money so easily handed over could have gone into much more inclusive projects. Broadway does not cater for a broad spectrum of Worcestershire’s inhabitants, nor will any trade in tourism filter into the rest of the county, to think so is folly. Under the guise of the Corporate Plan objective ‘Open for Business’ and a ‘Localism’ agenda this was pushed through. No mention of wider participation or inclusion or even arts and culture for that matter.
According to the cabinet minutes from the 15 December Mr. Eddie Clarke is now responsible as the Director of Adult and Communities in Worcestershire to make sure no further capital or funding is required and this project is implemented. I would urge the Director to pause for further consultation.
I do not think the proposal is wrong, I understand that this generous benefactor Mr. Keil should receive our support and our commitment. The County Council should offer support for Broadway and the Ashmolean to raise their own funds.
For my part, I will be pursuing the centralization of a Contemporary Art Museum agenda, I will be asking the residents of Worcestershire if they value culture in the hands of the many or reserved for the few by signing a petition which can be found on change.org search for: Private museum gets £200k! Redirect for a Peoples Contemporary Art Gallery or twitter
@no2ashmolean2
SIGN THE PETITION