Birmingham plans to put museums into trust model
Thinktank would be part of spring overhaul
Birmingham’s museums are set for a radical overhaul with plans to merge the city’s museum and art gallery and Thinktank science museum into a new trust from April next year.
The city council is seeking a director for the new Birmingham Museums Trust who, according to the job specification, will manage an annual budget of £11m.
The new trust will also encompass several historic buildings such as Aston Hall, Sarehole Mill and Weoley Castle.
Birmingham City Council wants to save an estimated £1.3m in 2011-12 and £2.4m by 2014-15 across its nine museum and heritage sites.
Meanwhile, under a plan initiated by the city’s Ikon gallery, the Thinktank science museum would form part of a proposed creative quarter in the city, which will also house a new contemporary art museum, photography venue and Ikon 2 space.
The three new institutions would be located around Curzon Street station, with the scheme scheduled for completion by 2020.
Discussions have yet to take place concerning the role of the new trust in relation to the Creative City project.
A spokeswoman for the city council said it was hoped that one of the planned museums could house “one of the national collections”.
“We can’t go into specific detail about the national collection in question, but it contains works by artists and sculptors [such as] David Hockney, Antony Gormley, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon and Bridget Riley,” said the spokeswoman.
The city council is seeking a director for the new Birmingham Museums Trust who, according to the job specification, will manage an annual budget of £11m.
The new trust will also encompass several historic buildings such as Aston Hall, Sarehole Mill and Weoley Castle.
Birmingham City Council wants to save an estimated £1.3m in 2011-12 and £2.4m by 2014-15 across its nine museum and heritage sites.
Meanwhile, under a plan initiated by the city’s Ikon gallery, the Thinktank science museum would form part of a proposed creative quarter in the city, which will also house a new contemporary art museum, photography venue and Ikon 2 space.
The three new institutions would be located around Curzon Street station, with the scheme scheduled for completion by 2020.
Discussions have yet to take place concerning the role of the new trust in relation to the Creative City project.
A spokeswoman for the city council said it was hoped that one of the planned museums could house “one of the national collections”.
“We can’t go into specific detail about the national collection in question, but it contains works by artists and sculptors [such as] David Hockney, Antony Gormley, Henry Moore, Francis Bacon and Bridget Riley,” said the spokeswoman.