Independents lead the way in entrepreneurship
Patrick Steel, 22.06.2011
Ministerial address praises independents' spirit at AIM Conference
Paul Barnes, head of museums at the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, speaking on behalf of culture minister Ed Vaizey, told the Association of Independent Museums last week: “In a time of reduced public spending and the pressing need to reduce our budget deficit at central and local government level, independent museums show us how great art and culture can exist alongside, and be improved by, a commercial focus and community input.”
The speech also singled out the Stanley Spencer Gallery and the Arundel Museum Society as examples of museums with great reputations that are run entirely by volunteers.
Independent museums would benefit, said Barnes, from the more holistic model envisioned for Renaissance under the arts council, the extra £50m a year for the Heritage Lottery Fund, the government’s plans for an £80m match-funding scheme to encourage philanthropy, and changes to legacy giving and gift aid allowances.
The government would like this to lead, he added, to a ‘creative ecology’ allying the subsidised and commercial arts, the professional and the voluntary arts, and the arts and the creative industries.
Sally Cross, the Museums Association’s collections coordinator, who addressed the conference about the Esmee Fairbairn Collections Fund, said: “It was interesting to hear the minister’s views on how the wider sector might learn from the entrepreneurial spirit of independent museums, and also the views of members of the audience afterwards.
“A question about museum development support led to a show of hands to indicate whether the audience felt that Renaissance had achieved a trickle-down impact on independent museums. It showed that most English independents felt that it had.”
To see the full transcript of the speech, click here (word)
The speech also singled out the Stanley Spencer Gallery and the Arundel Museum Society as examples of museums with great reputations that are run entirely by volunteers.
Independent museums would benefit, said Barnes, from the more holistic model envisioned for Renaissance under the arts council, the extra £50m a year for the Heritage Lottery Fund, the government’s plans for an £80m match-funding scheme to encourage philanthropy, and changes to legacy giving and gift aid allowances.
The government would like this to lead, he added, to a ‘creative ecology’ allying the subsidised and commercial arts, the professional and the voluntary arts, and the arts and the creative industries.
Sally Cross, the Museums Association’s collections coordinator, who addressed the conference about the Esmee Fairbairn Collections Fund, said: “It was interesting to hear the minister’s views on how the wider sector might learn from the entrepreneurial spirit of independent museums, and also the views of members of the audience afterwards.
“A question about museum development support led to a show of hands to indicate whether the audience felt that Renaissance had achieved a trickle-down impact on independent museums. It showed that most English independents felt that it had.”
To see the full transcript of the speech, click here (word)
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