Paisley Museum to be transformed regardless of City of Culture bid success - Museums Association

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Paisley Museum to be transformed regardless of City of Culture bid success

Council says revamp will go ahead even if Paisley does not win accolade
Council officials backing Paisley’s bid to become the UK City of Culture in 2021 insist that a planned £56.7m redevelopment of Paisley Museum will go ahead even 
if the bid fails.
Renfrewshire Council approved the revamp of the town’s museum in November.
 
Mark Macmillan, the leader of Renfrewshire Council and the chairman of the Paisley 2021 Partnership Board, says: “Paisley was once at the heart of the global textile industry and by connecting that heritage to the future through a new transformed museum, we aim to bring the world to Paisley.”

The council also unveiled 
a scheme to create a £3.7m museum store to open up access to collections for education and research.

Morag Macpherson, the council’s cultural operations and development manager, says: “The commitment to redevelop the museum is part of a wider regeneration strategy, and will go ahead whether the UK City of Culture 2021 bid is successful or not.”

She stresses that the project is a vital part of Renfrewshire Council’s long-term regeneration strategy, Paisley: The Untold Story, which was published in 2014.

The plan “will use the town’s outstanding cultural, architectural and industrial heritage as the basis for a wide-ranging programme 
of regeneration”, she says.

‘Turbocharge the process’

Macmillan has also pledged to “deliver on our regeneration plans if we win [the competition] or not, albeit the title would turbocharge that process”.
 
Renfrewshire Council will contribute £15m towards the museum project, while an application for £15m has been submitted to the Heritage Lottery Fund. The remaining funds will be pursued through a range of sources.

“A fundraising strategy and team will be in place to advance this work as the development of the museum advances,” says Macpherson.

“The museum will play a key role in the City of Culture bid, and we will also create strategic links with other partners and stakeholders, including the University of the West of Scotland.”

Chris Lee, a former senior curator at Paisley Museum, says that one of its most challenging aspects has always been collections management.

“The inability to use the building, collections and stores to their full potential were a source of frustration 
to me,” he says.

“I am hopeful that the developments will take place regardless of winning the City of Culture bid.
 
“Indeed, I think it is essential for the town’s wellbeing and confidence, and I certainly support the bid.”

Art consultant Wendy Law, who established the National Collecting Scheme for Scotland (NCSS) at the Scottish Arts Council, says that the museum has “very good collections in addition to the Paisley shawls, especially of studio ceramics, which have huge potential to gain 
a higher profile, and strong contemporary work from artists such as Claire Barclay and Jonathan Owen”.

Scottish journalist Ian Jack wrote in The Guardian last year that “risibly to some, Paisley wants to be the UK’s third City of Culture . . . there are visions, asset strategies and action plans. Like many other places that fear an otherwise empty future, Paisley is putting its faith in history, tourism and the arts.” He asks: “Can it work? I surprise myself by thinking: ‘Yes, it can.’”


City of Culture 2021

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport will announce the shortlisted bids for the 2021 UK City of Culture in spring 2017.
 
l Sunderland’s bid highlights the “improved facilities” of Sunderland Museum, which benefited from a £3.8m Heritage Lottery Fund award 
in 2001.

A new organisation comprising the University of Sunderland, Arts Council England and Sunderland City Council – the Sunderland Cultural Partnership – aims to “coordinate, facilitate, plan and promote a new vision for arts and culture in the city”.
 
l Coventry City Council has committed £250,000 to fund the initial stages of the city’s bid, which is led by a steering group overseen by businessman David Burbidge. “A wide range of cultural partners, including the Herbert Museum and Art Gallery, are integral to the bid,” says councillor Faye Abbott.

l Herefordshire Council and the Courtyard Centre for the Arts are setting up a consortium that will work on a bid for Hereford.
 
l Perth & Kinross Council says 
it is moving forward with a 
bid, which includes proposed projects such as the redevelopment of Perth 
Museum and Art Gallery, and 
the development of a new 
cultural attraction.


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