Youth and diversity will be the central themes of Coventry’s year as City of Culture in 2021, with a 2.2-mile poem celebrating its infamous “concrete collar” ring road, an artist-led festival playing on the idea of silence and “being sent to Coventry”, and a local community initiative called Streets of Culture being key parts of its programme.
The West Midlands city was revealed as the successful bidder at the end of last year, and planning is to begin in earnest this month. The Coventry City of Culture Trust, a charity established to manage the process, is seeking a creative director and executive director to help shape the programme.
Laura McMillian, the trust’s director of operations, says museums and galleries played a huge part in the bid. “They helped to set the city apart as unique,” she says. “And with the City of Culture title secured, we believe the additional spotlight will help to increase visitor numbers to our wonderful museums.”
Jo Muskett, the head of marketing and communications at Culture Coventry, which oversees the Coventry Transport Museum and Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, and part of the City of Culture marketing group, believes both the three-year build-up and the year itself will help to increase focus on the city’s museums.
“We hope it will bring more people to the city and, as a result, more visitors to the museums,” she says. “It will provide more opportunities for us to share our collections, and more opportunities to engage people with culture.”
It is hoped Coventry will be able to replicate the success enjoyed by Hull, which held the title last year. While full visitor numbers for Hull’s year as Capital of Culture will not be available until April, the early signs are positive. According to regional data, visits to Yorkshire and Humberside rose 9% in the first eight months of the year.
Positive effect
It has been reported that hotel occupancy in the city centre was up by 9% to December, while travel website Expedia’s bookings for accommodation in Hull rose by 80%.
Hull’s Ferens Art Gallery welcomed 519,000 visitors over the course of the year – a rise of 309% on 2014. The gallery reopened last January after a £5.2m refurbishment, and in December, hosted the Turner Prize ceremony.
Meanwhile, the economic impact is expected to exceed the £60m forecast in Hull’s bid, with more detailed findings to be released as part of the Cultural Transformations conference at the University of Hull on 15-16 March.
The company that ran Hull’s City of Culture programme, overseeing more than 2,000 events at more than 250 venues, has been renamed Culture Company and will continue as a permanent national arts organisation. Its core purpose will be to commission world-class arts programming for residents and visitors, as well as to work strategically with partners across Hull.
The legacy of City of Culture is not limited, however, to the successful bidders. The other cities shortlisted for 2021 – Paisley, Sunderland, Stoke-on-Trent and Swansea – are all seeking to move their plans forward.
In Stoke-on-Trent, a £6m redevelopment of the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery will go ahead. This scheme includes a glass-fronted extension that will house its restored Spitfire.
Deputy council leader Abi Brown, who chaired the city’s bid, says being shortlisted has served to remind the city of what great collections it has.
Meanwhile, Sunderland had raised £40m in capital investment for a large element of its bid, and those plans will go ahead.
Rebecca Bull, the director of Sunderland 2021, says the bid will form the basis of a new seven-year cultural strategy for the city.
The West Midlands city was revealed as the successful bidder at the end of last year, and planning is to begin in earnest this month. The Coventry City of Culture Trust, a charity established to manage the process, is seeking a creative director and executive director to help shape the programme.
Laura McMillian, the trust’s director of operations, says museums and galleries played a huge part in the bid. “They helped to set the city apart as unique,” she says. “And with the City of Culture title secured, we believe the additional spotlight will help to increase visitor numbers to our wonderful museums.”
Jo Muskett, the head of marketing and communications at Culture Coventry, which oversees the Coventry Transport Museum and Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, and part of the City of Culture marketing group, believes both the three-year build-up and the year itself will help to increase focus on the city’s museums.
“We hope it will bring more people to the city and, as a result, more visitors to the museums,” she says. “It will provide more opportunities for us to share our collections, and more opportunities to engage people with culture.”
It is hoped Coventry will be able to replicate the success enjoyed by Hull, which held the title last year. While full visitor numbers for Hull’s year as Capital of Culture will not be available until April, the early signs are positive. According to regional data, visits to Yorkshire and Humberside rose 9% in the first eight months of the year.
Positive effect
It has been reported that hotel occupancy in the city centre was up by 9% to December, while travel website Expedia’s bookings for accommodation in Hull rose by 80%.
Hull’s Ferens Art Gallery welcomed 519,000 visitors over the course of the year – a rise of 309% on 2014. The gallery reopened last January after a £5.2m refurbishment, and in December, hosted the Turner Prize ceremony.
Meanwhile, the economic impact is expected to exceed the £60m forecast in Hull’s bid, with more detailed findings to be released as part of the Cultural Transformations conference at the University of Hull on 15-16 March.
The company that ran Hull’s City of Culture programme, overseeing more than 2,000 events at more than 250 venues, has been renamed Culture Company and will continue as a permanent national arts organisation. Its core purpose will be to commission world-class arts programming for residents and visitors, as well as to work strategically with partners across Hull.
The legacy of City of Culture is not limited, however, to the successful bidders. The other cities shortlisted for 2021 – Paisley, Sunderland, Stoke-on-Trent and Swansea – are all seeking to move their plans forward.
In Stoke-on-Trent, a £6m redevelopment of the Potteries Museum and Art Gallery will go ahead. This scheme includes a glass-fronted extension that will house its restored Spitfire.
Deputy council leader Abi Brown, who chaired the city’s bid, says being shortlisted has served to remind the city of what great collections it has.
Meanwhile, Sunderland had raised £40m in capital investment for a large element of its bid, and those plans will go ahead.
Rebecca Bull, the director of Sunderland 2021, says the bid will form the basis of a new seven-year cultural strategy for the city.