Museums outside London have reiterated their call for national museums to do more to support loans beyond the capital, including minimising any associated costs.
The news follows the Science Museum Group's director, Ian Blatchford, urging national museums to be more proactive about sharing the best items in their collections.
In a recent Museums Journal online poll, nearly 90% of respondents said not enough was being done to share national collections around the UK.
Steven Parissien, the outgoing director of Compton Verney Art Gallery in Warwickshire, calls for a more "collegiate approach" to make it more possible to see quality art outside London.
"The things that are in store for long periods of time - for decades - we can help bring to life as a joint venture, but we need to be approached," he says.
"We're not asking museums to relax environmental and security concerns. We want a relationship that's not based on financial transactions, but on trust."
No complaints
But he says there is little standardisation across national museums for terms and conditions and contact points, and that changing this could improve the situation. Miller adds that many national museums have extended the minimum lead-in times for loans from six to 12 months.
"It means smaller museums need to factor that additional time into their planning processes," Miller says. "At the smaller end of the museum sector, it's a new way of working. They need help working through the conditions." He says larger regional museums could provide support.
Schemes such as the Art Fund's Weston Loan Programme, supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation, have provided funding for regional institutions for loans.
"National collections can be quite daunting, and because they are such big organisations, when you're working for a local authority you feel like a very small fish in a very big pond," says Katie Boyce, a curator at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum.
Increased footfall
The museum borrowed eight artists' self-portraits from London's National Portrait Gallery through the Weston Loan Programme for its portraiture exhibition, About Face, which closed in June, and generated more footfall as a result.
"The process is not difficult if you find the right contact, and contact them as early as possible, but sometimes that's easier said than done," adds Boyce. She says that up-to-date contact information is essential.
Costs such as insurance, image-reproduction fees, conservation, packing and transport can be a significant hurdle, although Rugby Art Gallery and Museum benefited from Art Fund support.
The news follows the Science Museum Group's director, Ian Blatchford, urging national museums to be more proactive about sharing the best items in their collections.
In a recent Museums Journal online poll, nearly 90% of respondents said not enough was being done to share national collections around the UK.
Steven Parissien, the outgoing director of Compton Verney Art Gallery in Warwickshire, calls for a more "collegiate approach" to make it more possible to see quality art outside London.
"The things that are in store for long periods of time - for decades - we can help bring to life as a joint venture, but we need to be approached," he says.
"We're not asking museums to relax environmental and security concerns. We want a relationship that's not based on financial transactions, but on trust."
No complaints
Steve Miller, the head of Norfolk Museums, says it is usually straightforward to borrow from national collections: "We've borrowed a number of items in recent years that have been hugely helpful in terms of visitor numbers, and we have no concerns or complaints."
Miller praises touring exhibitions such as the British Museum's Roman Empire: Power and People exhibition, which came to Norwich Castle Museum in 2014, along with some individual items.
But he says there is little standardisation across national museums for terms and conditions and contact points, and that changing this could improve the situation. Miller adds that many national museums have extended the minimum lead-in times for loans from six to 12 months.
"It means smaller museums need to factor that additional time into their planning processes," Miller says. "At the smaller end of the museum sector, it's a new way of working. They need help working through the conditions." He says larger regional museums could provide support.
Schemes such as the Art Fund's Weston Loan Programme, supported by the Garfield Weston Foundation, have provided funding for regional institutions for loans.
"National collections can be quite daunting, and because they are such big organisations, when you're working for a local authority you feel like a very small fish in a very big pond," says Katie Boyce, a curator at Rugby Art Gallery and Museum.
Increased footfall
The museum borrowed eight artists' self-portraits from London's National Portrait Gallery through the Weston Loan Programme for its portraiture exhibition, About Face, which closed in June, and generated more footfall as a result.
"The process is not difficult if you find the right contact, and contact them as early as possible, but sometimes that's easier said than done," adds Boyce. She says that up-to-date contact information is essential.
Costs such as insurance, image-reproduction fees, conservation, packing and transport can be a significant hurdle, although Rugby Art Gallery and Museum benefited from Art Fund support.
Boyce says national institutions could be more willing to make their more prestigious works available. "National collections could send out higher-standing works that people would recognise more," she says.