Sharon Heal
Sharon Heal
Director, Museums Association
MA pushes for museums to adopt ‘sustainable’ approach
The idea that 'museums are forever and collections are for posterity' needs to be challenged, according to Nick Merriman, the director of the Manchester Museum.
Welsh museums could get statutory status
Local authority museum services could become statutory services in Wales, a statement issued by the new coalition government has revealed.
Scottish Executive reshuffle ushers in new culture minister with wider remit
The Scottish culture minister, Frank McAveety, fell victim to a reshuffle of the Scottish Executive last month. McAveety was replaced by Patricia Ferguson who was the minister for parliamentary business. The change comes in the middle of the Cultural Commission’s consultation on the future of cultural provision in Scotland. Joanne Orr, the director of the …
Cloud lifted to make way for new museum
A new Museum of Liverpool is on the cards again after the North West Development Agency (NWDA) announced £2.5m funding last month.The funding will cover project development costs. Although the money must be matched by funding from Objective One of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), a seven-strong team from National Museums Liverpool is already …
Council cash prevents Kilmartin House closure
The award-winning Kilmartin House Museum has been pulled back from the brink of closure by an emergency cash injection. The funding package, potentially worth £49,000, was announced last month. The museum in Kilmartin Glen, Scotland, was expected to close this autumn because of a shortfall in funding. But Argyll and Bute Council has offered a …
Scottish museums and galleries aim high with draft vision for the future
Museums in Scotland have mapped out their vision for the future over the next 25 years in a draft document that was launched at the Museums Association (MA) conference in Edinburgh last month. The document, Scotland’s Museums: Developing a Shared Vision, was produced by the Museums and Galleries Working Group, which was set up to …
Beamish unveils £29m scheme
The Beamish Open Air Museum in County Durham has unveiled radical redevelopment plans costing more than £29m. Visitors have plateaued at 300,000 over the past five years and Miriam Harte, the director, told Museums Journal that a bold vision was needed to ensure a sustainable future. A development document, called The Prospect of Beamish, includes …
Editorial: Ready for action on abolition anniversary
The 25th of this month marks the 200th anniversary of the parliamentary abolition of the transatlantic slave trade – a fact that museums should be only too aware of by now. Last year there was a feeling that, with some honourable exceptions in the obvious places connected to the slave trade, museums and galleries had …
Glasgow council proposes trust status for museums
Museums and galleries in Glasgow could be transferred out of local authority control to trust status, it was announced last month. Glasgow City Council is proposing that its entire culture and leisure services department becomes a charitable trust. If the move goes ahead, the museums and galleries could be out of council control by next …
MA takes first steps to discipline Bury council
The Museums Association started formal disciplinary measures against Bury council last month after the local authority stood by its intention to sell an artwork from its collection. Speaking at the Museums Association’s (MA) annual conference, Charles Saumarez Smith, the president of the MA and the director of the National Gallery, condemned Bury council’s decision to …
Report slams government inaction on cultural property
Culture select committee criticises government inaction on return of stolen objects, tackling illicit trade and backtracking on Nazi loot
Baltic under fire for poor management
Peter Doroshenko, the director of the Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art was forced to apologise to staff last month after allegations of victimisation and ineffective management at the centre. A letter sent to the director from the trade union Unison in May described staff members as feeling ‘isolated, marginalised, overruled, ignored, sidelined’ and ‘frozen out’. …