City of Culture bids
There are 14 bids to be the UK’s first City of Culture, in 2013. The bids are Barnsley; Birmingham; Carlisle; Chichester; Cornwall; Derry; Durham; Hull; Ipswich and the Haven Gateway; Norwich; Portsmouth and Southampton; Sheffield; Southend; and Swansea. A short list will be drawn up in May and the winner revealed in the summer.
Art Fund Collect deadline
The closing date for applications for museums and galleries wanting to take part in Art Fund Collect is 19 February. The £75,000 initiative allows curators to acquire works from the Crafts Council’s international fair Collect, to be held at London’s Saatchi Gallery on 14-17 May.
www.artfund.org
Wycombe ponders future
Wycombe District Council is considering a range of options to save money on its museum service, including moving it to a trust. It is also looking at relocating Wycombe Museum, which attracts about 30,000 visitors a year. Councillor Katrina Wood denied reports in the local media that the council was proposing to close the museum and sell its collection.
Domestic tourism boost
More Britons have been spending their holidays in England, according to figures released last month by tourism body VisitEngland. The number of holidays taken by Britons within England between June and August last year was 22 per cent higher than for the same period in 2008, with the amount spent up 20 per cent. VisitEngland said trends included more people taking seaside breaks and a big rise in family holidays.
