The charitable organisation behind a new London-based gallery that will showcase art from UK regional collections has said funding is needed to secure the long-term future of the project.
The Bulldog Trust plans to host exhibitions at Two Temple Place, a neo-Renaissance mansion near the Thames.
The trust, which bought the building in 1999, is funding a refurbishment of the space incorporating improved lighting and security. David Barrie, a former director of the Art Fund, is a project adviser.
The first show is planned for October 2011. It will feature highlights from the collection of the William Morris Gallery, which closes in April for a 15-month renovation.
Mary Rose Gunn, chief executive of the Bulldog Trust, said: “However, in order to be able to plan for future exhibitions, we must find partners to work with and other revenue streams, or we will not be able to continue with the project.
“We are seriously looking at ways of raising retail revenue. We have not started formal talks with any other galleries yet regarding future shows.”
Meanwhile, plans for another London-based regional collections gallery have fallen through.
Earlier this year, Fred Hohler, chairman of the Public Catalogue Foundation, put forward a proposal to convert the former Theatre Museum in Covent Garden into the British Isles Gallery, where highights from UK regional collections would be displayed. But Westminster City Council refused planning permission.
Hohler backed the Temple Place scheme, as London needed a “showcase platform for regional collections”.