Arts Council England (ACE) is piloting a quality assessment programme for museums.
The pilot phase began last October and runs until April, focusing on public-facing programmes and events at major partner museums in Cambridge, Bristol and Birmingham. There are currently no plans to roll the pilot out to other museums.
An ACE spokesman said: “We will learn from and evaluate the pilot in consultation with those participating in it. We will then consider recommendations from the pilot project.”
Museums Journal understands that one of the aims of the pilot is to explore whether elements of ACE’s artistic assessment scheme can be applied to museums.
The artistic assessment programme is carried out by experts such as artists, journalists and academics, working across several different organisations over a two-year period.
Assessors’ reports feed into discussions about artistic quality and inform ACE’s funding decisions.
However, the artistic assessments do not cover participatory, learning, education and outreach work “where the main aims of the work are achieved through the process itself”.
A post on consultant Stephen Feber’s website about the pilot meeting last October reads: “What should a ‘quality assessment’ programme cover? How should the artistic assessment template be amended to cover museums’ activity?”
The pilot phase began last October and runs until April, focusing on public-facing programmes and events at major partner museums in Cambridge, Bristol and Birmingham. There are currently no plans to roll the pilot out to other museums.
An ACE spokesman said: “We will learn from and evaluate the pilot in consultation with those participating in it. We will then consider recommendations from the pilot project.”
Museums Journal understands that one of the aims of the pilot is to explore whether elements of ACE’s artistic assessment scheme can be applied to museums.
The artistic assessment programme is carried out by experts such as artists, journalists and academics, working across several different organisations over a two-year period.
Assessors’ reports feed into discussions about artistic quality and inform ACE’s funding decisions.
However, the artistic assessments do not cover participatory, learning, education and outreach work “where the main aims of the work are achieved through the process itself”.
A post on consultant Stephen Feber’s website about the pilot meeting last October reads: “What should a ‘quality assessment’ programme cover? How should the artistic assessment template be amended to cover museums’ activity?”
