The year-old Derby Museums Trust has a new director, Tony Butler, who will take up the post in December.
Butler, the director of the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket, said that he plans to raise awareness of “Derby as a city of makers” in line with the aims of the trust.
The trust’s other priorities include developing the museums' commercial arm and raising the profile of the Derby-born artist Joseph Wright.
A statement on Derby Museums website said: “[Butler] has taken the Museum of East Anglian Life from near bankruptcy to a £4m capital development.” He joined the museum in 2004.
Nick Dodd, former chief executive of Museums Sheffield, has been the interim director of Derby Museums since February. He replaced Stuart Gillis, who resigned in January.
Derby Museum and Art Gallery, the Silk Mill and Pickford’s House Museum transferred from the city council to the new trust last October.
Butler is also currently the director of the Happy Museum Project, an initiative that supports museum activities focusing on environmental sustainability, happiness and wellbeing. The project’s ideals draw on a 2011 manifesto co-written by the New Economics Foundation.
The Happy Museum Project announced a third round of funding awards in August for museums and galleries across England and Wales. Derby Museums was among the winners, receiving £20,000.
The funding went towards a programme called “Re:make”, where members of the public are invited to design and refurbish the ground floor of the redeveloped Silk Mill site between October and spring next year.
Over the next year, the Happy Museum Project will continue to be administered by the Museum of East Anglian Life, said Butler, who will also remain director of the project.
He added: “We will look for the best possible [external] vehicle for the scheme in the next year, which will focus more on research and resources”.
Butler, the director of the Museum of East Anglian Life in Stowmarket, said that he plans to raise awareness of “Derby as a city of makers” in line with the aims of the trust.
The trust’s other priorities include developing the museums' commercial arm and raising the profile of the Derby-born artist Joseph Wright.
A statement on Derby Museums website said: “[Butler] has taken the Museum of East Anglian Life from near bankruptcy to a £4m capital development.” He joined the museum in 2004.
Nick Dodd, former chief executive of Museums Sheffield, has been the interim director of Derby Museums since February. He replaced Stuart Gillis, who resigned in January.
Derby Museum and Art Gallery, the Silk Mill and Pickford’s House Museum transferred from the city council to the new trust last October.
Butler is also currently the director of the Happy Museum Project, an initiative that supports museum activities focusing on environmental sustainability, happiness and wellbeing. The project’s ideals draw on a 2011 manifesto co-written by the New Economics Foundation.
The Happy Museum Project announced a third round of funding awards in August for museums and galleries across England and Wales. Derby Museums was among the winners, receiving £20,000.
The funding went towards a programme called “Re:make”, where members of the public are invited to design and refurbish the ground floor of the redeveloped Silk Mill site between October and spring next year.
Over the next year, the Happy Museum Project will continue to be administered by the Museum of East Anglian Life, said Butler, who will also remain director of the project.
He added: “We will look for the best possible [external] vehicle for the scheme in the next year, which will focus more on research and resources”.