Museums and galleries across the UK have until 17 August to apply for the Weston Loan Programme, which funds smaller museums to borrow works from national or major collections.
This is the sixth round of the funding, which has supported hundreds of loans and 52 exhibitions since it was launched by the Art Fund and Garfield Weston Foundation in 2017. The foundation has provided funds of more than £1.56m to the scheme.
Grants of £5,000-£25,000 are available to cover up to 100% of the costs associated with securing and displaying a loan, from security reviews, insurance, transportation and conservation to installation and invigilation.
The grants also work that helps maximise the impact of loans, such as marketing, interpretation and audience engagement activities.
“As museums and galleries across the UK reopen their doors, the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund can help meet the costs of bringing a wide variety of famous and interesting art works to regional museums that can be seen by local communities across the UK,” said Sophia Weston, a trustee of the Garfield Weston Foundation.
“These loans build meaningful and often long-lasting partnerships between local and national museums, and a chance for many more people to see incredible works of art closer to home.
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"We are looking for museums that have some brilliant ideas and encourage them to be audacious and think big when considering what they would like to borrow as we know taking part in this programme can be transformational.”
In 2021, the programme has invested £320,000 in 18 exhibitions around the UK, including the a loan of the Galloway Hoard of Viking-age objects from National Museums Scotland to an exhibition near its discovery site at Kirkcudbright Galleries.
In England, the National Portrait Gallery’s 16th-century portrait of Richard III will be shown in a Yorkshire Museum exhibition telling the story of his reign, while the Lampedusa Cross – made from two pieces of a boat that was wreaked in 2013 causing the deaths of 311 refugees – will be loaned by the British Museum to Hastings Museum for an exhibition co-curated with local migrants.
For the sixth round of funding, the Art Fund said it will consider applications that enhance already planned exhibitions, enable “quick win” loan requests and support long-term relationship and display development.
Full details of criteria and how to apply are available on the Art Fund website.