A project has launched that hopes to bring works of art in Suffolk’s museums and galleries out of storage and put them on display in community centres, libraries, churches, village halls and schools.
Created by the art historian Richard Morris, the Everyone’s Art project aims to bring work by lesser known and forgotten artists back into the public domain.
Morris has launched a Kickstarter to crowdfund for the project and is also seeking to raise private donations. It is hoped the scheme will grow into a wider national initiative.
The project also hopes to launch a UK-wide day, Our Art Day, which will celebrate forgotten artists in the communities in which they once worked.
Morris said it is rare to find work by more obscure artists exhibited because “exhibitions have to make a profit and unknown artists will rarely bring in crowds of people”.
“Artists can slip into oblivion for a number of reasons and it has little to do with their quality of work so getting an opportunity to see very good work by lesser-known painters and sculptors is extremely rare,” says a statement on the initiative.
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“At any one time 80% of art in museums and public art galleries in the UK is in storage and once it is in a warehouse it can stay there for years on end, never seeing the light of day.”
Suffolk-based artists who may be spotlighted by the project include painters such as Amy Browning and Anna Airy, the latter of whom trained at the Slade School of Art and was one of the first women officially commissioned as a war artist during the first world war.
“I see us being funded by public donations and the private sector and not taking money out of the public purse,” Morris told Museums Journal.
“As an art historian I want to see as many people as possible get to appreciate lesser known artists and the work they produced and who once were part of their community, it's an important educational aspect of what Everyone's Art will be doing.
“So much art is hidden away because of issues we understand so well: the lack of space, lack of human resources and the money to arrange exhibitions.”
The project will be set up as an exhibiting society, he said. “It is critical we work hand-in-hand with curators – the majority of curators I know want to see more people take an interest in the art they care for,” added Morris.
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Morris said he had discussed the scheme with Arts Council England and believes insurance for the exhibitions can be covered by Government Indemnity Scheme, which applies to objects borrowed for the public benefit.
Venues would be carefully chosen to make sure they are safe and secure, he said.
“We will also ensure that we have plenty of volunteers and teach them to look after the works on loan,” said Morris.
“Everyone in communities I have spoken to really likes the initiative, many people would like to visit galleries and museums but for a number of reasons choose not to. What we are doing is bringing art, stories about its creation and its history out into the communities where it began.”
Interesting because Tamworth Castle (Staffordshire) are ahead of the game! As part of a partnership with the town-centre church since last year oil paintings from the collections, that have not been seen for decades, are going on display in St Editha’s church in Tamworth. Because Tamworth Castle is a Scheduled Ancient Monument it is not possible to hang additional paintings in the Castle, unless another painting is removed so the same attachment points can be used. No extra holes can be put into the walls. There is also no ‘exhibition space’ within the building, so art is now being taken out into the community with the expectation of more locations to be developed. Watch this space!
Congratulations, Sarah, I’m so pleased you are ahead of the game. In my local area, I’m being told I need to put in application for a loan 9 months in advance, no matter who the artist or subject matter. We can’t appreciate work if it is stored in museum and gallery basements, a space where we find modern masters, Old Masters, artists whose work has been ignored because they were the wrong sex or fashion had turned, or their work affronted contemporary sensibilities; art does not have a duty to make us happy, but it is our duty to make sure it is seen.
This is a much overdue initiative and should be rolled out nationwide. Museums should be working hard to promote this. 80% of artworks being in storage is shameful. It needs a lot of dedication and hard work but so much more worthwhile than all the time spent on climatism