Richard de Peyer director, Macclesfield Museums Trust
"Maybe it's because I'm a Northerner but the Enriching Regions scheme hasn't really reached my consciousness! The HLFs Collecting Cultures scheme has moved the goal posts and the Art Fund scheme's emphasis on building relationships with private donors to buy art (though laudable in itself) is not usually a problem that independents have.
The essence of the problem is tackling the research and infrastructure needed to shift focus from financial survival to strategic collecting. Collecting Cultures has done this by funding research, travel, storage, documentation, interpretation and the acquisition of associated material (and with budgets worth up to £200,000 per museum).
Sadly the Art Fund scheme does not have the depth that has allowed independents to make the metaphorical 'space' for acquisitions."
Karen Brookfield deputy director, Heritage Lottery Fund
"The Heritage Lottery Fund doesn't have this problem as there is huge demand for all our programmes. In fact, our recent Collecting Cultures scheme - which was four times over-subscribed - clearly demonstrates that if you meet the needs of museums and galleries and offer them opportunities they otherwise wouldn't have then they will respond enthusiastically.
Collecting Cultures brings with it many benefits, from collection development itself to building the capacity of museums to make the most of any further new grants in the future."
Caroline Worthington director, Florence Nightingale Museum, London
"When someone like the Art Fund sets aside money for museums to buy things, it's surprising to hear they have difficulty getting applicants.
Applying for grants, approaching supporters, and getting them excited comes with the territory when you're running a museum, which as a new director I'm rapidly discovering. On my first day my chairman said we've got to raise £2m to refurbish, rebrand, and put the museum on the map.
After a deep breath, and having taken stock of what we needed to do, it's all about knowing who might want to support you, and asking in a way that they will find hard to refuse. But you've got to ask in the first place."
Tim Pestell curator, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
"This is a difficult question to answer as my own applications to Enriching Regions were successful. At one level there is nothing to stop museums applying, but the nature of the scheme has perhaps exposed deeper issues in the problems museums have in acquiring material - a fact reiterated by the HLF's decision to create the Collecting Cultures tranche of funding.
Key issues are the time needed to write applications, a lack of financial relationships with individuals or local businesses, and a wider lack of interest in cultural gift-giving in society. The solution in my own experience has been to network at a personal level, which usually involves a considerable amount of effort in one's own time."
"Maybe it's because I'm a Northerner but the Enriching Regions scheme hasn't really reached my consciousness! The HLFs Collecting Cultures scheme has moved the goal posts and the Art Fund scheme's emphasis on building relationships with private donors to buy art (though laudable in itself) is not usually a problem that independents have.
The essence of the problem is tackling the research and infrastructure needed to shift focus from financial survival to strategic collecting. Collecting Cultures has done this by funding research, travel, storage, documentation, interpretation and the acquisition of associated material (and with budgets worth up to £200,000 per museum).
Sadly the Art Fund scheme does not have the depth that has allowed independents to make the metaphorical 'space' for acquisitions."
Karen Brookfield deputy director, Heritage Lottery Fund
"The Heritage Lottery Fund doesn't have this problem as there is huge demand for all our programmes. In fact, our recent Collecting Cultures scheme - which was four times over-subscribed - clearly demonstrates that if you meet the needs of museums and galleries and offer them opportunities they otherwise wouldn't have then they will respond enthusiastically.
Collecting Cultures brings with it many benefits, from collection development itself to building the capacity of museums to make the most of any further new grants in the future."
Caroline Worthington director, Florence Nightingale Museum, London
"When someone like the Art Fund sets aside money for museums to buy things, it's surprising to hear they have difficulty getting applicants.
Applying for grants, approaching supporters, and getting them excited comes with the territory when you're running a museum, which as a new director I'm rapidly discovering. On my first day my chairman said we've got to raise £2m to refurbish, rebrand, and put the museum on the map.
After a deep breath, and having taken stock of what we needed to do, it's all about knowing who might want to support you, and asking in a way that they will find hard to refuse. But you've got to ask in the first place."
Tim Pestell curator, Norwich Castle Museum and Art Gallery
"This is a difficult question to answer as my own applications to Enriching Regions were successful. At one level there is nothing to stop museums applying, but the nature of the scheme has perhaps exposed deeper issues in the problems museums have in acquiring material - a fact reiterated by the HLF's decision to create the Collecting Cultures tranche of funding.
Key issues are the time needed to write applications, a lack of financial relationships with individuals or local businesses, and a wider lack of interest in cultural gift-giving in society. The solution in my own experience has been to network at a personal level, which usually involves a considerable amount of effort in one's own time."
