Vox pop

“There is a continuing logic for core museums that have a leading role in their wider area to deliver high level and broad outcomes and to provide elements of support to other museum organisations (although this was not articulated in the original New Renaissance, many of us have argued for this).

There is significant synergy with the core/transformation and National Portfolio/Grants for the Arts model. Some of the wider ‘regional’ roles that core museums will need to undertake are matched by the ‘Bridge’ responsibilities built into the funding of some NPOs to take on regional responsibility for work with young people.

The proposals for New Renaissance, as currently articulated, are focused on ensuring maximum benefit from the investment in the Renaissance programme.”


“Arts Council England made important changes to how it operates through the recent open submissions process for its National Portfolio scheme, which was challenging and developmental for all organisations that took part. 

ACE now has a portfolio of organisations, large and small, who support the delivery of its strategy, deliver to wide and varied audiences and communities, and are seen as model organisations both geographically and within their specialisms and peer networks.

Museums need to replicate this, not by creating ‘hubs with footfall’, but by building local centres of excellence based on agreed criteria and strategic fit, rewarding museum impact rather than its size, and sector development rather than polarised growth.”


“Core museums will cause muddle and pointless complexity. They will create division and needless hierarchy. Other hub museums will lose funds, so their audiences will suffer. Astonishingly, no one has told us why we might want core museums.

The Renaissance review simply recommends that we should have them, with very little justification. The subsequent New Renaissance paper from MLA has less than a page about them. The idea was to pilot them in one or two places but this didn’t happen.

The lack of detail and testing is appalling when you think they might consume £10m-£20m a year. Far better for ACE to run an open application process that could result in perhaps 70-100 museums getting regular funding.”


“Core museums were proposed by Renaissance to clear up the mess left by hubs. The proposal wasn’t fully formed and it was never really clear who the core museums would be. There were suggestions about Designation and size of visitation but no sense of how they would benefit anyone but themselves.

No system will please everyone but core museums would please no one. ACE doesn’t even have to look far for a scheme which would suit museums well. The system of NPOs backed up with something like Grant for Arts wouldn’t need too much tweaking to work for us. The criteria for a good arts organisation translate easily to museums and support in areas like participation would be very welcome.”