The outburst of nostalgia in your Ace relations feature was hard to take.
Our three museums have created the Wessex Museums Partnership. Each of us is a cash-strapped independent museum, with limited grants from our local councils.
The open and flexible approach of Arts Council England (ACE) has come as a breath of fresh air, with genuine concern and understanding of our plight standing in stark contrast with years of being ignored.
In the “good old days”, pleas for advice went unanswered as a £440,000 pension fund black hole threatened to wipe out one of our museums.
The much-vaunted “strategic dialogue” with the local authority resulted in one meeting in three years, and we were left with tiny crumbs from the massive investment in the Renaissance hubs.
In our view, ACE has moved swiftly, giving new life to staff freed from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The new staff understand the sector and are genuinely helpful.
Links have been established across artforms and local organisations are being encouraged to develop new partnerships with our museums. To put the icing on the cake, ACE has awarded funding to our new partnership, using a model that we have found to be flexible and supportive.
Jon Murden, executive director, Dorset County Museum; Adrian Green, director, Salisbury Museum; and David Dawson, director, Wiltshire Heritage Museum
Our three museums have created the Wessex Museums Partnership. Each of us is a cash-strapped independent museum, with limited grants from our local councils.
The open and flexible approach of Arts Council England (ACE) has come as a breath of fresh air, with genuine concern and understanding of our plight standing in stark contrast with years of being ignored.
In the “good old days”, pleas for advice went unanswered as a £440,000 pension fund black hole threatened to wipe out one of our museums.
The much-vaunted “strategic dialogue” with the local authority resulted in one meeting in three years, and we were left with tiny crumbs from the massive investment in the Renaissance hubs.
In our view, ACE has moved swiftly, giving new life to staff freed from the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. The new staff understand the sector and are genuinely helpful.
Links have been established across artforms and local organisations are being encouraged to develop new partnerships with our museums. To put the icing on the cake, ACE has awarded funding to our new partnership, using a model that we have found to be flexible and supportive.
Jon Murden, executive director, Dorset County Museum; Adrian Green, director, Salisbury Museum; and David Dawson, director, Wiltshire Heritage Museum
