Applications Open for Heritage Compass
To date, Heritage Compass has supported 300 small or medium-sized heritage organisations across England who have received training to develop effective business plans, income strategies and the knowledge and support to move beyond Covid-19.
Thanks to additional funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Cause4, in partnership with Creative United and the Arts Marketing Association, is now recruiting a further 100 organisations to the programme.
The programme will help organisations (including local museums, parks, landscapes, places of worship and heritage buildings) who want to future proof their business model. The training will include:
- Business planning income generation and finance
- Stakeholder and audience development
- Setting goals for heritage and social impact
- Governance
Application deadline: Friday 2 December
Museums Association Conference 2022: Make Change Happen
Thursday 3 – Saturday 5 November
Edinburgh International Conference Centre EH3 8EE and online
With hope growing that the worst of the global pandemic is over, this year’s conference explores how museums can create better places to live and work in a post-Covid world. To do this, museums need to tackle a number of crucial issues, including the climate crisis, inequalities and racism, the legacy of empire, and wellbeing.
Conference sessions will cover:
- How museums can become more sustainable organisations and use their collections, buildings and knowledge to support communities to make positive environmental changes
- What systemic racism is; what an anti-racism museum looks like and what changes we need to create inclusive organisations
- Wellbeing and how museums can support workforce wellbeing and work with their communities to recover from the pandemic
- The legacy of empire and slavery, including how can we empower communities to help decolonise our museums in a dynamic, collaborative and inclusive way
In Edinburgh you can expect three days of interactive and topical content, inspirational speakers, networking opportunities, social events, physical tours and practice sessions. If you can’t attend in person, joining online for some or all of the event gives you the opportunity to access great content at your own convenience.
You have the chance to hear from a range of inspirational speakers. Speakers include:
- Corinne Fowler, Director, Colonial Countryside: National Trust Houses Reinterpreted, University of Leicester
- Graham Campbell, Political campaigner and community activist
- Raj Pal, Freelance curator and creative producer
- Sheila Asante, Project Manager, Empire, Slavery & Scotland’s Museums, Museums Galleries Scotland
- Lewis Hou, Director, Science Ceilidh and Member, The Anti-Racist Educator
- Zandra Yeaman, Curator of Discomfort, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow
- Leonie Bell, Director, V&A Dundee
- Ihor Poshyvailo, Co-founder, Heritage Emergency Response Initiative/ Director General, National Memorial and the Revolution of Dignity Museum (Maidan Museum), Ukraine
- Hannah Lavery, Poet, playwright and Edinburgh Makar
In the discovery zone you will find round table discussions, drop-ins and 1:1s throughout conference in order to take the conversation further and really get into details. These sessions will include MA reps; ethics; speed mentoring; collections fund; careers; exhibition design and the learning and engagement manifesto. You will also find the MA hub in the discovery zone – a great place to meet MA staff and your colleagues.
As well as hearing from our sponsors at sessions throughout the conference, you can meet our sponsors and find out more about the latest technologies, products and services for the sector in the discovery zone.
The social events give you the opportunity to carry on networking with fellow delegates at some of Edinburgh’s cultural venues.
The third day of conference is a chance to visit a range of museums and galleries in Edinburgh. There is a programme of special events, exhibition tours, expert talks and behind-the-scenes visits to museums, galleries and cultural venues in the area, all included in the price.
Click here for more information, to view the full programme and to book your place
New Funding Opportunity
Art Fund is making up to £60,000 available for one early to mid-career curator to undertake a focused collecting project: developing their museum or gallery’s collection of contemporary craft in exciting ways whilst supporting their own professional development.
The Sir Nicholas Goodison Award for Contemporary Craft takes the same format as its New Collecting Awards, which you may already be aware of. To support the project, the awardee will also receive funding towards their own professional development – to spend on research, travel and training costs to support their collecting plans, as well as the ongoing support of a mentor, Art Fund staff and trustees.
Full details on the award can be found on the Art Fund website.
Application deadline: Thursday 3 November
Charity Law Change
An upcoming change to charity law in England and Wales will give national institutions leeway to dispose of objects on moral grounds, according to the Institute of Art and Law (IAL).
Under current legislation, charity trustees are able to seek authorisation from the Charity Commission if they feel compelled by a moral obligation to make a transfer of charity property – a voluntary gesture of goodwill known as an ex gratia payment.
The ex gratia principle was recently used by the Horniman Museum and Jesus College, Cambridge, to successfully apply for approval to transfer their Benin bronze holdings to the Nigerian authorities.
However, almost all national institutions are unable to make ex gratia transfers because they are governed by statute that prohibits them from deaccessioning collection objects, with few exceptions. This has long been a legal obstacle in discussions around restitution.
A provision in the Charities Act 2022, which is due to pass this autumn, will allow the trustees of those institutions to seek authorisation from the Charity Commission for ex gratia transfers.
New Home Sought for Worth Costumes
The Pennington Mellor Munthe Charity Trust (PMMCT) has a collection of Worth dresses that they are looking to rehome. Commissioned by Anna Catherine Pennington Mellor to Worth of London, the PMMCT’s Collection boasts over two dozen luxury dresses tailored to measure for Anna Catherine herself and her daughter Hilda in the last quarter of the 19th century. It also includes accompanying garments and accessories, several pairs of shoes, umbrellas and a rich range of hats, which bring to life the development of high fashion during the period. The collection is unique in that all garments were made by the same costumier. Most of it remained packed and untouched for almost 80 years until it was found in 2011 in one of the basements at Southside House, Wimbledon. It is in a very good state of conservation.
Please contact justinepeberdy@hellensmanor.com for further information.
Pitch Perfect – Do you have an idea for TV or radio?
Cultural organisations, artists, creatives and theatre-makers based in the West Midlands are invited to submit an idea for a TV or radio project and join ‘Pitch Perfect’ training and development scheme. The scheme offers access to:
• Industry insiders from The Space who will champion your idea to TV and radio channels
• Training sessions with TV and radio leaders
• One-to-one sessions with producers, script editors and local independent production companies that can help make your idea broadcast-ready
• Access to written resources to help you hone your pitch
• Contributions to funding if your idea is picked up by a broadcaster during the scheme
Submit an idea for a TV or a radio project until 5pm, Thursday 15 September
Steps to Sustainability – round 3 applications open
AIM is pleased to be working with Social Enterprise Academy on the third round of Steps to Sustainability. Funded by National Lottery Heritage Fund, the programme will help your organisation to be ambitious, forward-thinking and deliver exciting new projects.
The programme is open to small to medium heritage organisations in Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland who have an income-generating idea that is not yet fully formed and need the resources and support the Steps to Sustainability programme offers to pursue this idea.
On this 14 month journey, you will learn to look outwards, build stronger partnerships and become more comfortable with the commercial aspects of running a heritage organisation. Learning with a network of peers and sector experts from across the UK, you will turn a new business idea into reality.
Application deadline: Sunday 11 September
Rural Museums Network autumn seminar series
The Rural Museums Network is pleased to launch its 2022 Autumn Seminar Series. Join us for these monthly seminars to hear expert speakers and museum professionals share how rural collections and rural sites can better include a wider range of voices in the stories they tell.
These sessions are on the Zoom platform and are free for members (institutional and individual) and £5 for non-members.
Friday 9 September at 3pm
Join the Rural Museums Network and George Monger ACR to discuss conservation problems facing rural museums across the UK, posed by the audience. If you have a question or topic of interest you would like George to explore, please note this when making your booking on Eventbrite, or email them to rmnvoice@gmail.com. Tickets here.
Friday 7 October at 3pm
Niall Logan, chairman of the Scottish Vernacular Buildings Working Group, will trace the history of the longhouse in Scotland from the earliest examples through to survivors today; how they were built, how they functioned, and why there are so few surviving. Tickets here.
Friday 4 November at 3pm
Henry McGhie of Curating Tomorrow will be talking about sustainable development ideas and how rural museums can contribute towards sustainable communities. Tickets here.
Restitution Guidelines
Arts Council England (ACE) has published new restitution and repatriation guidelines for museums.
The long-awaited guidance is intended to clarify the process around the return of cultural material to its original owner or place of origin. It replaces previous guidance produced by the now-defunct Museums and Galleries Commission in 2000.
The guidance is underpinned by existing policy and legislative framework and supports museums in making decisions and managing cases in a legally appropriate and ethically responsible manner. It does not change any policy or legislation.
View or download Restitution and Repatriation: A practical guide for museums in England
Share your Opinions on the Future of UK Heritage
The National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) is developing an ambitious, long-term vision for heritage and what its funding can achieve. It really values your insight, so please take five minutes to complete a survey that will contribute to NLHF’s long-term vision.
You can choose to take a longer or shorter survey and this will be open until midday, Monday 5 September.
