Bath’s Victoria Art Gallery’s display cabinets will be upgraded this year thanks to a grant of £31,500 from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport / Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund.
The grants are jointly funded through a partnership between the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), and the Wolfson Foundation. The Victoria Art Gallery’s grant was one of five made in memory of Giles Waterfield, former director of Dulwich Picture Gallery.
Councillor Patrick Anketell-Jones (Conservative, Lansdown), Cabinet Member for Economic Development at Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: “We are grateful to DCMS and the Wolfson Foundation for this grant, which will allow the gallery to purchase new, conservation-grade cabinets to house outstanding watercolours, drawings and prints from the collection, including works by JMW Turner, Thomas Rowlandson and Thomas Malton. These will be on display in the Upper Gallery, which is free for everyone to visit
“The purchase of new display cabinets is part of the gallery’s long-term strategy to display more of its extensive collection of works on paper for visitors to enjoy.”
Matt Hancock, Minister for Digital and Culture, said: “Our museums and galleries are among the best in the world and we should be rightly proud of these institutions.
“We want people to be able to enjoy world-leading culture wherever they live and whatever their background. These grants will make an important contribution toward increasing access to their wonderful collections and improving the visitor experience at museums right across the country.
“I applaud the Wolfson Foundation’s generosity in once again matching the Government’s investment pound for pound in this important work.”
Paul Ramsbottom, CEO of the Wolfson Foundation, said: “This is a wonderful example of how a charity and government can work fruitfully together in partnership and we are grateful to government for matching our funding. The awards demonstrate the richness and variety of the country’s museum collections.
“In announcing these awards I also want to pay tribute to Giles Waterfield. He was a brilliant advisor to the programme from its inception and sparkled at an expert panel meeting in the very week in which he tragically and unexpectedly died. We all owe him a great deal.”
The grant will be made after 1st April 2017. The Friends of Victoria Art Gallery will also donate £5,000 towards the new cabinets. The money is being awarded by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport / Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund specifically for this project.
For more information about the Victoria Art Gallery visit www.victoriagal.org.uk
