Wolverhampton Art Gallery gets helping hand for collections
Released: 5 June 2008
Wolverhampton Art Gallery has today been named as one of the galleries to benefit from a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant to develop its collections.
In partnership with The Herbert, Coventry, Wolverhampton Art Gallery has been awarded £199,500. This investment is part of the HLF’s Collecting Cultures scheme designed to help support acquisitions, curatorial skills, research and increased public involvement.
Wolverhampton Art Gallery, part of Wolverhampton City Council’s Arts and Museums Service, will use the funds to collect work relating to ‘Peace and Reconciliation’. The award will help the gallery fill gaps in the Northern Ireland collection and seek Middle Eastern works as a comparison.
Head of Curatorial Services, Marguerite Nugent said: “It is fantastic to receive support to further develop important and unique areas of Wolverhampton’s collections.
“We pride ourselves on collecting shrewdly to develop pockets of excellence. This has created the Pop Art collection and more recently, the internationally important Northern Ireland collection, both of which the people of Wolverhampton can currently enjoy on display.”
The partnership between Wolverhampton Art Gallery and The Herbert, Coventry, recognised a common area of conflict and its resolution. The joint ‘Peace and Reconciliation Project’ was one of 22 projects to benefit from grants given to museums and galleries across the UK.
Councillor Matthew Holdcroft, Wolverhampton City Council’s Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture, said: “It is fantastic to see Wolverhampton Art Gallery once again recognised as a leading centre when engaging the public with such emotive issues as peace and reconciliation.
"With a multi-medium approach in place for acquisitions I am confident that there will be something of interest for everyone."
The Collecting Cultures programme was hugely over-subscribed - 95 applications totalling £13.3 million were received against an available budget of £3 million. Grants awarded range from £50,000 to £200,000.
Issued by the press office.