Arts websites 'reduce anxiety in young people'

27 Sep 2022

Study finds first clear evidence that online engagement with arts and culture has a positive impact on mental health and wellbeing.

Royal Academy of Arts offers young persons discount

26 Sep 2022

The Royal Academy of Arts is introducing half-priced exhibition tickets for all visitors aged 25 and under.

The institution says the move is a bid to help make the RA’s exhibitions more accessible. It will run alongside the existing offer of free exhibition entry for under 16s.

An existing discounted membership scheme for young people is being extended to include all under 35s. The RA’s Young Friends Membership, which starts from £65 a year, offers unlimited access to exhibitions.

RA Secretary and Chief Executive Axel Rüger said he is “delighted to be able to offer new ways into the RA especially designed for a younger audience”. 

“With an exceptional autumn exhibition programme and longer opening hours, we look forward to welcoming new visitors.”

Museum of Homelessness to open first permanent venue

22 Sep 2022

A new permanent venue for the Museum of Homelessness will open in London next year, it has been announced.

The museum said Manor House Lodge, in Finsbury Park, will be its base of operations as well as a centre for creativity, healing and community cohesion. 

Plans for the site are being developed by people with experience of homelessness alongside Stephen Greenberg, a museum planner who has worked on more than 100 museum projects. 

The museum said it hopes for the venue to be "a world class creative hub" that hosts performances, talks and workshops developed by people with experience of homelessness. It will provide 250 support sessions per year designed in partnership with those in need, which are likely to include regular surgeries focused on housing and legal rights as well as the provision of essentials during the cost-of-living crisis.

The plans for the site also include an open access professional standard arts studio for people experiencing homelessness and a home for the national archive and collection for homelessness, poverty and social action. 

The museum has been granted a 10-year community lease from Haringey Council which is currently undertaking initial works on the site. The Museum of Homelessness team is due to be onsite later this year and will undertake a six-month community development period prior to opening to the public in spring or summer next year.

Museum of Homelessness Co-founder Matt Turtle said: “After working in borrowed venues for seven years and relying on the generosity of partners especially the Outside Project, we are delighted to be putting down roots in Harringey. 

"We are excited about transforming this precious site into a museum space like no other, a place where people can hear stories they won't hear anyone else and receive practical support when they need it.

"Our community will work with partners including the council and people experiencing homelessness locally to make a space for everyone.”

Portrait of Queen to be auctioned for charity

20 Sep 2022

Dreweatts has announced a charity auction this November to raise funds for the Queen’s Mother’s Clothing Guild, a royal charity.

One of the most anticipated lots is Pearly Queen of St. James’s Palace, a large-scale portrait of Queen Elizabeth II as she appeared on the first-class postage stamp.

The work, by contemporary artist Ann Carrington, features thousands of pearl buttons hand-sewn onto a black canvas and is expected to sell for between £10,000 and £25,000.

Princess Alexandra, the Honourable Lady Ogilvy, the guild’s patron since 2003, said the proceeds of the auction “will contribute significantly to the vital work of the charity to provide more new clothing and bedding to those in need across the UK”.

Carrington created the work for the 140th anniversary of the guild. “Each button represents the volunteer sewers and knitters whose hand-made contributions since 1882 have enabled the charity to grow and flourish,” she said.

The work is part of a series of 23 portraits of the Queen created by Carrington, the only fine artist who holds a license from Royal Mail to produce artworks in postage-stamp form.

One of the 23 works was commissioned by the Queen herself, who requested that it be executed in red and gold.

Give galleries to the people

14 Sep 2022

After staging a takeover of a visual arts institution in Greater Manchester, Harry Meadley says cultural spaces should let the public represent themselves.

Former Turner Contemporary worker wins redundancy tribunal

outside of Turner Contemporary
05 Sep 2022

A tribunal rules the former staff member, who worked on a zero hours contract for ten years, was eligible for redundancy as her job role and relationship with the gallery matched that of an employee.

Scottish bursaries for artists and craft makers

05 Sep 2022

Visual artists and craft makers in Scotland can now apply for bursaries to put towards their creative development.

The Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards (VACMA) offers fixed bursaries of £500 and £750 to artists at all stages of their career to develop their creative practice.

Funded by Creative Scotland, the scheme is managed locally by VACMA partners, and is available in 25 of Scotland’s 32 local authority areas, with £130,000 available in total.

Head of Visual Arts at Creative Scotland Amanda Catto said the funding will enable artists and makers to test new ideas, develop their skills and generate work.

“We are delighted that we have so many partners working with us to deliver the programme which generates such important, long-lasting benefits to the creative people working in their local area.” 

Applications for a first wave of funding will close 25 October, with the deadline for a second round scheduled for 7 February 2023.

VAT refund scheme for museums and galleries reopens

Image of Tate Modern
01 Sep 2022

The scheme, which is available to museums and galleries that provide free access to the public, is reopening to widen access to arts and culture.

Dealers select contemporary artists for British Art Fair

31 Aug 2022

British Art Fair has announced the launch of a new platform, SOLO CONTEMPORARY, to show “the very best contemporary British art”. 

A dedicated space at the Saatchi Gallery for British Art Fair will exhibit ten artists, each selected by one of Britain’s leading contemporary art dealers.

The new platform was conceived by the fair’s owner Will Ramsay, in collaboration with artist-curator Zavier Ellis. 

“The dialogue between contemporary and ModBrit artists is a profound one and we will seek to illustrate that relationship,” Ellis said. 

“I am also keen to emphasise the shifting parameters of what a gallery is, particularly in the post-Covid era. SOLO CONTEMPORARY includes curatorial projects and galleries that have alternative models as well as the standard."

Gay Hutson, the fair’s Founding Director, said it was founded in 1988 “specifically to promote the most talented British artists of its time”.

“SOLO CONTEMPORARY gives us the opportunity to continue with this vital part of the fair.”

Echoes of our industrial past

Image of Public Art Installation, See Monster
31 Aug 2022

A decommissioned North Sea offshore platform has been transformed into the gargantuan art installation SEE MONSTER at Weston-super-Mare’s iconic lido. Niccy Hallifax shares its inspiration. 

Arts exam entries paint ‘worrying’ picture

Photo of children painting in art lesson
30 Aug 2022

While entries to arts subjects at A Level increased this year, entries to GCSE arts exams fell across all creative subjects, with music reaching a new low.

DCMS to promote UK artists abroad

30 Aug 2022

The Government Art Collection (GAC) is launching a five-year project to acquire works by contemporary British visual artists for display at UK government outposts around the world.

The DCMS project, called X-UK, will result in works being on show in more than 125 countries in embassies and other government buildings. It aims to showcase “the best of British creativity” and promote interest in the creative sector.

GAC will collaborate with the Contemporary Visual Arts Network in England, the Scottish Contemporary Art Network and networks in Wales and Northern Ireland to select emerging artists.

During a pilot scheme during 2020-2021, GAC made an initial selection of over 90 pieces by 45 artists, which are currently on display in government buildings in the UK and overseas.

Artists whose work was acquired during the pilot have since achieved new career highlights. Glasgow-based artist Alberta Whittle went on to represent Scotland at the 59th Biennale di Venezia in 2022 and currently has pieces on display in the National Galleries of Scotland.  

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay said that X-UK “aims to be a true reflection of every part of the United Kingdom”. 

Shailesh Vara, Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, said the project “will undoubtedly serve as a fantastic springboard for new and emerging artists from Northern Ireland to display their talent on the world stage”. 

Public support payment initiatives for artists

24 Aug 2022

Poll suggests the majority of the public want government and technology companies to support initiatives to remunerate artists whose work is downloaded digitally.

Exhibition will recreate destroyed Ukrainian mosaics 

24 Aug 2022

A new digital exhibition will display Ukrainian mosaics, some of which were destroyed during the ongoing war, at this year’s Greenwich+Docklands International Festival in London.

Part of the UK/Ukraine Season of Culture by the British Council and the Ukrainian Institute, images of the mosaics will be projected onto the walls of the Old Royal Naval College.

Brightly coloured, hyper-intricate digital projections of the mosaics will be accompanied by striking sounds, to draw attention to both Ukraine’s cultural legacy and losses.

Yevgen Nikiforov, curator of the exhibition, said: "Three years ago, we collected dozens of the most interesting mosaics for an animated projection to take a new look at the monumental art of Ukraine in the 20th century.

“Now, these unique objects are under threat, like the entire Ukrainian heritage. Through the display of these works in London, we will inscribe this layer of Ukrainian culture, still not sufficiently studied, in the history of world art.”

England's largest free heritage festival returns

22 Aug 2022

Many arts buildings will open for free next month as part of England’s largest festival of history and culture.

Organised by the National Trust, Heritage Open Days gives families free access to cultural buildings including museums and galleries.

More than 670 free events are planned across the event’s 10-day period, from 9 to 18 September.

According to the trust, this year's theme - Astounding Inventions - puts focus on overlooked inventors and those whose creations we couldn’t live without.

"Whether it's a doorstep discovery, a local curiosity, a world-famous attraction or a one-of-a-kind experience - there really is something for everyone this year," said Heritage Open Days Marketing and Projects Manager Liam Montgomery.

A full list of free events is available on the Heritage Open Days website.

Saatchi Gallery cancels Russian-organised show of Ukrainian art

22 Aug 2022

London's Saatchi Gallery has pulled the plug on an exhibition of Ukrainian art organised by Russians after a social media outcry.

The Ukrainian Way was scheduled to showcase 100 Ukrainian artists, with an accompanying auction of physical works and NFTs.

It was organised by Russian banker and art collector Igor Tsukanov, alongside cultural impresario and fellow Russian Marat Guelman as a consultant.

Speaking on social media, Ukrainian curators and artists said that it was happening without their consent, condemning it as an example of Russian cultural colonialism.

“The organisers of the exhibition do not pay any attention to the opinion of [Ukrainian artists]. Possession of the object does not necessarily give the right to publish and exhibit,” art critic Olha Sahaidak wrote on Facebook.

A number of Ukrainian artists whose work was set to feature commented on Sahaidak’s post, objecting to their inclusion.

A spokesperson for the Saatchi Gallery told The Art Newspaper the gallery was not the organiser or curator of the exhibition, nor was it involved in any direct communication with the artists or collectors.

“Once it became apparent that support from a number of these key parties had been withdrawn, along with the reports of concerns raised by artists in recent days, Saatchi Gallery immediately took the decision to cancel the 10-day exhibition and withdraw its support from the project.”

Christie’s funds scholarships for art students

17 Aug 2022

Auction house Christie's is to fund a scholarship scheme helping students who are the first to go to university in their family attend Manchester School of Art.

Christie's will fund five scholarships for students studying Fine Art or Art History and Curating at the Manchester School of Art, as part of a drive to increase diversity and social mobility in the arts.

It will also provide expert guest lectures and host visits from Manchester School of Art students at its London headquarters. 

Professor Martyn Evans, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Arts and Humanities at Manchester Metropolitan and Director of Manchester School of Art said: “We are proud to be one of the most diverse universities in the UK, but recognise there is much more to do to widen access to higher education, not least in the arts subjects.

“Christie’s generosity and the expertise of their staff will unlock exceptional opportunities for our students.”

Toby Monk, Director of Recruitment at Christie’s, said that the company “is committed to supporting continuing education in the arts and specifically to opening opportunities for those from more diverse backgrounds to follow their passion and the potential of a career as a result.”

Kendal art gallery to reopen next year

16 Aug 2022

Abbot Hall gallery in Kendal is expected to reopen early in 2023.

Arts and heritage charity Lakeland Arts has been given the go ahead to reopen as early as possible in 2023 by South Lakeland District Council (SLDC), which owns the building and is managing its redevelopment programme.

The Grade-I listed building closed just before the start of the pandemic in 2020, leading to a “prudent approach to the redevelopment by phasing the works over time,” according to Lakeland Arts.

Phase one of the redevelopment work is now expected to begin shortly, with a focus on essential upgrades to the electrics, flooring and redecorating.

“We are very much looking forward to the works being finalised so we can reopen for visitors next year,” Lakeland Arts Chief Executive Rhian Harris said.

“We are able to confirm the much anticipated commission and exhibition by internationally recognised artist Julie Brook will go ahead alongside the reopening next year.”

Legal ruling raises prospect of huge savings for museums 

The interior of the Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle
15 Aug 2022

Calls for government body that sets business rates for museums and galleries to review its methodology following latest legal defeat on the issue.

Art trail explores impact of slave trade

15 Aug 2022

A public art trail reflecting on colonial histories launched in seven cities at the weekend.

Created by The World Reimagined, the project aims to explore the UK’s relationship with the transatlantic slave trade, its impact on society and how action can be taken to make racial justice a reality.

More than 100 artist-designed globe sculptures exploring themes including the culture of Africa before the slave trade and an ode to the Windrush generation are located in Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, London and Swansea.

All trails are connected by a digital platform that allows visitors to explore the collection and the history it reflects.

The art trail previewed outside Westminster Abbey last Thursday (11 August) and will be free to view by the public across the seven locations until 31 October.

“These thought-provoking, challenging and inspiring works of art that are now transforming the streets of our host cities invite us to understand it is not ‘Black history’ – it’s all of our history,” said The World Reimagined Co-Founder Michelle Gayle.

“All of us have a role to play in the work of making racial justice a reality. So, we hope you will explore the trails and join the conversation.”

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