News

The National Lottery Heritage Fund has given the museum £429,000 to widen participation online, but 'Digital Volunteers' will be key to the project's success.

The Royal Armouries wants to create a 'digital first' culture by engaging an advisory panel of volunteers with an interest in creating new digital content to tell the stories of the collection. 

It's part of a plan to create a 'digital first' culture that will "transform the museum’s capacity to produce accessible, engaging, and relevant digital content for its growing audiences".

This will include developing and installing "a new welcome in the form of a digital playground" on site at the museum in Leeds.

The lottery award comes as the Royal Armouries marks the 25th anniversary of its opening in the dockside building.  
 
 

Watford Borough Council will refurbish the Colosseum at Watford Town Hall to make it more sustainable, financially and environmentally.

A new award from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme will pay for energy efficiency measures in the Grade II-listed building, first built in 1938 as the Watford Town Hall Assembly Rooms.

The council took back control of the venue from previous operator HQ Theatres, pledging to invest £5m in a major programme of renovation that includes new opportunities for local professional artists and creative community projects. 

READ MORE: Council to invest in Watford Colosseum as HQ Theatres contract ends

It is now looking to integrate the Colosseum into a £200m Town Hall quarter scheme approved in January, which aims to boost local heritage, culture and jobs. 

It will seek a joint venture development partner to convert the Town Hall into an office building and residential accommodation and "create a vibrant and attractive new neighbourhood".

Figures from DCMS show an £8bn loss in gross value added by the cultural sector in 2020 compared with 2019.

The sector added nearly £25bn to the UK's economy last year despite the pressures of the pandemic. 

GVA fell sharply to £1.57bn in April compared to in February when the sector's economic value was still comparable to 2019 at £2.8bn.

Figures from January and February suggest the sector was on track to meet if not surpass its 2019 GVA of £33.9bn before much activity was halted due to Covid-19.

Sheffield Cathedral failed to consult stakeholders before dismissing its entire choir last July.

A review by the Bishop of Sheffield found a culture of bullying at the institution, poor human resources practices, and "some real confusion about the purpose and function" of a review of its music department.

It says disbanding the choir without proper communication affected the mental health and faith of the young people involved.

"This failure, together with the failure to deliver a clear and consistent message about the reasons for the decision, compounded the reputational and relational hurt." 

The report said the Cathedral Chapter should "give serious consideration" to apologising to the choristers, but stopped short of directing it to do so.

Safeguarding interventions applied to then-Master of Music Joshua Stephens, who resigned in June, were "inappropriate and disproportionate," the report added.

Operator AEG Presents will manage the local authority venue when it reopens in 2022.

The company will work with developers on the final stages of the Grade II-listed building's transformation into a 3,500 seat venue.

Wolverhampton Council Leader Ian Brookfield said the Civic Hall is "an integral part of Wolverhampton’s entertainment and music heritage and an important part of our visitor economy".

"We believe – and this belief is shared by AEG Presents – that it has the potential to become a recognised venue not just regionally and nationally, but also internationally."

The Freelands Foundation and race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust are working in partnership to examine access to art education for Black, Asian and ethnically diverse students in the UK.

Runnymede Trust will deliver a wide-ranging two-year research programme, exploring issues ranging from the early engagement with art in schools to the makeup of the professional art sector.   

Current information reveals that by ‘A’ level, Black and Asian students select art courses at less than half the rate of their white counterparts. 

The research will focus on children aged 11-16 (Key Stages 3 and 4), covering the transition from compulsory art education in schools to art as a chosen subject.

An initial review will be published in Autumn 2021, mapping the representation of Black, Asian and ethnically diverse artists, curators and leaders of  organisations.

This will be followed by an investigation into art education in secondary schools, which will gather data on racial inequalities among both students and teachers. There will also be a consultation with art teachers, academic leaders, exam boards, students, artists and cultural organisations.

The final research report will be published in Autumn 2022, revealing how and why young people from non-white backgrounds are excluded from art education and publishing recommendations on how to address the issue.

Announcing the project, the partnership described the aim of the research as to catalyse "long-term structural change in a sector where, despite the success of individual artists such as Sonia Boyce, Lubaina Himid, Steve McQueen and Chris Ofili, only 2.7% of the workforce are from a Black, Asian or ethnically diverse background". 

Dr Halima Begum, Director of Runnymede Trust, said it is imperative school students "see and appreciate diversity in art".

She added: "We believe that the impact of this research will resonate beyond a single generation and provide the foundation for developments in the teaching of art in our nation’s schools, and in turn help to inspire new generations of children who value, appreciate, and indeed fall in love with art in all its forms."

Doncaster’s new Danum Gallery, Library and Museum has celebrated its opening with a virtual tour of the building to mark the completion of the town’s new cultural and learning centre.

The new building in the Civic and Cultural Quarter has retained and restored the central frontage of the former Doncaster High School for Girls, encasing it within a larger glass structure.

As well as being home to Doncaster Libraries and Heritage Doncaster, the building will provide space to display exhibits which have previously been locked away from public view.

Due to Covid restrictions it will be at least May 17th until it can open to visitors.