Digital

More than £750,000 of funding will be provided to help local libraries and museums develop their facilities and services, the Welsh Government has announced.

The funding, which will be delivered as part of the Transformation Capital Grant Scheme, will support Wales’ local libraries and museums to "develop and revitalise" their facilities.

There will be a particular focus on widening access, partnership working, decarbonisation, and developing sustainable services.

The fund will be used to refurbish and modernise six libraries: Penygroes Library, Dyffryn Ogwen Library in Gwynedd, Rhymney Library in Caerphilly, Pencoed Library in Bridgend, Port Talbot Library and Barry Library.

Funding will also be provided towards and Newport Museum and Art Gallery’s decarbonisation project, and to enable Monmouthshire County Council to ensure the preservation of, and future access to, their collections through work at the Shire Hall.

Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport, Dawn Bowden said: “The Welsh Government remains committed to supporting these important services that fulfil a valuable role at the heart of community life. 

"This fund will widen access for our communities, promote cultural engagement, provide learning opportunities and support community cohesion, sustainability and prosperity.

“I encourage everyone to see what their local museum, archive or library has to offer.”

Answers to the heritage sector’s most pressing questions have been compiled in a new Digital Heritage Hub.

Designed to help small and medium-sized organisations boost their capability, the hub answers 100 of the sector’s most frequently asked questions, providing links to 100 free resources.

A collaboration between the Arts Marketing Association, the Heritage Digital Consortium and the University of Leeds, the hub is the result of research that sought to uncover the problems vexing heritage organisations, from how to general revenue using digital tools to how to use data in decision making.

It was established with £435,300 funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

“A lot of small to medium organisations don’t have access to, or the means to access, professional expertise,” said Arts Marketing Association CEO Cath Hume.  “The Digital Heritage Hub will be their free, one stop shop of the expertise they need to take the next step – or even the first step – in their digital journey.”

The project is part of the Heritage Fund’s £3.5m Digital Skills for Heritage initiative. Further resources will be added to the hub in coming months.
 

Artistic portrayals of the Queen will be "minted" as NFTs following an exhibition on London's South Bank.

Ad Lib Gallery are seeking digital depictions of the monarch to display at The OXO Gallery and along platforms at Victoria Station for 'Art Save the Queen'.

Chosen works will be showcased on NFT marketplace OpenSea.

Submissions to the "unique creative challenge" should be made to adlib.online by May 2 and be no larger than 2 meg each.

University of the Arts London (UAL) will offer 30 online and "low residency" degree courses in the 2022/23 academic year.

The plan, part of the university's new 10-year strategy, could double student numbers, providing another 5,000 full-time equivalent places per year, or up to 15,000 part-time students.

It will invest in its online infrastructure to achieve this.

"By growing student numbers here in London and expanding online, we can provide more students, whoever, or wherever they may be, with a high-quality creative education," the strategy reads.

"Our strategy will deliver quality at scale, so that we are defined not by how many students we exclude, but by how many we include."

A dating app for those looking for a special theatre companion will go live at the end of April.

Courtyard Courting, developed by Hereford arts centre The Courtyard, is equipped with an algorithm designed to match users based on theatre genres they are interested in, as well as the frequency of theatre visits, their age and location.

Discounts will be available on selected films and live shows for users who matched via the app.

Courtyard Digital Marketing Officer Leah Adkins said the app is “like Tinder for theatre fans”.

“First dates can be daunting, and we’re pleased to be able to provide a safe environment for singles to meet and bond over their passion for the arts.”