Visual arts

Tate is taking its national art collection on the road in a new initiative with the French organisation Art Explora.

The new 'mobile museum' is in the trailer of an articulated lorry and is currently on a 10-week tour (until 29 April) of Liverpool and the surrounding area.

The pilot scheme is touring a slimmed-down version of the Radical Landscapes exhibition held at Tate Liverpool last summer.

As well as locations in Liverpool it will go to St Helens, Knowsley, the Wirral and Halton.

Helen Legg, the director of Tate Liverpool, said it was hoped the project will "arrest issues of attendance at our national museums”.

She added: “The mobile museum is unique. It goes directly into communities. It allows us, as a museum, to meet people on their own terms.” 

The non-profit project is supported by Art Explora with public funding from the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Tate Britain will reveal a complete rehang of its free collection displays on 23 May 2023.

Over 800 works by 350 artists are affected by the rehang, which includes John Everett Millais’ Ophelia, William Hogarth’s The Painter and his Pug, and David Hockney’s A Bigger Splash.

Other featured artists include over 100 works by JMW Turner, plus rooms dedicated to William Blake, John Constable, the Pre-Raphaelites and Henry Moore.

Alex Farquharson, Director of Tate Britain, said: “When our new displays open on 23 May, visitors to Tate Britain will be able to explore 500 years of revolutionary changes in art, culture and society, culminating in new work by some of Britain’s most exciting contemporary artists”.

Over 200 works in the rehang were acquired by Tate this century, with 70 works having entered the collection in the past five years.

Half the contemporary artists on display will be women, including Bridget Riley, Tracey Emin and Lydia Ourahmane. 

Polly Staple, Tate’s Director of Collection, British Art, said: “Tate Britain’s new displays will embody our commitment to expanding the canon and diversifying British art history”.

The Margate School has announced it is at risk of closure due to a funding shortfall of £150,000. 

The independent postgraduate school of arts, established in 2018, is facing a financial dead-end after several failed attempts to secure funding. 

The set-up of the school and its technical facilities was funded by the Coastal Community Fund, which also financed the support of students, studio holders and the community for a period of two years.

The non-profit school was intended to subsequently generate 50% of its budget independently and secure the other 50% through public funding.

But the lack of anticipated public funding, coupled with the impact of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis on the school’s independent income, has resulted in an existential threat.  

The school’s Founder and Director, Uwe Derkson, said it operates on “an extremely lean budget,” funnelling any profits into community investment.

The Margate School is the only higher education provider on the Isle of Thanet. Its current community consists of nine members of staff, 25 students, 17 tutors, 12 fellows and 42 studio holders, as well as a team of volunteers. 

To ensure its survival, the school needs to raise £150,000 which it is seeking to do via a crowdfunding campaign. 

If successful, it will aim to triple the size of its community in the next 10 years by creating additional courses and increasing student numbers, Derksen said. He also pledged that the school would increase its share of independent income and decrease its reliance on public funding.

“The Margate School is a brilliant local creative space that holds a variety of events and caters to a diverse section of society. The sense of community loss is devastating,” said Thanet District Council councillor Rob Yates. 

The school attracts over 16,000 visitors to the area annually, thanks to its programme of exhibitions, talks and events.

Almost nine in 10 gallery leaders are concerned about their organisation’s future due to the cost-of-living crisis, according to new research by Ecclesiastical.

The heritage insurer’s study surveyed 100 decision makers working in art galleries and found 86% are concerned about their organisation’s future. 

More than three-quarters (77%) said they need to drastically cut costs to survive, with 80% saying they will need to prioritise innovation.

In response to the cost-of-living crisis, almost half of respondents (49%) said they are making staff redundancies, 48% said they are reducing opening hours and 45% are seeking new suppliers.
 
Nearly half (44%) said their gallery will be opening on fewer days, while 43% said they will have to limit the rooms that are open and heated.

Customer Segment Director at Ecclesiastical Insurance Faith Kitchen said the arts sector is facing “unprecedented economic uncertainty”.

“Art galleries are having to face huge challenges, and many are looking at ways they can cut costs while still maintaining visitor numbers. Our research shows art galleries are having to make difficult decisions including making staff redundancies and reducing opening hours to reduce costs.”

Nearly three quarters of applicants for a support programme for artists in Northern Ireland have been rejected.

The BBC reports that about 920 eligible applications were received for the 2022/23 Siap General Arts Award fund run by Arts Council of Northern Ireland requesting a combined total of £4.3m in funding.

However, the funding pot of £985,000 was awarded to 262 individual artists received. Three years ago, the total number of eligible applicants was 280.

The fund aims to help artists purchase new equipment and develop new projects.

A spokesperson for the Arts Council of Northern Ireland said: "The 228.6% increase in applications to Siap's General Arts Award scheme this year, compared to those in 2019/20, has placed new pressures on the funding available for individual artists."

They added that a further £16.6m of funding would be needed to properly support and develop artists and organisations.
 

The leading concerns for art galleries in the UK in the coming year are staffing issues and rising costs, a new survey has revealed.

The Heritage Risk Barometer 2022, published by Ecclesiastical, a specialist heritage insurer, identified the top four concerns over the next 12 months as the recruitment and retention of volunteers (cited by 81% of respondents), increasing costs (78%), recruitment and retention of staff (77%) and crime (77%).

The survey aimed to identify the top risks within the heritage sector, focusing on concerns including the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, the recruitment crisis and responding to climate change. 

Over the next three years, the top concerns for galleries were identified as competition from other types of attraction (79%), political uncertainty and the impact of changing government policy (79%) and the ease of access and adaptation for visitors with additional needs (79%).

In the longest-term outlook, covering the next five years, concerns remained focused on staffing and running costs, with 90% of respondents citing recruitment and retention of volunteers as their biggest concern. 

Other long-term concerns included maintaining and repairing heritage buildings (78%), the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on visitor numbers (76%) and lack of diversity among trustees and management boards (76%). 

“The arts sector is facing unprecedented economic uncertainty as inflation and the cost of living soars,” said Faith Kitchen, Customer Segment Director at Ecclesiastical Insurance. 

“Art galleries are having to face huge challenges and many are looking at ways they can cut costs while still maintaining visitor numbers. We hope the Heritage Risk Barometer 2022 will help art galleries think about the risks they face and how best to protect their organisations for the future.”