Shaping of the Keel Plate of a Corvette, oil on canvas, by Leslie Cole (1910-1976) on display in a local business meeting room. Courtesy Tyne & Wear Museums.

Tyne & Wear Museums has launched a new scheme to get art into the workplace.

As part of its Connecting through Culture scheme, Tyne & Wear Museums Business Partnership loans artworks from its collections to many businesses in the region.

This has led to a special project between Tyne & Wear Museums and investment bankers Gerrard Limited called Art in the Workplace, which has resulted in the conservation of four artworks and their display in Gerrard’s Newcastle offices.

The centrepiece to this exhibition is A Fishergirl by Charles Sillem Lidderdale, which was restored over a four week period at the Laing Art Gallery last summer, during which Gerrard employees and members of the public were able to view the conservation process.

Participating institutions include the Shipley Art Gallery, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens and the Laing Art Gallery (pictured). Courtesy Tyne & Wear Museums.

By enabling Tyne & Wear Museums to restore important paintings in its collection to the standard where they can be exhibited in the future, the scheme has had particularly positive outcomes for the organisation.

“The Arts Minister has recently championed the idea of showing museum collections in non-museum spaces. Our Picture Hire Scheme, which is run through Connecting through Culture, is a fine example of how this can work,” said Alec Coles, director of Tyne & Wear Museums.

“Through the scheme it has been possible to display paintings that have previously been unavailable to the public, whilst at the same time, adding a new dimension to our members’ workplaces.”

There have also been positive outcomes for Andrew Miller, regional centre head of Gerrard Limited: “Art in the Workplace has not only helped us to maintain and develop client relationships but has also brought the gallery right into our office,” he said.

“All the staff agree that the paintings have made a real difference to our working environment and to how we think of ourselves as supporters of the cultural life of the region.”

Andrew Miller, regional centre head of Gerrard Limited, with A Fishergirl by CS Lidderdale. Courtesy Tyne & Wear Museums.

Gerrard has sponsored a series of four National Gallery touring exhibitions at the Laing in Newcastle and Art in the Workplace benefited from Arts & Business New Partners Fund investment.

Art in the Workplace was also shortlisted for the Marsh & McLennan Companies, Arts, Business and Employees award at the Arts & Business awards earlier this year.

Other local companies joining in the Picture Hire Scheme include Lumley Castle Hotel, Newcastle Building Society, Matfen Hall Hotel and Northumbria University.

Works loaned out are drawn from the collections of the Laing Art Gallery, the Shipley Art Gallery, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens and South Shields Museum and Art Gallery.

Alastair Smith is the 24 Hour Museum Renaissance Student Writer in the North East region. Renaissance is the groundbreaking initiative to transform England's regional museums, led by MLA, the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.