Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending September 23 2007.
21.09.2007 - Bury Council Uses Lowry Cash To Save Fusiliers Museum
Bury Council has agreed a rescue package of £250,000, including proceeds from the controversial sale of a Lowry painting, to ensure the creation of the new museum of the Lancashire Fusiliers goes ahead on time.
The new museum, to be created in the former Bury Arts and Crafts building, was put in jeopardy when tenders received for the work were much higher than the expected £2.5million.
Bury Council has therefore agreed to make £250,000 available to ensure work begins in October, and the museum should be finished by 2009, in time for the Gallipoli commemorations. The funds are said to come from the controversial sale of the 1947 Lowry painting A Riverbank, which netted the council £1.4million in November 2006, but lost the town’s museum and art gallery its accredited status.
21.09.2007 - British Museum hosts Korean harvest festival, Chuseok
The British Museum is hosting a special event on Saturday September 22 to celebrate the traditional Korean harvest festival, Chuseok.
The free events run from 12-5pm and begin in the forecourt with the offering ceremony of Jangseung (Village guardian), when you can make a wish. Several performances will then take place, with traditional folk music, dancing and contemporary displays.
Adult and family workshops in Korean crafts of lampshade making, soap sculpting and woodblock printing will be on offer, and there will be two film screenings – Chihwaseon (Drunk on Women and Poetry) at 12.30 and Dae-jang-geum (Jewel in the Palace) at 3pm.
The museum’s rare Korean Moon Jar is on display in Room 3 until October 21 (a soap sculpture is on display in its place in the Korean Gallery).
20.09.2007 - Beamish named Visitor Attraction of the Year at North East Tourism Awards
Beamish achieved a double awards success at the North East England Tourism Awards on September 19 at the National Glass Centre in Sunderland.
Not only was the museum named as Visitor Attraction of the Year 2007, but it was also awarded silver in the Best Family Experience category. The annual awards ceremony, spearheaded by One NorthEast, celebrates excellence in tourism practice and recognises outstanding contributions within the industry.
Winning the regional Visitor Attraction of the Year award means that Beamish will now go forward to the national 2008 ‘tourism Oscars', the Enjoy England Awards for Excellence.
Accepting the beautifully crafted Sunderland glass flame on behalf of Beamish, Craig Million, Marketing Manager, said: “We're very proud to receive both of these awards, they are recognition of the great Beamish experience and of the dedicated and enthusiastic team of staff who bring the museum to life. We hope to achieve similar success in the national awards.”
20.09.2007 - 10th century battle site revealed at open weekend
This Sunday, September 23, visitors are being offered the chance to learn about one of the most important battles in early Medieval history when the National Trust's Northey Island stages an open day.
Northey Island, located by the head of the Blackwater estuary in Essex and managed by the National Trust, is well known as a site of special scientific interest and famous as one of the country’s most important habitats for over-wintering birds.
It was also in fact the site of the famous Battle of Maldon which took place in 991AD. It was during this battle (the earliest recorded British battle) that Anglo-Saxons, led by Brihtnoth, Ealdorman of Essex, failed to defeat a large force of invading Vikings.
From 2-5pm, visitors can explore the island, take on a 3 mile circular route and enjoy displays including information on the conservation of the island and Blackwater estuary, the work of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and the Marine Police, and even hear from a group who are restoring a Thames sailing barge.
20.09.2007 - Catalogue of all Staffordshire's oil paintings launched
A new catalogue documenting every publically owned painting in Staffordshire has been launched.
The Public Catalogue Foundation (PCF) has spent the last year searching for and photographing every oil painting in the region, from the smallest collection (one painting at Leek Town Council) to the largest (more than 900 at Wolverhamton Art Gallery).
The PCF is aiming to make a complete record of all the nation's oil paintings, allowing greater access to the works of art.
Visitors to Wolverhampton Art Gallery can view the catalogue at a newly created resource centre and copies are also available to purchase at the gallery, or through the PCF website.
19.09.2007 - Campaigners to launch Thornborough restoration campaign
Campaigners will be lighting 500 candles to create a huge labyrinth at Thornborough's Central Henge in North Yorkshire to launch a new restoration campaign.
Organised by heritage group TimeWatch, the event will be held on September 22 at 7pm and will involve pagans, Christians and members of other faiths who want to restore the Neolithic landscape, some of which has been affected by quarrying.
The Thornborough complex is a collection of ancient earthworks with some dating back to 6,000 BC, creating what is described as a 'ritual space' measuring nearly three miles by two.
19.09.2007 - Art keeps you healthy, says new report
New research from Manchester Metropolitan University shows that involvment in art activities can keep you healthy.
The three-year government-funded project showed that taking part in activities like painting, dance, crafts and storytelling can reduce aniety and depression and increase psychological health.
"We found projects that stimulate peoples' minds and encourage them to be creative can have a profound impact on their health and wellbeing," said project leader Clive Parkinson, from the university's Faculty of Art and Design.
"The arts can help create a positive environment and build positive relationships which can make people feel more resilient, in control and give them a sense of purpose which leads to greater energy and enthusiasm for life."
Mr Parkinson beleives these results will help pave the way for further arts initiatives within the NHS.
Residents of a Scottish village are celebrating after they took possession of a former World War II prisoner of war camp in Perthshire.
Cultybraggan Camp, once used to hold some of the most notorious Nazi prisoners, has been bought for £350,000 by the Comrie Development Trust following a vote in August 2007 from villagers and members to purchase the site.
The sale represents the first significant sale of Ministry of Defence property in Scotland to a community body under the provisions of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act.
"These are very exciting times for Comrie. Owning this land gives us complete control over a very important asset and an opportunity to develop the site in the way the community wants," said Cathy Tilbrook, Chair of the Comrie Development Trust.
During, and after the war, the camp housed up to 4,000 German prisoners and was once known as 'Nazi 2'. It was one of only two maximum security camps in Britain which held prisoners classified as the most ardent Nazis and troublemakers who would be most difficult to repatriate in the post-war period.
Rudolph Hess is believed to have been held here for a night en route to England after his plane crash-landed in Scotland.
Comrie residents will now debate Cultybraggan's future use.
18.09.2007 - Royal Cornwall Museum recieves massive bequest of art
The Royal Cornwall Museum has recieved a unique collection of 52 works of art by the late St Ives painter Bryan Pearce.
Comprising nine watercolours, 27 oil paintings, three crayon drawings and 11 etchings, the bequest even includes his first and last works - the Ginger Jar (1957) and an unfinished view from Falmouth Harbour that he was working on at the time of his death in January 2007.
The remarkable collection represents the museum's largest bequest ever and will form the subject of a special exhibition at the musuem running from November 17 2007 to January 5 2008.
17.09.2007 - Metal Detectorist finds Roman Coffin at Corfe Castle
A Dutch archaeologist attending a metal detecting rally at the Dorset village of Corfe Castle has unearthed what may turn out to a Roman-era coffin.
According to a report in the Dorset Echo the discovery has been filmed by the BBC for its One Show magazine programme and archaeologists hope to conclude their excavations by the end of play on Monday September 17.
Roman burial pots have previously been found during digs at Corfe Castle, together with gold and bronze coins, but the excavation of a Roman coffin would add more to the understanding of Romano British culture in the Purbeck area.
17.09.2007 Disability Arts Online awarded Arts Council England funding
DAO (Disability Arts Online) Ltd has been awarded a grant of £168,000 by Arts Council England towards organisational development over the next two years.
Founded in 2002 the organisation seeks to raise awareness and reflect on the lives of disabled people, from the unique viewpoint afforded by the arts. The grant will be used to enable DAO to build firm foundations for the organisation and to expand the editorial content on its website www.disabilityarts.org.
DAO’s regular features include profiles of the lives of key innovators within the disability arts movement, showcases of work by disabled artists, reviews, discussion, listings and a disability arts blog.
17.09.2007 - Late night opening for Warhol show at National Galleries of Scotland
The National Galleries of Scotland are set to host a Warhol ‘til Midnight, late-night viewing of its current Andy Warhol exhibition.
Offering art lovers a rare opportunity to enjoy an after-hours visit of the show, which will end its hugely popular run in early October, the National Galleries Complex will be open from 10 am until midnight on Saturday October 22.
The initiative follows up the success of last year’s Mueck ’til Midnight, which attracted more than 1300 evening visitors to the Ron Mueck exhibition.
Throughout the evening gallery curators will be on hand to offer informal tours and information about the Warhol exhibition to interested visitors. From 6pm onwards two bars will be open, the gallery restaurant will offer promotions on food and drinks and Radio Forth DJ Iain Waugh will be on hand to add to a party atmosphere.
