Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending October 2 2007.
05.10.2007 - HLF grant to unlock Lady Lever Art Gallery's story
The Lady Lever Art Gallery in Port Sunlight, Wirral, has been awarded a grant of £275,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund to create a new gallery revealing the story of its creator, Lord Leverhulme.
William Hesketh Lever built the gallery specifically to house his significant collection of fine and decorative arts, including Pre-Raphaelite works, fine 18th and 19th century furniture and the best collection of Wedgwood jasperware anywhere in the world.
The 'Lever the Collector' gallery will reveal how the businessman philanthropist became one of the richest men in the world through his brand name soap and Lever Bros factory, and tell the story of how he constructed the model community Port Sunlight.
Some of the profits he used to build the gallery in 1922, which he could have situated in London, but chose to build in his workers' village, reflecting his belief in the educational value of art for all classes.
Image: Pandora by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, part of the Lady Lever collection
04.10.2007 - Museums to challenge stereotypes of disability
Nine museums and galleries in England and Scotland are to challenge traditional perceptions of disability in a new large-scale project, Rethinking Disability Representation.
The £500,000 project aims to create a lasting change in the way museums portray disability, by getting out their objects related to the subject that are often kept stored away.
The project involved collaboration with a think-tank of disabled activists and artists; cultural practitioners and representatives from the world of museums and art galleries who shaped ways in which museums have interpreted this often neglected area.
It is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and the University of Leicester, as well as participating museums.
04.10.2007 - Scottish collections of national significance receive funding boost
Six museum and galleries located across Scotland have been awarded funding of £234,185 under the Recognition Scheme to increase access to the collections and raise standards of collections management and care.
Funded by the Scottish Government and managed by the Scottish Museums Council, the Recognition Scheme ensures important collections are identified, cared for, protected and promoted to a wider audience.
Custodians of the Recognised Collections are using the grant as an opportunity to develop new ways to attract audiences such as providing interactive online access to the collections.
One collection, of Historic Musical Instruments cared for by University of Edinburgh, will bring the melodies of the historic musical instruments which they see on display to life through a visitor sound guide.
Other Recognised Collections to be given awards are:
Recognised Collections can currently apply for a grant for one project up to a value of £40,000.
04.01.2007 - Thomas Schütte sculpture to be unveiled on Fourth Plinth
Thomas Schütte’s sculpture for the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square will be unveiled on Wednesday November 7 2007.
The coloured glass sculpture, Model for a Hotel 2007, by the leading German artist, is an architectural model of a 21-storey building, which will collect and reflect the light. Multi-layered, mysterious and sparkling like a bright jewel, Schütte’s utopian vision will have a powerful impact on Trafalgar Square.
Born in Oldenburg, Germany in 1954, Thomas Schütte is one of the most important artists of his generation. Since the 1970s he has produced a diverse body of work, including surreally distorted figurative sculpture, architectural models and ceramics as well as watercolours. He lives and works in Düsseldorf.
Alison Lapper Pregnant by Marc Quinn is being taken down this week.
04.10.2007 - Cardiff's Chapter Arts Centre gets £1.75m Lottery award
Chapter Arts Centre in Cardiff is to receive £1.75 million, Arts Council Wales has announced, for use in its major redevelopment scheme.
The funds are a Capital Lottery Award, and will go towards a £3.8 million redevelopment, on which work will begin in April 2008.
"The project will safeguard Chapter's future as we complete an ambitious programme of change to improve our facilities to the public," said Janek Alexander, director of Chapter.
03.10.2007 - Council to outline future of William Morris Gallery
Waltham Forest Council will give a presentation of its vision for the future of the William Morris Gallery on Friday 12 October 12 2007.
At the meeting, Cllr Geraldine Reardon and others from the council will put forward their intentions for the gallery and how they plan to run it. The meeting will be held at 7.30pm at the Greenleaf Road Baptist Church, Greenleaf Road, Walthamstow E17. For more information on the campaign to keep the William Morris Gallery open, see www.keepourmuseumsopen.org.uk.
02.10.2007 - British Museum iron gates restored
Ironwork specialists have completed a ten-month restoration job on the imposing gates of the British Museum.
Craftsmen and engineers from Bristol company Dorothea Restorations carried out the refurbishment work on the gates, which were erected in 1852. The elaborate gates weigh five tonnes and stretch 12 metres wide, and have concealed hinges adding to their grandeur.
The need for restoration was noticed when the gates first seized up in 2000. The work required detailed recording of every part of the gates for them to be put back together properly, entailling hundreds of diagrams and 2,000 photos.
02.10.2007 - Chatham Historic Dockyard launches ghost walks for kids
Spooky stories based on mystery, history and adventure are part of the new Junior Ghost Walks suitable for 8-12 year olds being introduced at The Historic Dockyard Chatham for the 2007/08 season.
Complimenting the highly successful adult tours the Junior Ghost Walks will be led by costumed guides around the Ropery buildings, including one that is reputedly haunted.
Taking place at 7.00pm on a Friday evening once a month, the junior ghost walks last 45minutes, cost £6.00 per person and children must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
Adult Ghost Walks take place every Wednesday from October 10 to December 19 2007 and from February 13 to April 30 2008. Walks are at 7.00pm or 7.30pm, last approximately one and a half hours and cost £8.50 per person.
For more information and bookings call 01634 823815 for Adult Ghost Walks or 01634 823845 for Junior Ghost Walks.
02.10.2007 - Swansea Museum boat gets £50k restoration grant
A famous boat in Swansea Museum's maritime collection is embarking on a new chapter in her seafaring life after landing a £50k grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund for her restoration.
Restoration works will be carried out on Olga, one of only 11 Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters left in the world.
The project, to be digitally documented, will ensure her future seaworthiness is preserved and will enable the production of interpretation and educational materials about the boat.
The 17-metre vessel regularly represents Swansea at Tall Ship Festivals in Bristol, Barry and Milford Haven and the project will also eventually enable Olga to be used for youth and community use as a sail training ship.
02.10.2007 - Virtual tour created for Barnet’s Church Farm House Museum
Church Farm House Museum in Barnet has installed a new interactive 360-degree panoramic view of the museum on its website allowing potential visitors to get a flavour of the museum from the comfort of their own home.
Online visitors to www.churchfarmhousemuseum.co.uk can now pan round the 1820s kitchen, 1850s dining room and 1890s laundry room, clicking on ‘hot-spots’ for information on items such as sugar cutters and washing dollies.
The innovative panoramic views were created by North London-based firm, Gilvers, after receiving a Renaissance grant from the London Museums Hub and the Museums Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).
Church Farm was built in c1660 and is the oldest surviving house in Hendon. Until less than a hundred years ago it was the centre of a busy hay and dairy farm.
01.10.2007 - Cash boost for contemporary arts programme at Brontë Parsonage Museum
The 2007/08 Contemporary Arts Programme at the Brontë Parsonage Museum has received a cash boost from the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to help the museum establish itself as a place of excellence for the contemporary arts.
The funding will put in place a dedicated Arts Officer to build upon the ongoing arts programme of talks and residencies and to attract high calibre writers and artists who will bring the story of the Brontës to new audiences.
01.10.2007 - Model commissioned to show visitors working of mill complex in Scotland
A working model of one of the most important surviving pieces of Scotland’s industrial heritage has been created in Edinburgh for Historic Scotland. It will be a major exhibit in the new visitor centre at Stanley Mills, outside Perth, which is due to open next year.
The model, which stands 1.6m tall, has been designed to show how the 1786 Bell Mill harnessed the power of the Tay to treat raw cotton and spin it into finished materials for products that were sold all over the world.
Stanley Mills is seven miles north of Perth. The former water mill complex harnessed the power of the River Tay for cotton spinning. The first mill was built in 1786 and the last commercial operations ended as recently as 1989.
01.10.2007 - Farming Museum on look out for farm labourers
The Yorkshire Museum of Farming is hosting a traditonal Hiring Fair on Sunday October 7 to give visitors the chance to experience what life was really like down on the farm.
Younger visitors will have the opportunity to dress in Victorian costumes and be inspected by Farmer Atkinson for their suitability through a checking of their teeth, hair and muscles. They will then be dispatched to various locations around the site to complete a series of activities - ranging from mucking out to butter churning.
Sessions take place at 11am and 1.30pm. For further information contact events co-ordinator Emma Williams on 01904 489966 or events@murtonpark.co.uk
