Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending January 27 2008.

25.01.2008 - Winners of £50,000 Art Fund Collect prize announced

Four museums and galleries have won a share of a £50,000 fund for contemporary craft from The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity.

The new initiative, Art Fund Collect, was launched by the charity in partnership with the Crafts Council and aims to boost the quality and profile of public collections of contemporary craft in the UK.

The winning museums and galleries are:

Hove Museum & Art Gallery, which won its choice of ‘Neckpiece 2007’ by Adam Paxon, bought for £7,425.

mima (Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art), which won for its choice of ‘Monumental Vase IV’ by Julian Stair, bought for £25,263.

Ulster Museum, which won for its choice of ‘A Silver Organism – Pine 2007’ by Junko Mori, bought for £8,865.

The Whitworth Art Gallery, which won for its choice of ‘Shadow of the Wall, Gaza’ by Norma Starszakowna bought for £9,800.

David Barrie, Director of The Art Fund, said: “This new initiative offers the winning museums the means to make really significant purchases, which would otherwise certainly be beyond their reach. It will also give the British public the chance to discover some of the remarkable works of art being produced by craftspeople not just in this country, but around the world. “

24.01.2008 - Last chance to enter National Metalwork Design Award

This week is the last chance to enter Sheffield Galleries & Museums Trust’s national biennial Metalwork Design Award, sponsored by Yorkshire South Tourism, in partnership with Yorkshire Forward and South Yorkshire Objective 1.

A prize of £10,000 will be given for the best example of bold, brave and innovative metalwork design entered by 1 February 2008.

The award is intended to promote, support and celebrate innovation and excellence in craftsmanship for those working with metals. It is launched to coincide with the 10 year anniversary of the Trust and is intended to emphasise the important role that the production and design of metal has played in both the Trust’s and the City’s heritage.

The judging panel includes the Duke of Devonshire and Corin Mellor of David Mellor Design, one of the UK’s best-known design and cutlery makers.

12 finalists will have their work exhibited in the Millennium Galleries in October 2008 and the winner will be announced in November. For more details about how to enter and an application pack see www.sheffieldgalleries.org.uk

23.01.2008 - Scotland's Museum of Industrial life receives welcome donation

Summerlee, Scotland’s Museum of Industrial Life and one of the country’s leading visitor attractions, has received a small boost with a welcome donation from local employer beCogent.

The engineering firm donated has £5,000 to the Summerlee Redevelopment appeal fund, which will be put towards additional extras in the museum’s redevelopment.

The Friends of Summerlee appeal fund is aiming to raise an additional £1million to enhance the existing £10 million costs of redeveloping the museum’s main exhibition hall.

New work at the museum will also see the creation of a new entrance for the hall, incorporating enhanced visitor facilities including a café, shop and toilets, the creation of an education and lifelong learning suite and the refurbishment of the conservation workshops.

The Heritage Lottery Fund has contributed almost £5million to the redevelopment of Summerlee. Additional funding from the Scottish Museum Council, North Lanarkshire Council and various other private donations are helping to meet the estimated £10m cost of the project. Summerlee is expected to reopen in July 2008.

Picture shows Gilbert Cox MBE JP, her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant of Lanarkshire, being presented with the cheque on behalf of the Friends of Summerlee appeal.

22.01.2008 – Mary Rose Trust to hear about HLF funding on Friday January 25

Staff at the Mary Rose Trust, which has made a bid for £21m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, will hear whether it is good news or bad news at the end of this week.

The Trust initially applied for a grant of £13.5m in 2006, to go towards to building of a new £23m museum, but was not successful (read the story). However, work has continued on the plans for the hull-shaped museum and the completion of the conservation of the ship itself.

22.01.2008 – Victorian Society joins campaign to save home of Alice in Wonderland

Local people campaigning to save the Llandudno home of Alice Liddell, the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, have been joined by the Victorian Society, the national charity campaigning for the Victorian and Edwardian historic environment.

A pseudo-gothic building on the west shore of the Great Orme in Llandudno, North Wales, the house known as ‘Penforma’ was built by the Very Reverend Dr Henry Liddell, Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, for his family in 1862. It was converted into the Gogarth Abbey Hotel after the family sold it.

Plans are now afoot to build holiday flats on the site of Penforma, purchased recently by a developer.

"The demolition of Penforma would be shameful,” said Alex Baldwin, Conservation Adviser of the Victorian Society. “The house is certainly in need of some work, but its condition is largely due to the fact that it has been left open to the elements and without adequate support for nearly 12 months.”

Ms Baldwin is urging Conwy County Council to turn down the application for demolition.

22.01.2008 - Open weekend at Moyse's Hall Museum, Bury St Edmunds

The doors of Moyse’s Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds are being thrown open free for a full programme of activities on Saturday and Sunday February 2 and 3 2008.

There are lots of things for the whole family, including quizzes, costumes and mural-making . Celebrated speaker Pat Murrell will describe the shopping culture of the past with an intriguing talk on the shops and shopkeepers of Bury St Edmunds. The Friends of Moyse’s Hall will also be holding a coffee morning, and will describe the delights of becoming a volunteer at the museum.

Full details are available from Moyse’s Hall Museum on 01284 706183. Book a place for planned activities to avoid disappointment.

22.01.2008 - The Collection, Lincoln, welcomes first artist in residence

The Collection, Lincoln's museum and art gallery, has welcomed its first ever artist in residence, John Newling.

Newling has an international reputation and has installed works across Europe and the USA. He lives in Nottingham where he is currently Professor of Installation Sculpture at The Nottingham Trent University.

He will be using the new studio at The Terrace, in the cultural quarter of Lincoln, as a base for his visits, until the end of March. Working on a number of ideas and concepts, his work will link into the popular churches festival at which he will participate this year.

21.01.2008 - William Morris Museum petition handed in to Downing Street

Campaigners trying to keep the William Morris Gallery open to the public throughout the week presented a petition to the Prime Minister at Downing Street on Monday January 21.

The friends of the William Morris Gallery are opposing moves by Waltham Forest Council to close the gallery for much of the week and severely curtail staffing levels.

The petition has over 11,000 signatures and messages of support from all over the world, including UK, USA, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Serbia, Belgium, Holland, Brazil, Argentina, Japan and Taiwan.

Situated on Forest Road in Walthamstow, the museum was the birth place of the acclaimed Victorian artist, and was opened as a gallery in 1950.

21.01.2008 - Frank Gehry to design Serpentine Gallery's 2008 Pavilion

The Serpentine Gallery Pavilion 2008 will be designed by the internationally renowned architect Frank Gehry.

A yearly summer occurence in the gallery's Kensington Gardens surrounds, the pavilion programme provides a temporary public space for a cafe, exhibitions and public events and attracts up to 250,000 visitors.

The temporary structure will be the first built project in the UK for Gehry, whose best known works include the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain.

21.01.2008 - Tithe Barn needs volunteers

Upminster Tithe Barn Museum of Nostalgia is on the look out for volunteers to help keep it open to the public.

The barn in Hall Lane, Upminster, holds around 14,500 artefacts of domestic and agricultural use, but it is in real need of people to show visitors around the centre at weekends.

Museum curator Malcolm Cullen and his team are gearing up for the 2008 season, which runs between April and October, and they are looking for enthusiastic volunteers to help.

Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Malcolm on 07855 633917 or e-mail Nicky Crancher via cranchermakeup@hotmail.com