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News In Brief - Week Ending June 8 2008
By 24 Hour Museum Staff
02/06/2008
Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending June 8 2008.
Image: Moseley Road Baths, Birmingham
06.06.2008 - Free swimming plans could backfire for historic pools
Government plans to make entrance to all council-run swimming pools free by 2012 could backfire unless more money is made available for historic pools warned the Victorian Society, the national charity campaigning for the Victorian and Edwardian historic environment, on June 6.
Decades of underfunding and poor maintenance have meant that many historic pools, among them the Grade II*-listed Moseley Road Baths in Birmingham, Grade II-listed Camberwell Leisure Centre and Nottingham’s Victoria Baths are in need of substantial investment. In some cases, as with Lewisham’s 1885 Forest Hill Baths, until recently London’s longest-serving public pool, councils have opted to close and demolish Victorian pools stripping communities of well-loved and valuable facilities.
Now campaigners fear that the additional cost of providing free swimming in municipal pools could prompt more councils to close historic swimming baths unless adequate money for refurbishment is made available.
"Of course it is a good thing to offer free swimming for all," said Dr Ian Dungavell, Director of the Victorian Society. "But to make this a reality, the government must ensure that there is sufficient money available for the refurbishment and maintenance of historic community pools."
06.06.2008 – Festival of Nature in Bristol
Bristol will be hosting a Festival of Nature this weekend (June 7 and 8) in the city's Millennium Square, Harbourside.
The celebration of the natural world will include fun activities for young and old, including the Discover! tent, where children can play a Cluedo-style game called 'Who Dung it?'.
The Bristol Botanic Garden will have exhibits on plants demonstrating how they have evolved over the last 500 million years and volunteers will be on hand to answer flora-related questions.
The public can also take part in discussions on subjects ranging from climate change to research on microbial life in glaciers, and much more.
Find out more at www.festivalofnature.org.
06.06.2008 – Review announced for Renaissance programme
People and organisations with an interest in the future of regional museums have been invited to contribute their views to the independent 'Review of Renaissance' set up by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council (MLA).
Chaired by Professor Sara Selwood, the Review aims to make practical recommendations that will help ensure this highly valued funding scheme for regional museums (which is rising from £46m per annum to £48.7m in 2010/11) is spent in a the most effective way.
The Review is seeking responses to specific questions about the achievements of the programme and how it could be improved. Please contact Sara Selwood at renaissancereview@mla.gov.uk or write to MLA at Victoria House, Southampton Row, London WC1B 4EA for more information. Visit www.mla.gov.uk/programmes/renaissance for more on the Renaissance programme.
Image: photo of large stately home through the trees
05.06.2008 - Bowes Museum goes green for World Environment Day
The Bowes Museum has been awarded the Silver accreditation from the Green Tourism Business Scheme (GTBS), demonstrating its commitment to providing a good quality service while minimising the environmental impact of its activities.
The award was announced on World Environment Day (June 5) and confirms that the popular visitor attraction in Barnard Castle is also doing its bit for the environment.
“The capital developments currently underway will take our green commitment even further as we introduce a new boiler and other energy saving devices such as improved insulation,” said the Museum’s Director, Adrian Jenkins.
05.06.2008 - David Starkey joins Tate campaign to save Rubens for the nation
The historian David Starkey has lent his support to Tate Britain’s campaign, backed by The Art Fund, to acquire for the nation Rubens’s oil sketch The Apotheosis of James I: Multiple Sketch for the Banqueting House Ceiling (1628-30).
To promote the campaign Tate has today united the sketch with the ceiling paintings at the Banqueting House in Whitehall for probably the first time since their completion in 1634.
“This work is of the utmost significance to British history," said David Starkey. "The Banqueting House with its stunning Rubens ceiling is all that remains of the original Whitehall Palace after it was destroyed by fire in 1698."
"The Banqueting House ceiling is the most important painting set within an architectural context in England and this sketch is the key to its composition. The loss of the sketch would be a fundamental betrayal of our national heritage and it is inconceivable that it move from Britain."
In March Tate Britain, together with leading art charity The Art Fund, announced it was actively seeking support to raise £6 million to save sketch. The large-scale oil sketch, valued at £11m, has been owned by a private collection in England for over two hundred years and is offered to Tate for £6m net of special tax concessions.
Tate has so far secured over £1.56m towards acquiring the sketch including a grant of £500,000 from The Art Fund, £300,000 from Tate Members and £62,000 from individuals and members of the public.
The Art Fund has built a dedicated website for the campaign: www.artfund.org/savetherubens. Anyone wanting to donate money can do so from this website, which can also be accessed via Tate Online at www.tate.org.uk/rubens. The works are brought together on the same day, 5 June, that Rubens first arrived in London in preparation for his meeting with Charles I about the Banqueting House commission on 6 June 1629.
04.06.2008 - Lord Foster becomes Honorary Patron of Manchester’s CUBE
Lord Foster, the world-famous architect who designed such iconic buildings as London’s ‘Gherkin’ and Wembley Stadium, is to be the new patron of the CUBE gallery in Manchester.
His role will see him promoting the Manchester gallery, which receives funding from Salford University’s School of the Built Environment and, when available, attending events and exhibitions.
"I am delighted to support Manchester’s CUBE Gallery," said Lord Foster. "It is a much valued resource for an ever growing audience interested in our built environment. It is with great pleasure that I “return” to the city in which I grew up, to be a patron."
CUBE (Centre for the Urban Built Environment) is based in the heart of Manchester and is dedicated to communicating the ideas and issues that lie behind the buildings and spaces that make up our built environment.
The Gallery promotes education programmes at all levels and showcases developments in architecture and design in a Centre housing three galleries, a seminar room and a Royal Institute of British Architects bookshop.
04.06.2008 - Popular heritage crime tours extended in Leeds
A series of tours which explore the criminal past of Leeds Town Hall has been extended after proving a major success.
The guided tour has been developed as part of the ‘Crime and Punishment’ project, which was funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. It shows off the Victorian courtroom and police holding cells in the town hall to the public for the very first time, which proved hugely popular during its initial run from November to February with almost all the tours selling out.
As a result of that success, organiser Leeds City Council has announced that midweek tours will take place over the Summer. The new dates are June 4th, July 2nd and August 6th, while there will also be two special evening tours on July 2 at 6pm and 7:30pm.
Tickets for ‘Crime and Punishment’ must be booked in advance at Leeds Visitor Centre (formerly Gateway Yorkshire) in Leeds City Station, or by calling 0113 242 5242. Tickets are priced £3 for adults, £1 for children and £2.40 for LeedsCard holders. There are no age restrictions but at present there is no wheelchair access to the cells.
04.06.2008 - Art Fund takes Queen and Country to the Barbican
This week sees The Art Fund’s tour of Queen and Country move onto the Barbican where it will coincide with the National Theatre of Scotland’s multi-award-winning production Black Watch.
Queen and Country was created by Steve McQueen, official war artist and winner of Camera d’Or at Cannes Film Festival this year, in collaboration with 137 families whose loved ones have lost their lives in Iraq.
The artwork commemorates British servicemen and women who have lost their lives in the conflict, and consists of a cabinet containing a series of facsimile postage sheets each one dedicated to a member of the armed forces killed in Iraq. The artist hopes that an official set of stamps will eventually be issued by Royal Mail.
The work will be on display at the Barbican until July 27, to coincide with Black Watch between June 20 and July 26. The play is based on interviews with former soldiers who served in Iraq and reveals what it means to be part of the legendary Scottish regiment, what it means to be part of the war on terror, and what it means to make the journey home again.
04.06.2008 - Late night Thursdays uncover Belfast's vibrant art scene
Thursday June 5 2008 marks the start of a new series of late night public gallery openings across Belfast.
The ‘First Thursdays’ initiative is being organised by Belfast City Council in partnership with Culture Northern Ireland and will involve venues remaining open until 9pm on the first Thursday of every month.
Guided tours and artists’ talks as well as music and wine will be included in the free-of-charge promotions aiming to encourage visitors and locals to explore Belfast’s rich and diverse cultural life.
For up to date First Thursdays information you can sign up to monthly free ebulletins at www.belfastgalleries.com.
Image: a painting showing figures on a brown background
03.02.2008 - Magnificant Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones panel acquired by National Museum Wales
National Museum Wales has added Perseus and the Graiae by Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones to its collection of paintings and drawings by the famous Pre-Raphaelite artist.
Perseus and the Graiae will form a focal point of the Museum’s new Victorian displays in Gallery 6 which will complete in December 2008.
Commissioned by the young MP, Arthur Balfour, and later displayed in 10 Downing Street during his premiership, the low relief panel of Perseus and the Graiae shows Burne-Jones at the very height of his powers.
The Art Fund gave a grant of £25,000 to help National Museum Cardiff acquire the work.
02.06.2008 - Nuneaton Museum hosts mini-Grand Designs
Get creative at Nuneaton Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday June 7 to find out more about energy efficiency in your home and help staff to decorate a wendy house and teepee.
Youngsters can enter a competition to design a house for the future, and win great prizes; first prize for 7 to 11 year old category is a K’nex set and drawing equipment, and in the 4 to 6-year-old category a box of Lego and drawing equipment. Designs need to include an energy efficiency idea and to suggest recycling ideas to use in your house for the future.
Older visitors can receive advice on energy efficiency with the Warwickshire Energy Efficiency Advice Centre and receive a free low energy light bulb.
No booking required, just drop in (11am-4pm).
02.06.2008 - Mark Getty appointed Chairman of the National Gallery’s Board of Trustees
The Trustees of the National Gallery in London have announced that Mark Getty has been appointed Chairman of its Board of Trustees, for a term of three years from August 11 2008. He has served as a Trustee of the National Gallery since September 1999 and has been re-appointed for a third term of office by the Prime Minister to run until 10 August 2011.
Mark Getty will take over as Chairman from Peter Scott QC, who will cease to be a Trustee of the Gallery on 10 August 2008 after nine years in office. Peter Scott has served as Chairman of the Board since January 2000.
Mark Getty is the co-founder and Chairman of Getty Images, Inc. Previously he worked with Kidder Peabody in New York and then joined Hambros Bank Ltd in London in 1991. Mark Getty is also a non-executive director on the boards of several companies.
Image: Illustration of a peacock like bird
02.06.2008 - Extinct 'Liverpool Pigeon' on show at World Museum
The mysterious ‘Liverpool Pigeon’, officially declared extinct by Birdlife International, has gone on display at World Museum Liverpool.
The Spotted Green Pigeon, Caloenas maculate, is affectionately known as the ‘Liverpool Pigeon’ as the only surviving specimen is held in the collections of the Liverpool venue.
Birdlife International added the bird to its list of extinct species last week. One of only two examples ever recorded, the specimen was originally held in the collections of the 13th Earl of Derby and was bought at the sale of the General Davies Collection in the early 1800’s.
Its place of origin and the reasons for its extinction remain unknown although scientists believe it originally came from one of the Pacific Islands.
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