In this issue:

MDUK Committee news

Arts Council England update

Sector support organisaiton updates

MDUK Committee news

There are a number of changes at committee level at MDUK. Joe Traynor has stepped down as Head of Museum Development at Museums Galleries Scotland to focus on a PhD at Manchester University. Joe made an invaluable contribution to the support and development of museums and galleries in Scotland, particularly through the Covid Pandemic, and has created strong foundations for the future through leading the development of the new National Strategy for Museums and Galleries in Scotland. Devon McHugh is the Senior Partnerships Manager at Museums Galleries Scotland. Devon has worked at MGS since 2014, and her work focuses on enabling progressive development within the Scottish museum sector, and on supporting museums to make connections locally, regionally, nationally, and globally. Dr. Jonathan Dalzell has taken over as Director of Northern Ireland Museums Council as Siobhan Stevenson has stepped down adn established her own consultancy business. Lastly, Carol Whitaker, long-standing member of the network has retired from the Welsh Government.

Building on MDUK’s successful partnership with Art Fund, many of you will be aware that Art Fund are about to launch a national programme called The Great Escape.

The Great Escape is a major new participatory project from Art Fund that will engage children with the UK’s natural environment, drawing inspiration from the art and objects in museums and the creative and learning opportunities they can offer. It will bring schools and families into museum spaces, inviting primary school children aged 7-11 to explore the animals in their collections and create stories and pictures that imagine a creature’s journey to a future habitat rich in biodiversity. The things they make in the classroom, online and in museums will be brought together in a collective work of art, unveiled during a weekend of activities for all ages on Earth Day 2023 (Saturday 22nd April 2023).

The Great Escape will coincide with Wild Isles, the BBC’s new 5-part documentary series hosted by David Attenborough in Spring 2023 to explore the biodiversity and biodiversity loss across the UK, providing even more inspiration for activities.

The Art Fund is working in partnership Museum Development England, NIMC, Welsh Federation of Museums and Galleires and Museums Galleries Scotland to distribute grant funding to support publicly accessible museums, galleries, and historic houses to deliver creative workshops with schools as part of The Great Escape.

In other news, MDUK has published the evaluation report for the Equity and Inclusion programme pilot that ran across 2021-22. The report is on the MDUK website here and available in Welsh here.

Arts Council England update

We now have a new Minister for Culture in England – Michelle Donelan. We don’t know much about her priorities yet but we think it’s unlikely there will be much change. We’ll find out more after meetings between her and our CEO.

We’re really aware of the challenges for museums around the energy crisis and drastic price hikes for many museums. This was the focus of a national stakeholder meeting on 7 September with a similar picture across the UK. AIM is carrying out a two week survey to get more insight and will share findings in late September and NLHF will be sharing data from their pulse and strategy surveys too. There is now news about some Government intervention which will help but may not provide enough for some museums. Thank you for everything you are doing – it is hard to feel like we are back again in crisis mode when museums have been so resilient and enterprising. Please do let us know about museums that may be planning closure based on current financial projections.

As you know, at Arts Council, we are deep in the NPO process with lots of panels underway reviewing assessments and making recommendations. We’re on track to be communicating outcomes to applicants in late October.

You’ll have seen that we finally got the go-ahead to publish the Repatriation and Restitution Guidance:

https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication/restitution-and-repatriation-practical-guide-museums-england

Museum Development 2023+:

For the continuation year, 2023-24 there won’t be an application and assessment process, but we will need an Activity plan in February 2023 framed around the four Investment Principles.

Work is progressing on developing the application guidance for the 2024-26 programme. This will be published early in 2023. MD leads are continuing to work with Isabel Wilson to help inform the detail which is greatly appreciated.

Accreditation:

You will be aware that due to the volume of submissions being higher than projected, some Accreditation assessments may take a little longer to get to Panel for a decision. Those museums impacted, are aware. We have additional Relationship Manager capacity at the moment focussed on getting these assessments done.

Sector Support Organsations updates

Arts 4 Dementia

Arts 4 Dementia is delivering an Early-Stage Dementia Awareness Training for Arts Facilitators via Zoom on Monday 17 October 2022, 10am – 5pm.

Arts 4 Dementia invites arts organisations learning managers, facilitators, artists, and healthcare professionals to book a place on the upcoming Online Early-Stage Dementia Awareness Training, held over Zoom, focused on in-person and virtual activities. Participants will experience a fascinating, informative day and benefit from networking and knowledge sharing with facilitators from across art forms, all committed to delivering outstanding workshops for families affected by early-stage dementia.

This full-day session will be delivered by experienced trainer Aubrey Maasdorp, with art workshop guidance from Emily Taylor of A4D. It is targeted to arts facilitators, workshop leaders, animateurs, volunteers and postgraduate arts students. It will benefit staff in areas focused on learning, access, inclusion, development, community outreach, audience development, or visitor programmes. It will provide greater understanding, increased skills and confidence in communicating and working creatively with people experiencing the early stages of dementia and their companions. The aim of the training is to help organisations work towards reaching new audiences, making their institutions more inclusive, and increasing their impact in the community, particularly through virtual activities.

Over 1000 arts facilitators have taken this popular training and will reach 17,000 people living with dementia and their companions a year.

Tickets available here.

Arts Marketing Association

Digital Marketing Day 2022 — less IS more – 30 November 2022

Join the AMA in person, away from your screens, focused and distraction free, at the British Museum, London to discover why, when it comes to digital, less is more.  It will be a packed day of learning – time out of the office that will save you time once you go back. There’s an Early Bird member rate currently available, plus 15 bursaries up for grabs that cover the full delegate cost.

Find out more about Digital Marketing Day 2022. 

Campaign for Learning

Campaign for Learning is running The Family Learning Festival (15 – 30 October 2022). This is an annual national celebration to inspire a love of learning in family life. Organisations of all types and sizes including museums and galleries put on creative events that showcase ideas and learning opportunities for families. Organise your own event with our planning guide and by joining our free online workshops on 22 and 27 September at 2pm. Click here to find out more.

Heritage Compass

Heritage Compass is a free Business Support Programme for small and medium sized heritage organisations in England. Cause4, in partnership with Creative United and the Arts Marketing
Association, has been awarded additional funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to expand the existing programme from 300 to 400 organisations across the country. The programme
aims to create a better connected and more resilient Heritage landscape across England, finding sustainable and long term solutions for the sector!

Open for submission from Monday 26 September.

Thanks to additional funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund, CAuse4 are recruiting a further 100 organisations to the programme. Delivered by Cause4, in partnership with Creative United and the Arts Marketing Association, the programme will help organisations (including local museums, parks, landscapes, places of worship and heritage buildings) who want to future proof their business model. The training will include:

• Business planning income generation and finance
• Stakeholder and audience development
• Setting goals for heritage and social impact
• Governance

Details of how to apply for this programme can be found here.

Applications are accepted throughout Autumn with a deadline of 2 December 2022.