We are pleased to announce that the Arts Council Collection National Partners for 2019-22 will be Firstsite in Essex, Sunderland Culture in Tyne and Wear, and The Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange in Cornwall.
Arts Council England has awarded each partner £550,000 over three years, from April 2019 – March 2022. The grants will support the organisations to present exhibitions that showcase and are inspired by work from the Arts Council Collection, raising the Collection’s profile with the public. Funded by the National Lottery, the National Partners Programme aims to increase the diversity and number of people enjoying the Collection, and to support organisational development in regional art galleries.
By working in partnership with the Collection team at Southbank Centre, and Arts Council Collection Centre for Sculpture based at Longside, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, the partners will produce innovative exhibitions of the highest quality and reach new audiences through engagement activity.
Keith Merrin, Chief Executive of Sunderland Culture said: “We are delighted to be working with the Arts Council Collection to bring amazing works of art to audiences in Sunderland and the North East over the next three years. Bringing the Arts Council Collection to Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens is the latest instalment in the resurgence of the city as a centre for arts and culture following hot on the heels of the reopening of the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art and the Tall Ships programme, that attracted over one million visitors to the city last year, as well as the current Leonardo Da Vinci exhibition. We know our audiences will relish the opportunity to be inspired by the very best of modern and contemporary British art from the Collection."
James Green, Gallery Director, Newlyn Art Gallery and The Exchange, said: “We are absolutely delighted to be given the opportunity to bring work from a world-class collection to audiences in Cornwall. The National Partner Programme will enable us to build on recent work exploring the civic role of the gallery and reimagine our relationship with communities in Penzance and further afield.”