Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Funding for Museums 2016 - 2019
Ready to Borrow Programme 2016 - 2019
Contents Introduction Ready to Borrow Grants Overview Ready to Borrow Programme Grants 2016 - 2019 • The Garden Museum • Gunnersbury Park Museum • Islington Museum • Orleans House Gallery Conclusions
Page 1 of 22 Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Funding for Museums 2016 - 2019 Introduction
In May 2016, Arts Council England announced they had made £2.4million available to accredited museums across England through a second round of the Ready to Borrow scheme. The scheme was delivered through local Museum Development providers on behalf of Arts Council England. In London this was be delivered by the London Museums Development Team. The region was allocated a grant of £194,000 to support loans from National museums, Major Partner Museums and other non-national museums to non-national museums in London.
The aim of the programme was to enable non-national museums to borrow from organisations, by helping them upgrade their exhibition spaces and fund the purchase of capital assets to help museums increase their resilience. In doing so it was anticipated that it will give more people around London the opportunity to learn from and enjoy cultural objects.
The overall objectives of the programme were to: • Increase the number of accredited non-national museums able to take loans from National Museums, Major Partner Museums and other non- national museums • Improve the longer-term infrastructure and capacity to manage significant and strategic loans in each area • Increase or change in the number or type of audiences visiting museums who received this investment.
The grant offered museums the opportunity to upgrade their building and exhibition spaces, so that they could meet the environmental and security condition requirements of the Government Indemnity Scheme (GIS), thus enabling them to receive loans from national and other larger museums. The programme wanted to enable the sharing of notable objects and works of art in new and different parts of London, allowing more people to see, learn and enjoy these great treasures.
In London museums could apply for a minimum of £10,000 and a maximum of £50,000 to support this work. LMD awarded funding to four museums: the Garden Museum, Gunnersbury Park Museum, Islington Museum and Orleans House Gallery. LMD have provided full information about the different grants below.
Page 2 of 22 Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Funding for Museums 2016 - 2019 Ready to Borrow Programme Overview
This aspect of the programme was managed by Rachael Crofts, Museum Development Officer Audiences. There were a total of 5 applications to the programme. Following an assessment panel LMD funded 4 projects. All funded projects were given grants of between £46,000 to £50,000. A total of £194,000 was awarded through the Ready to Borrow grants to accredited non-national museums in London. All the projects were completed by March 2019 and all museums took on loans no later than December 2018, to ensure that visitor figures and profiles could be captured and reported back to LMD by March 2019. All four museums provided additional funds towards the final project.
All the grants were solely used to fund capital expenditure, including: • Improving security at museums by buying assets such as new cases and security equipment • Improvements to buildings to meet lenders’ environmental requirements, including installing sustainable technologies • Buying digital and broadcast equipment such as cables, cameras or screens.
The grants were used to fund the following: To cover costs relating to environmental works (lighting, heating, climate control) 3
To cover costs relating to security works (display cases, reinforced windows and doors, building alarm 4 systems, object protection devices including barriers, radios, CCTV) Buying assets such as furniture and equipment 4 Installing new technologies and upgrading buildings to deliver increased production and broadcast capacity 2 Buying digital and broadcast equipment such as cables, cameras, screens, laptops 3 Environmental sustainability costs including installing and retrofitting sustainable technologies 3 Professional fees associated with capital spending on your project 1
Notable successes and as a result of the investment: • 152,546 visitors have seen loans on display • These loans have been on display for a total of 41,048 days • 222 loans have been on display in Ready to Borrow Grant Holder non-national museums. This includes: o 24 loans from National Museums o 48 loans from Major Partner Museums, and o 150 loans from other museums and organisations • 906 education sessions and public programme activities were planned using the loans on display • 3 museums met GIS standards in areas of their museums, which it has not previously been possible to display significant national loans before
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• 1 museum now meets the requirements of GIS for the first time • There has been an increase in the number of Accredited non-national museums who are able to take loans from National museums, Major Partner Museums and other museums • There has been an improvement in the longer-term infrastructure and capacity to manage significant and strategic loans in London • All four museums have reported a significant increase in their visitor numbers • Although still very early to provide significant evidence, there are very positive early indications that there has been a change in the audience profile and that their audiences are becoming more diverse. As such, the grant has supported the museums in its journey to having a more diverse audience profile in the future. • Staff within all four museums are now more confident and knowledgeable about taking on loans and have all been inspired and are already having conversations around taking on future loans and touring exhibitions.
Descriptions of each of the 2016 - 2019 projects are given below.
Page 4 of 22 Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Funding for Museums 2016 - 2019 Ready to Borrow Programme Grants 2016 – 2019
Garden Museum: Re-making the Ark Project
Total grant awarded:
top left and left and top
£50,000 -
top © JohnChase, top ©
Key achievements: – As a result of investment: • 55,000 visitors have seen loans on display • The loans have been on display for a total of 13,681 days • 21 loans have been on display, which includes: o 4 loans from National Museums
o 14 loans from Major Partner Museums, and o 3 loans from other museums and organisations • 150 education sessions and public programme activities were planned
using the loans on display
Garden Museum Garden Quotes from the museum: Thank you again for your support with our application. The grant will make a very
tangible difference to the project as well as a very significant difference to the bottom © Museum. Belinda Hirst, Development Manager, Garden Museum
By displaying an increased number of loans from national institutions, it has given staff a renewed sense of pride and skills they would not have ordinarily developed. They are so grateful to LMD and ACE for the opportunity to carry out this project. Christina McMahon, Fundraising Manager, Garden Museum
The project:
The Tradescant Ark was part of a £7.5 million HLF funded project to create a middle © Sin Bozkurt, bottom © John Chase and far right © Garden Museum; March 2018 GardenMarch Museum; © John © far and bottom right Chase middleBozkurt, Sin © national museum of gardens. The Tradescant Ark is the centrepiece of the new 2017 Garden © November Museum; 2019 April and February 2017 2016, Copyright: November All
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Museum, and explains their existence in this location. The Tradescant Ark is intended as the ‘jewel house’ of the re-developed Museum and interprets, in the form of a cabinet of curiosities, the story of the John Tradescants, father (1570s-1638) and son (1608-1662), the plant hunters, gardeners to Charles I and Charles II and collectors who are buried in the Museum’s garden.
Prior to the HLF project the Garden Museum were able to borrow for short periods from February to April and in the Autumn. However, with the environment being too hot, with the RH too high in the summer and too cold in the winter and with wide-ranging and rapidly fluctuating RH, their ability to develop their exhibition and display programme was severely hampered. The Ready to Borrow grant was used to comply with the loan conditions of future lenders to The Tradescant Ark and to be compatible with indemnity insurance requirements. The grant paid for: • Securilath mesh in the interior of the Ark gallery • Bespoke cases based upon the National Security Advisor’s • Ventilation and M&E recommended conditions and our own conservation management • Fan converters plan, designed by Alec Cobbe • Climate control • Case alarms, high quality seals and locks • Prosorb in the cases • A roller shutter • Adjustable lighting
Changes to environmental and security conditions: Prior the grant the Garden Museum recorded environmental conditions in its temporary gallery, permanent displays and storage spaces throughout the year using a tiny tag electronic monitoring system capturing RH and temperature readings on a graph. They were able to borrow for short periods from February to April and in the Autumn. However, with the environment being too hot (25-28.8°C), with the RH too high (regularly 60-62% RH) in the summer and too cold (as low as 12.7°C) in the winter and with wide-ranging and rapidly fluctuating RH( 37%-52%) their ability to develop their exhibition and display programme was severely hampered.
The project has allowed the museum to create a secure and stable environment for objects of loan from major institutions. The CCTV and Fortecho case alarms system allow them to care for borrowed collections with confidence. Lending institutions, such as the National Portrait Gallery and the Natural History Museum, are comfortable lending objects to them as their security procedures are in place and have been working well for almost 2 years. The environmental conditions in the gallery are controlled well by the Uniflair system. The temperature and humidity have been within the desired parameters apart from on some rare occasions. As the cases have high quality seals, the environment is stable and fluctuates less than 5% RH in a 24 hour period.
Loans taken on as a result of the project: Upon opening on 22 May 2017, the Ark gallery contained 20 loans from the V&A, the Ashmolean Museum, the National Portrait Gallery, the Natural History Museum, and the National History Museum Oxford. The loans included: a Alabaster figure of St Fiacre, 15th century, loaned from the V&A; Roman coins, 47-82 BC, loaned from The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; a portrait of Phineas Pett, by unknown artist from around 1612, loaned from The National Portrait Gallery, a Reindeer antlers and skin of head, a Cast of a dodo head and a Oryx-gazella horn, loaned from The Natural History Museum, Oxford; and Shells, loaned from The Natural History Museum, London.
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All of these loans remain on display in the Ark. In December 2018 the museum also introduced one additional loan ‘John Tradescant the Younger’, 1652, attributed to Thomas de Critz loaned from National Portrait Gallery. In the next few months the Garden Museum will also introduce two new objects to the gallery; a section of the skeleton from a 17th century whale and a 19th century crocodile, on long term loan from the Natural History Museum. The curators will continue to explore additional loans for these cases over the coming months.
How has the project benefited visitors? The Ready to Borrow grant coincided with the museum’s broader re-development project, which took place between 2015 and 2017. As such, the Museum has welcomed far more visitors than ever before, all of whom will have seen the Ark gallery as it is included in the entry fee to the Museum as a whole. A total of 55,000 have seen the loans on display in the Ark.
Staff are now able to take groups into the Ark gallery and show them some of the Tradescants’ original collection, returned to Lambeth for the first time in hundreds of years thanks to loans from the Ashmolean Museum. This helps bring the story to life, for primary school groups particularly, whom they host regularly. This means the loans have been seen by nearly 2,000 education participants.
Upon re-opening the Museum’s inaugural exhibition was titled Tradescant’s Orchard: A Celebration of Botanical Art, where 50 botanical artists had created works inspired by John Tradescant’s ‘Orchard’ nurseryman’s book. This exhibition was only possible thanks to the Ark gallery, which gave visitors a thorough introduction to the Tradescants and their story before they subsequently enjoyed the exhibition. This exhibition and the Ark has also seen a more diverse audience visit the museum.
Highlights or success stories: Staff felt there were a number of success stories that came out of the project. These included: • In April 2018 the Garden Museum opened a new major exhibition on the works of the artist plantsman, Cedric Morris, in their temporary exhibition space. This exhibition had several loans from national institutions such as the National Museum of Wales, Tate, and the National Portrait Gallery (who also loaned to the Ark), as well as a large number from private collections. The museum has no doubt that the success of the new Museum and particularly of the Ark and its various loans ensured that these lenders felt confident in lending to the Garden Museum. • The registrars and curators at the Natural History Museum, Oxford, were so happy with the standard of the Ark gallery, display conditions, and the broader improvements to the Garden Museum that they offered to extend their loans in the Ark gallery from 12 months to 24 months.
What have been the biggest challenges of the project? During building work, their contractors discovered a burial vault underneath what is now the Ark gallery. After an archaeological investigation carried out by Dr Julian Litten, 34 coffins were discovered including those of four Archbishops. The hole leading to the vault posed great questions about the design of the Ark gallery, but also about how they could ensure the environmental regulations were still in place. Due to archaeological discoveries, the development was set back by approx. 3 months. The resulting redesign was a challenge, but one that has taught them about the importance of flexibility and resilience. The
Page 7 of 22 Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Funding for Museums 2016 - 2019 gallery is now fully GIS compliant, and also has a sealed glass hatch so that visitors can see the stairway down into the vault. The international media attention it attracted has also inspired even more visitors to visit the museum and the Ark.
What have been the biggest lessons of the project? Working with national lenders has been of great benefit to the Garden Museum staff. Their Curators have been able to work with objects of great importance and learn more about the lending process, as well as environmental regulations and security. Their Press and Marketing team have learned more about how to work in partnership with lending organisations. The staff have thus developed their skills, which will benefit the Museum. The curatorial staff have built lasting relationships with national institutions, subsequently improving their ability to create new loan agreements. They are also able to be more ambitious in their programming and gallery planning.
How has the project impacted the museum’s resilience? By enabling the museum to have loans of national significance from large institutions, they have been able to forge greater partnerships with museums such as the Ashmolean, the National Portrait Gallery and the Natural History Museum. The success of the existing loans has encouraged further loans, such as the crocodile and the whale from the National History Museum, but has also unveiled the Garden Museum as a venue equipped to receive important loans from other organisations. This was proven when planning their Cedric Morris: Artist Plantsman, for which they received loans of hugely precious artworks from organisations such as Tate and the National Museum of Wales. Partnerships like this will allow the Museum to grow as a museum for viewing art and artefacts and enable it to attract new visitors. Their ability to apply for Government Indemnity cover ensures that they can reduce exhibition costs whilst meeting the highest standards expected by lending institutions.
Page 8 of 22 Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Funding for Museums 2016 - 2019 Gunnersbury Park Museum: Exhibitions Uplift Project
Total grant awarded: £48,000
Key achievements: As a result of investment: • 26,680 visitors have seen loans on display • The loans have been on display for a total of 12,094 days
• 143 loans have been on display, which includes: o 16 loans from National Museums o 46 loans from Major Partner Museums, and o 5 loans from other museums and organisations • 40 education sessions and public programme activities were planned using the loans on display
Quotes from the museum: I'd like to thank you (LMD) for all your support with this project, we've been able to achieve so much with the grant scheme which has given such a boost to our museum. Julia Tubman, Curator, Gunnersbury Park Museum
The project: Copyright: All images © Gunnersbury Park Museum Park Copyright:images Gunnersbury © All Upon applying for the grant, the Museum was closed for a major HLF refurbishment to update the entire site (park and house). However, the HLF plans only included a very limited number of cases fitted to GIS requirements, meaning that their displays and exhibitions would be mainly reliant on their own collections. The Ready to Borrow grant aimed to enable them upgrade and purchase new cases and ensure they can maintain environmental controls across more spaces, which will ensure they would meet GIS requirements in a number of exhibition areas and individual cases.
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The HLF project aimed to restore Gunnersbury Park House, the Grade II* listed building housing Gunnersbury Park Museum (GPM), and provide a modern, fit-for-purpose centre for exhibitions, learning and community engagement. The offer at GPM has moved from ground-floor only access with three dim and aged exhibition galleries, to nine galleries over three floors in addition to refurbished heritage spaces and dedicated education and session rooms. The funds provided by the Ready to Borrow scheme was used to purchase equipment to ensure GPM met GIS requirements, and provide the museum with technology necessary to run a museum service aimed at attracting 50,000 visitors a year.
The grant enabled the purchase of the following equipment: • They purchased 13 monitors from Meaco • They have invested in 15 alarms to fit display cases and flat works of art, provided by Fortecho • 18 radios are now in use by museum and park staff on a daily basis • An extra display case in the Fashion Gallery and two more mannequins on display in the Fashion Gallery, in which loans can be displayed.
Changes to environmental and security conditions: Prior to the renovation of the museum and the Ready to Borrow grant, the museum had no environmental monitoring devices. Receivers are now positioned in every case where loans are displayed (there is also an extra monitor in the Special Exhibitions Gallery to record the environmental conditions of the room). It would not be possible for them to take any loans without providing at least three months of data. They were successful in having premises approved for GIS in August 2018 following evidence of their updated security system including the Fortecho alarms and subsequently submitted GIS applications for loan objects from the Museum of London and the London Metropolitan Archives.
The monitors are essential in guiding them to make necessary changes to cases and rooms to meet conservation standards and GIS conditions; for example, they’ve added silica gel to the archaeology cases, and dehumidifiers into the Special Exhibitions Gallery. The data produced is leading them on which type of materials can be on open display in the Special Exhibitions Gallery; for example it was difficult to maintain a stable relative humidity for the Gertrude Hermes exhibition last summer without dehumidifiers and keeping the door shut, which has implications for visitor circulation. They are now reviewing how they will manage the display of very sensitive organic materials in this space going forwards.
Loans taken on as a result of the project: As a result of the grant, the museum was able to take on a number of loaned objects and exhibitions to support their own collections. They currently have the following long-term loans (for 3 years) on display: a Bronze Age hoard and an Iron Age hoard from the British Museum (installed 19 November 2018 in their Prehistory archaeology display case); 10 items on loan from the Museum of London to support their own archaeology items on display (installed 13 August 2018); a 1925 Jemima Puddleduck bear from the V&A Museum Childhood and 3 archive documents from the V&A (installed 20 August 2018); and a 1907 Perkin medal from the Science Museum (installed 25 February 2019).
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They were also able to exhibit touring loan exhibitions, including: In the Groove: Gertrude Hermes and the Natural World, a travelling exhibition of 21 loans produced by the Ashmolean Museum (on display between 21 June – 2 September 2018); and Laura Carlin: Ceramics, A touring exhibition of 93 objects from the House of Illustration (on display 1 February - 28 April 2019).
They also hope to display 6 loans items from the Huntley Collection at the London Metropolitan Archives for an exhibition in the People and Place Gallery, as well two loans from Hanwell Asylum. The purchase of additional environmental equipment to display mannequins and hats will be used for loans of costume to support a planned exhibition later in 2019, looking at workwear and uniforms. The display will include sports costumes from 2 private collectors. They will also take on another touring exhibition from the National Paralympic Heritage Trust this June and in January 2020 they’ll be putting on a display of the works of Madeline Green, and they’re hoping to get in at least 20 of her works.
How has the project benefited visitors? Loans are integrated into the whole museums’ exhibitions and thus the public programme activities and school sessions. The museum’s visitor figures are on track to exceed their first-year target of 30,000. As of 26 March 2019, they have had 26,680 visitors who have seen the loans on display (this does not include school visits, public programme or outreach group visits to the museum). So far, the loans are used in activities as follows: • Loans in the archaeology cases are used in Stone Age and Roman education sessions (448 children) • Loans across the museum are highlighted during tours, of which there have been 10 since reopening. Curator’s tours take in the history of the house and explore the museum galleries • Outreach officers have taken 4 community groups on tours of the galleries and point our loans from other museums so far.
Highlights or success stories: Staff felt there were a number of success stories that came out of the project. These included: • That they were able to secure a touring exhibition from the Ashmolean Museum, In the Groove, a collection of prints and sketchbooks by Gertrude Hermes, which would not have been possible without the grant. The installation of touring exhibitions has given them confidence to explore other touring exhibitions as well. They are also planning an exhibition centring on quilting and patchwork, for which they will be seeking loans of items from the V&A and the Quilt Museum and Gallery, to support the exhibition of their very own 1820 patchwork quilt. • They also felt it was worth celebrating the increase in staff confidence in negotiating loans with institutions. Where issues have arisen regarding their lack of environmental data or the practicalities of displaying items within cases, they now feel they have the knowledge required to confidently confront problems and find workable solutions to the satisfaction of borrower and lender. • The Curator was also part of the coinciding Touring Exhibition Group mentoring scheme, which they felt had also been of great benefit to the museum staff as they navigated through the redevelopment of the museum and the process of securing loans.
What have been the biggest challenges of the project? The biggest challenges the museum has encountered are a result of them being in the midst of a very large redevelopment and restructuring process. As members of the Gunnersbury CIC, the curatorial and learning staff were regarded as being the end users of the museum building, not the technical client
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(which is the London Borough of Ealing the London Borough of Hounslow). This prevented the museum being able to directly instruct contractors working on the redevelopment project themselves and left them in the vulnerable position of receiving second-hand information from project managers at Ealing Council. It was therefore difficult to alter the scope of works and add in extra elements once a contract had been agreed. For example, they wanted to ensure that the Fortecho alarm system fed into the main building security system and would be monitored off-site 24-hours. It took some negotiation and a lot of explanation with the London Borough Ealing (LBE) Project Manager overseeing the HLF renovations in order to get their works included.
What have been the biggest lessons of the project? They felt there were many lessons that the museum staff will take on board and will be invaluable in the coming years as the museum re-establishes itself. These were: • To get into contact with and accept the fantastic advice and support offered by MDO's- in suggesting useful contacts, documents, websites, suppliers and events, and for providing reassurance during difficult phases of projects • The importance of networking- through training events, museum openings, market places, etc. Being able to contact museums who have passed through or are going through similar projects is extremely helpful • The advantages to be found in participating in a peer-to-peer mentoring scheme with someone external who can provide a sense of perspective, advise on best practice, and who can explain technicalities and fill in the detail on projects you have had no prior experience in.
How has the project impacted the museum’s resilience? Overall staff felt the Exhibitions Uplift project, has had and will continue to have a significant and positive legacy for Gunnersbury Park Museum over the coming years. Staff felt the project and consequent loans they have borrowed has resulted in many positive implications for the museum’s longer-term infrastructure and capacity to manage to loans, including: ● Both the Curator and the Assistant Curator now have experience of loan processes and feel emboldened to pursue loans in the future ● Curatorial staff have now established relationships with curators and registrars from loaning institutions, and will continue to foster partnerships ● Gunnersbury Park Museum has been approved by William Brown as a venue meeting GIS security requirements, which means they are able to apply for GIS cover ● The ability to accept loans for short periods in spaces such as their Special Exhibitions Gallery, thanks to their ability to meet GIS standards, means they can continually refresh their offer to visitors with touring exhibitions, and place new items on display ● Being able to exhibit touring exhibitions from other institutions also increases their reach, attracting visitors from outside our immediate locality ● They were able to afford the ‘extras’ not included in the HLF budget that they needed to be able to successfully apply for loans. Loans of objects and exhibitions has undoubtedly allowed them to expand their offer to visitors.
Page 12 of 22 Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Funding for Museums 2016 - 2019 Islington Museum: Bringing the World to Islington Project
Total grant awarded: £50,000
Key achievements: As a result of investment: • 11,962 visitors have seen loans on display • The loans have been on display for a total of 1,745 days • 25 loans have been on display, which includes: o 1 loan from National Museums
o 3 loans from Major Partner Museums, and o 21 loans from other museums and organisations • 64 education sessions and public programme activities were planned using the loans on display
Quotes from the museum: It has been a truly remarkable project, thanks so much for all your help, support and advice. I really couldn’t have done it without you! As I have said in the form the uplift has been both wonderful but also a real challenge given I have done
the whole project pretty much single handed. I feel really pleased with the Museum Copyright:Islington © All outcome, together we have achieved something brilliant. Roz Currie, Curator, Islington Local History Centre and Museum
The project: Islington Museum works with the diverse community of the borough to deliver a huge range of changing displays from community-group led to major exhibitions on particular local and wider themes. Their options for borrowing for their temporary gallery and displays were severely limited by out-dated cases and limited environmental monitoring equipment. The grant enabled the purchase of the following equipment:
• New environmental monitoring • UV filters
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• New trolley/cover/packing materials • Alongside, the equipment, the Curator continued to work with an • New barriers for open display external consultant to ensure GIS requirements were met by the • New plinths end of the project and the museum was able to take on its planned • New GIS-compliant display cases loans to enhance its exhibition programmes.
This project has allowed a complete overhaul in the way Islington Museum approaches loans. This is true both with specific reference to environmental and security issues, but also in terms of ethos and practice. By working with internal and external consultants, the Curator examined their compliance within the GIS framework and brought the museum up to standard in such a way it will leave a lasting legacy. Additionally, the museum has made good links with other council departments vital to improving environmental conditions, security and IT links. They are GIS compliant and can present themselves as a suitable location for loans to larger and national museums.
Changes to environmental and security conditions: Prior the project they monitored relative humidity and temperature continuously using downloadable Tinytags in both the main museum space and two stores. While their temporary exhibition space is linked to the main gallery, they did not have monitoring equipment in it. Their data was downloaded and checked twice a month, but their system is very old, uncalibrated and in severe need of replacing. They did not monitor light-levels. High security locks were used on both store rooms and all display cases in the permanent gallery have either secure/hidden locks. However, their temporary display cases were very low quality, and in some cases, broken locks and are much less secure. They had no barrier system for loan objects on open display.
The project has enabled the museum’s environmental and security conditions to change dramatically to ensure the museum meet GIS requirements by: • Purchasing GIS-compliant showcases with low air exchange • The main light fittings, fibre optic fittings in the museum have been replaced with LEDs as they were major sources of heat and causing temperatures to rise/ humidity to drop throughout the day • Their radio-telemetry system is in place, which has enabled environmental monitoring • The glass frontage of the museum has had UV film added enabling them to control the light conditions better • Ensuring the GIS-compliant showcases have secure Abloy locks, the basement fire doors both had new locks and alarms fitted ensuring only those permitted in the museum after hours can gain access and upgrading of PIR system by Chubb to GIS-required standards.
Loans taken on as a result of the project: This project has allowed to museum to make strong links with other local organisations, and work with larger or national organisations which has not been possible before. The museum took on the following loans for the following temporary exhibitions: • Banners for Spain (5 May – 8 July 2017) – Six large-scale banners on loan from the Marx Memorial Library • Up Against It: 1967 (22 July – 21 October 2017) – A loan from the Jewish Museum • Fighting Apartheid in Islington (30 April -19 June 2018) – Loans from the Bodleian Library, Marx Memorial Library and private individuals
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• Echoes of Holloway Prison (5 July -8 October 2018) – Two loans from the Museum of London, archival material from LSE Women’s Library and 1 loan from the Imperial War Museum.
The project has inspired and encouraged the curator to approach other museums over the potential to take on further loans for future exhibitions: • Music Hall exhibition (July 2019) to include potential loans from Victoria and Albert Museum, the Grand Order of Water Rats, and private lenders • Second World War in Islington (April 2020) to include potential loans from the Museum of London and Imperial War Museum • Crossrail exhibition (Autumn 2020) to include potential loans from the London Transport Museum.
How has the project benefited visitors? This project has given the museum the capacity to put on a wider series of exhibitions, with more diverse collections bringing in broader audiences. By showcasing collections from larger and national museums their profile has grown and their audience base widened. Each of the exhibitions for which this grant has been relevant has brought in a new segment of visitors and connected with another part of their local and wider community.
A total number of 2,186 visited the Banners for Spain exhibition at the museum. The exhibition saw new audiences come to the museum for the first time. This included a large increase of visitors from the London Spanish community, national left-wing organisations, and a wider audience from London in addition to local audiences. Visitor numbers were in fact 25% higher than usual. A total number of 2,557 visited the Up Against it: 1967 exhibition at the museum. New audiences included those from the LGBTQ+ community, those with an interest in Joe Orton (repeat from previously), and local gay men.
A total number of 2,660 visited the Fighting Apartheid in Islington exhibition at the museum. New audiences included those who had been part of the fight against apartheid, local radicals, people with an interest in radical histories. A total number of 4,559 visitors attended the Echoes of Holloway Prison exhibition at the museum. New audiences included those who had worked, volunteered or been held at Holloway Prison. They had a much more diverse audience than usual with many non-standard museum visitors and people coming to Islington Museum for the first time.
Highlights or success stories: Staff felt there were a number of success stories that came out of the project. These included: • Benefiting from tailored support from Dana Andrews who was very helpful in guiding her through the process of completing UKRG reports required for the loan of objects. This has increased the confidence of staff to have conservations with museums over potential loans. • For the Up Against it: 1967 exhibition the loan was as a direct result of the grant and associated work, as the updated information on environmental conditions (from the hand-held environmental meter on loan from the Collections Care Regional Team) and the security banner led the Jewish Museum to have the confidence to proceed with the loan • Islington recently made a loan to the British Museum and as a result of this project were able to start serious conversations about potential future loans to Islington Museum given that they will be in compliance with GIS. This is a fantastic step for the museum to take on a loan from the British Museum for the first time.
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What have been the biggest challenges of the project? Staff felt there had been two significant challenges in this project: • Time-pressure for a small department: For example, when looking at which display cases would be most effective, the ideal would have been to meet multiple manufacturers and visit other museums/galleries which had previously bought their cases. Unfortunately, this was not possible, but was supplemented instead with a display case course at the Museum of London (funded-place) and discussions with various organisations. The uplift has allowed excellent results but added an additional burden to already overworked staff. • Working within Islington Council: The biggest challenge has been where Islington Council systems and procurement came into conflict with the Ready to Borrow project. This has led to extreme time-lag and delays to all milestones.
What have been the biggest lessons of the project? Staff felt there had been two significant lessons from this project: • Islington Council support - A key lesson is how much support is possible from within the council itself. They have multiple departments of experts who can give advice and ideas that they have not previously accessed. However, they must acknowledge that such support can only be accessed through extremely slow procedures. • What can be achieved and what you can learn during a longer-term project - The museum was installed in 2007/2008 and many things were problematic and wholly undocumented. Given the time-scale of this project it has been possible to spend time learning and investigating the museum building and then effect longer-term change by taking each area of work.
How has the project impacted the museum’s resilience? Each step of this project has been carefully planned to ensure they were undertaking actions, renovations and purchases which will benefit the museum in the long-term and should allow the museum to remain GIS compliant for the next decade. The additional uplift to their original bid was crucial in allowing them not just to focus on simple fixes, such as new display cases and improved monitoring, but to look more strategically at the museum as a whole and overhaul inadequate systems. Islington Museum is a better organisation as a result of this project. This project was extremely timely, coming in conjunction with projects such as Islington’s Pride and Echoes of Holloway Prison which have focussed on specific stories from the borough and for which engagement with collections was crucial. Specific legacy highlights: • They are now able to take loans from national and other museums, which was almost impossible before, bringing in wider audiences • By undertaking conversations with national and other museums to take on loans they have positioned themselves as a fully-functioning local museum and are able to show they understand the needs and can properly care for objects on loan • In addition, their entire museum, both for the galleries and stores, is better monitored, controlled and understood.
Page 16 of 22 Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Funding for Museums 2016 - 2019 Orleans House Gallery: Transforming Orleans Shutters Project
Total grant awarded: £46,000
Key achievements: As a result of investment: • 58,904 visitors have seen loans on display
• These loans have been on display for a total of 13,528 days
• 33 loans have been on display from non-national museums and other
organisations Gallery • 652 education sessions and public programme activities were planned using the loans on display
Quotes from the museum: Orleans House Orleans Many thanks for your email and for the generous grant offer of £46,000 to uplift our exhibition spaces and enable us to meet GIS requirements. We gratefully accept your offer. Rachel Tranter, Arts Service Manager, Orleans House Gallery
Copyright: © All The venue now has spaces and systems which supports loans in from UK National Collections and under grant of Government Indemnity. William Brown, National Security Adviser, Arts Council England
The project: The Transforming Orleans House capital project aimed to improve Orleans House Gallery’s security conditions, including the rebuilt North Wing, to enable the museum to house a new permanent display of collection works. In order to maintain full accreditation standards, fulfil the conditions of their fine art insurance and to include external loans from other museums, this new North Wing needed to comply with GIS security and environmental standards.
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Following the recommendations made in a security report by Ian Johnson Associates Ltd., as well as meetings with William Brown, National Security Adviser for Arts Council England, it was suggested that the refurbished gallery and new North Wing buildings include door and window shutters as security barriers. The Transforming Orleans House Shutters project, which LMD funded, included the production of 18 pairs of window security shutters for the new North Wing. As well as meeting the recommended security standards, the window shutters are insulated to help maintain stable environmental conditions within this space, which now house the majority of the Richmond Borough Art Collection and loans.
The fixed shutters were installed by November 2017. The frames for the folding shutters were installed by November 2018. William Brown, National Security Adviser, visited the refurbished gallery as planned prior to the gallery reopening to the public in January 2019 and was very happy with the improvements. Today these shutters now protect: a new Study Gallery display of works from the Richmond Borough Art Collection and loans; a new picture store for collection works not on display and a secure store for loans; a workshop for framing artworks for exhibition; and a new display of works from the Richmond Borough Art Collection exploring the theme of Orleans House and the Wider Landscape.
Changes to environmental and security conditions: Prior the grant parts of the main gallery spaces met basic GIS standards, however, security in the North Wing, meant that they could not take loans in these particular spaces. The thermohydrograph in the main gallery was reinstalled prior to opening and the temperature and humidity is within range. Temperature = 15 degrees average (slightly lowest than usual as heating was playing up) Humidity = 55 % average.
Prior to reopening, the National Security Advisor, William Brown, revisited the site in January 2018, where he praised the building as being GIS compliant. He suggested that Orleans House Gallery enters for a museum award and specifically mentioned the quality of the shutters and study gallery display as areas to highlight. The shutters also contribute to a stable storage environment for the Borough Art Collection as the aluminium components of the window shutters reflect the heat of the sunlight as well as blocking out lux, enabling a stable temperature and light level to be maintained.
Loans taken on as a result of the project: Now that the project has been completed, there are nearly 100 works from the Richmond Borough Art Collection on permanent public display in the study gallery and interpretation areas, greatly increasing access to the collection.
Alongside the Richmond Borough Art Collection, the museum immediately displayed loans when the gallery re-opened to the public on 8 January 2018. Currently on display are 30 loans from Southwark Council Heritage Collection on long-term loan in the Study Gallery. These loans are both objects and artworks, and are intrinsic to all public programme and education activities.
The launch temporary exhibition for Orleans House Gallery celebrated the Richmond Borough Art Collection and the collectors who formed it. A Collector’s Lot: Richmond Borough Art Collection and its Creators ran from 1 March until 27 May 2018. The exhibition included collection works normally display at York House and also a loan from English Heritage’s Marble Hill House by Thomas Hofland, which has not been exhibited at the gallery for over a decade.
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Orleans House Gallery were also able to take on and display two further loans from the Maximillian William Gallery, London by an international artist as part of the Collection Re-imagined exhibition from 16 March 2019. These artworks in particular could not be hung in the Orleans House Gallery previously as the shutters provided the secure environment needed to do so.
An additional two loans have been agreed in principal from the Victoria and Albert Museum for a long-term loan period of 1 year for the duration of 2018. However, this has been delayed and they will be displayed later in 2019. Furthermore, a successful GIS application was made for the loan of 12 London Transport Museum objects for the Artists in War and Peace exhibition, originally scheduled for September – November 2018. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding, this exhibition did not go ahead but the loan applications and GIS application for the loans would not have been approved without the Transforming Orleans House Shutters Project. Despite the exhibition not going ahead, the agreement of these loans, along with two pieces from the Imperial War Museum, has confirmed the suitability of Orleans House Gallery to loan national artworks in the future and the museums plans to programme this exhibition for 2020.
Looking forward, the postponed James Gibbs exhibition has been rescheduled for 2020 to coincide with the tercentenary completion date of the Octagon Room. Loans will be sourced from a number of organisations, national museums and major partner museums including the National Portrait Gallery, Victoria & Albert Museum, English Heritage Chiswick House and probably RIBA and the British Library.
How has the project benefited visitors? Visitor figure collection and evaluation, along with information capture from volunteers has shown a definite increase in visitor figures across the board and a wider engagement of visitors as a whole, with the total figure for gallery visitors in the past 12 months now reaching 58,904. Specifically, within the activity plan events, the percentage of visitors and participants with disabilities and older adults has increased to an average of 9.5% from 7% over the past 12 months. Diversity within the total visitor numbers has also increased to 25%+ through engagement with West London audiences, contributing to meeting our target of TOH having significant impact on West London Families.
In the last three months the museum has completed the second intergenerational heritage literacy project. They delivered 7 sessions and engaged with 242 participations from Wandsworth, Kingston and Richmond including 29% of participants with disabilities and 28% BAME. Sessions took place in three locations: Secondary School, Care Home and Orleans House Gallery (Main Gallery and Study Gallery) where loan artworks were interacted with as inspiration for the project creations. Alongside this, their Grand Fancy Bazaar was attended by 350 visitors including 10% of people with disabilities and 10% BAME, and their Heritage Arts Award and School holiday Activities involved 193 participants engaging with the main gallery artworks and loans.
Highlights or success stories: The highlight story from the project was William Brown verbally praising the project, including the shutters, and writing a letter of recommendation to the GIS standard. Given the delays and problems with the contractors, the museum felt this was a huge achievement and praise. As such, they will be taking up his advice to enter the project for design awards over the coming months.
Page 19 of 22 Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Funding for Museums 2016 - 2019 What have been the biggest challenges of the project? The biggest challenges were: the unforeseen delays in the building works; a change in contractor for the construction of the shutters; and unsuccessful exhibition funding application. Despite the gallery opening to the public in 2018, there is also still minor snagging from the wider Transforming Orleans House project taking place. The original subcontractor for the shutters, The Hub, were initially engaged to design and manufactured the shutters to meet GIS specifications. However, it was realised as part of the design process that this was not attainable by the company. A delay was caused at this point in having to source a second contractor to design and manufacture the shutters in place of The Hub but Ashford Interior Woodcraft were soon engaged and successfully produced the end result. Ashwood Interior Woodcraft produced the metal shutters and Quinn the wooden shutters for the front door reception lobby. This was beneficial as the final shutters were stronger (metal rather than wood and metal) and better designed.
What have been the biggest lessons of the project? The biggest lessons have been how to plan and produce a project that reaches and benefits target audiences in a relevant way whilst maintaining the needs of the collection and temporary exhibitions. Learning to adapt and change with unforeseen challenges such as delays and alterations has given the organisation the experience to plan and overcome such issues in the future.
How has the project impacted the museum’s resilience? The shutters project enabled the production of 4 fixed shutters for the new picture store, 3 pairs of folding shutters for the framing room, 3 pairs of folding shutters for the Study Gallery, 2 pairs of folding shutters for the Orleans House and the Wider Landscape display area, 2 pairs of folding shutters for the downstairs interpretation area, 3 pairs of folding shutters for the reception area and 1 pair of wooden shutters for the front door reception lobby. They will ensure that Orleans House Gallery complies with GIS standards, enabling external loans, which will enrich the exhibitions and education programmes as well as attracting visitors.
The Transforming Orleans House Shutters project has provided the framework for a consistent and quality collections care strategy as part of accredited museum status as well as day to day security process and operation. With the increased certainty of agreed GIS and national loan applications, a stronger programming structure has also been put in place by the Arts Leadership Team. Multiple national loans can now be considered and cared for to a consistent environmental and secure standard for each exhibition which in turn supports funding applications to host more ambitious exhibitions. The 2020 draft programme already includes two exhibitions with intention for national loan display and beyond this, a long-term vision to host increasing numbers of loan exhibitions for improved public experience and engagement.
The legacy of the project is the setting of a standard for collections care, accreditation status and Government Indemnity. As the funding covered the shutter project in totality, it has meant that a foundation has been provided for the public programme to build upon without the need for additional input in years to come.
Page 20 of 22 Ready to Borrow Capital Grant Funding for Museums 2016 - 2019 Conclusions on the 2016 - 2019 Ready to Borrow Programme Grants Importantly, at the end of the project all four museums have been able to take on loans and are now GIS compliant. The opportunity to spend London’s allocation on fewer museums, meant that each museum received an uplift in their original grant, this has been vital for all four museums to achieve GIS standards. Crucially, all four museums have cited in their reports the importance of the uplift and how it has enabled them to meet the final elements of GIS requirements. As the Assessment Team originally thought, all four museums ran into unforeseen problems during their project that needed to be addressed before they were GIS compliant, the uplift ensured they were still able to do so.
As with any large-scale project there always a chance/realistic acknowledgement that the timescales would be delayed due to unforeseen circumstances and this was the case in all projects LMD funded through this programme. Despite all projects being delayed, all 4 museums took on loans no later than December 2018. This has ensured at least 3 months of audience figures have been be captured to determine the impact of the loans on visitor figures, programming and diversity. All four museums used the loans in their public programming, which in turn has boosted visitor figures. Three out of the four funded projects were part of larger-scale projects for their respective museum and had planned to evaluate both the LMD aspect and larger-scale activity plan together. Due to delays in their respective building works, these three museums are still conducting larger-scale evaluation on the impact the project, which has meant that they have not been able to collect as much data as they would have liked, or anticipated.
It is clear from the data that has been provided that the loans have contributed to a significant increase in overall visitor figures. It is also clear that the associated public programming has utilised the loans on display, and enabled a larger number of visitors to enjoy, interact and engage with the loans than previously possible. However, further data needs to be captured to measure how much more diverse the audience is visiting the loans. The information provided to LMD has predominantly been captured through evaluation forms from associated public programme activities, rather than through visitor feedback surveys. As such, LMD can state that from the information provided that the audience directly engaging with the loans is more diverse than before the project. LMD can also say the grant has started to have an impact on the overall audience profile of the respective museum, but LMD would expect this change to clearer as subsequent audience profiles and general visitor surveys are conducted over the coming years. Currently, LMD cannot say as a result of the grant the museums have significantly diversified its visitors, but as would be realistic of any organisation diversifying its audiences, the grant from LMD has ensured and contributed to initial changes on the respective museums journey to having a more diverse audience over the coming years.
All four museums cited that the project had given staff the skills and confidence to take on more loans in future, ensuring the legacy and impact of the project. As a result, all four museums have plans to take on future loans as part of their Exhibition Programmes and have begun conversations and applications, again ensuring both the legacy and impact of the funding beyond the end of this project.
All four museums were able to take on additional loans than they had originally planned to do. By becoming GIS compliant, this has meant that the museums have also been able to take on loans from National Museums, Major Partners Museums, other museums, organisations, private lenders, libraries as well as whole touring exhibitions, which none had expected to do so at the beginning of their projects. This has further enhanced their permanent and temporary exhibitions and added an additional layer of legacy to undertaking the project.
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All the museums also utilised the whole sector offer available from the Touring Exhibitions Group (TEG), which went alongside the Ready to Borrow grant. At least one member of staff from all 4 museums attended the Touring Exhibition Marketplace in April 2017 (one receiving a bursary to attend). Furthermore, a member of staff from Gunnersbury Park Museum and Islington Museum were successful in gaining spaces on the Preparing to Borrow Mentoring Programme. They received tailored support and advice from an experienced mentor to complement their larger Ready to Borrow grant and support them in understanding the process, the environmental and security conditions needed as well writing and submitting their Loan Request Form(s) and their GIS application.
Finally, all four museums have mentioned the importance of the Ready to Borrow grant in achieving the GIS standard and how much more resilient they believe their organisation is (in terms of environmental monitoring and security) and how it has enabled the museums to improve their long-term infrastructure and capacity to manage significant and strategic loans in London going forward. As such, the legacy of the grant will be assured for many years to come.
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