Lakeland Arts has been awarded £80,000 so it can explore ways of connecting Abbot Hall’s collections to the community.
It has been given the cash by the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, run by the Museums Association.
It will be used for a two-year project that rethinks collaborative working practices at the Kendal art gallery.
The funding will support a new civic engagement curator post at Lakeland Arts, a freelance and volunteer collective and new
programme activity.
Rhian Harris, chief executive Lakeland Arts, said: “We are putting the collection and how people can engage with and be inspired by it, at the heart of our programming strategy.
“We reopened Abbot Hall earlier this year with a takeover exhibition by British land artist Julie Brook, launching our new creative vision which focuses on themes of landscape, ecology, and identity.
“This grant will enable Lakeland Arts to unlock the potential for transformative change, using Abbot Hall as the catalyst to fuel a new approach to developing the exciting cultural offer in the region.”
Lakeland Arts plans to work with communities from Kendal and across Westmorland and Furness. Work will centre upon Abbot Hall’s nationally significant art collection, one of the largest of its kind in the North, including landscape paintings by JMW Turner and John Ruskin and a strong Modern British
collection.
Helen Stalker, head of curatorial Lakeland Arts, added: “By enabling greater connection to artworks through new and radical exhibition, interpretation and audience engagement strategies we will use our collection to inspire, inform and connect more deeply with different people of all ages and backgrounds.
“The new curator will work with our existing team at Lakeland Arts and develop a collective of artists, practitioners, researchers, schools and interested people in the local area to shape our programme of activity, with the aim of making our gallery a vibrant community hub.”
