Funding for Recognised Collections announced

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Details of the latest cash awards for Recognised Collections of National Significance have been announced by Museums Galleries Scotland. Twelve museums will directly benefit from awards totalling almost £450,000. The cash will fund projects that improve the visitor experience to Scotland’s important collections.

The cash means that Dundee Heritage Trust can display previously unseen objects from their Jute collection at Verdant Works – bringing another dimension to the story they tell about Dundee’s historically important textile industries. They will also invest in audio guides for RRS Discovery – the ship built to take Captain Scott on his first expedition to Antarctica. The guide will help visitors explore and experience the ship in a completely new way, invoking an understanding of what life was like for those pioneering crews undertaking scientific expeditions to Antarctica.

Another award will enable Renfrewshire Council to create a new gallery space in Paisley Museum to display more items from their Paisley shawl collection. The collection includes a thousand 19th century women’s shawls, woven or printed with the characteristic tear-drop Paisley pattern. Paisley shawls were a hugely important local industry and a mainstay of European female fashion until the 1870s. The shawls are objects of great beauty and the collection is the best and broadest in the world.

The award to the National Robert Burns Collection Partnership will allow them to improve the Burns Scotland website to help it to become the definitive website for information on the great bard.

Cash for Dundee City Council will be invested in a custom made storage system for part of their superb fine art collection. The collection is very strong in its Dundee-related and wider Scottish content but also has an international dimension. Much of it was purchased by industrialists such as jute mill owners, who helped provide Dundee with such an important artistic legacy.

Managed by Museums Galleries Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government, the Recognition Scheme ensures Scotland’s most important collections are identified, cared for, protected and promoted to wider audiences.

Minister for Culture, Fiona Hyslop, said:
“Museums and galleries across Scotland play a vital role in supporting tourism, the economy and local communities. These nationally significant collections are a valuable resource, educating people from home and further afield about our past, present and future.
“This funding will help museums and galleries find new and innovative ways of telling their stories, developing excellence in these internationally important collections and improving the overall experience for visitors.”

Joanne Orr, CEO, Museums Galleries Scotland, said:
“We now have 37 Recognised Collections open to visitors across the country from Orkney to Dumfries and Galloway. These collections are varied and the vast array of objects they contain reflect centuries of effort to gather, preserve and interpret – from beautifully crafted objects from past ages to everyday items that were integral to the daily lives of our ancestors. The Recognised Collections all have an important story to tell us about the past, present and future of the nation. The funds we make available allow museums to care for their collections and find new and exciting ways to tell us their stories.”

Museums Galleries Scotland represent over 340 museums and galleries across Scotland, which welcomes 25 million visitors and provides £800 million in value to the Scottish economy.

To date, 37 collections have been Recognised as being of national significance to Scotland. All are eligible to apply for Recognition funding from Museums Galleries Scotland.

- ENDS –

Projects awarded Recognition funding support from Museums Galleries Scotland in this round are:

Almond Valley Heritage Trust £40,000
To create a study centre, allowing public access to many of the museum’s research resources, and enabling more volunteers and trainees to participate in the work of the museum and in particular their collection which relates to the Shale Oil industry in Scotland.

Auchindrain Trust £39,982
Auchindrain museum brings an original Highland township or farming village back to life. Visitors step back in time to witness how the local community lived, worked and played. Recognition funding will allow them to continue important conservation work.

National Robert Burns Collection Partnership £40,000
The project will enhance and update the BurnsScotland website, which showcases the nationally significant collection held by the National Burns Collection Partnership. The funding will allow for a broadening of the the range of information for visitors in a lively and user friendly way. The partners want to make BurnsScotland the definitive website about Robert Burns.

Dundee City Council £40,000
A custom made storage system for delicate decorative art items amongst Dundee City Council’s Recognised Collection ensures their long term preservation so that they are safe for future generations to enjoy. Efficient storage will allow museum staff to fully document the collections and make this information available online.

Dundee Heritage Trust £40,000
The cash will allow Dundee Heritage Trust to display previously unseen objects from their Jute collection at Verdant Works that will add another dimension to the story their collection tells us about Dundee’s historically important textile industries. The funds will also allow them to invest in audio guides for RRS Discovery and Discovery Point. Using the guides, visitors will explore and experience the ship in a completely new way – helping to conjure up images of what life was like for the crew on a scientific expedition to Antarctica.

Pier Arts Centre £13,372
Recognition funding will allow the Pier Arts Centre to temporarily employ somebody who will assist staff and in doing so help them to raise the standard of the experience they offer to visitors.

Renfrewshire Council £40,000
Renfrewshire Council will use Recognition funds to create a new gallery space in Paisley Museum. They will be able to display more items from their unique Paisley Shawl Collection that will augment visitors understanding of an industry that was hugely important for the region.

Scottish Maritime Museum Trust £40,000
The museum will create an environmentally-controlled storage area within the Linthouse Building to house design plans for vessels along with other maritime ephemera. Specialised racking will allow the museum to really maximise the available space. They will also create a new area for research and collections management.

Scottish Mining Museum Trust £36,780
The funds will allow the Museum to offer a multi-media experience to virtual and actual visitors of the Scottish Mining Museum. The project will draw on recently digitised photographic collections, oral history and film to add even more depth of interpretation for the collection. The project capitalises on new technologies and digital trends to deliver bespoke audiovisual experiences for under-10s, adult audiences and international visitors.

Scottish Railway Preservation Society £40,000
Recognition funding will increase public access to and knowledge of the collection through a new collections management system. Two additional curatorial assistants will work on transferring existing information on the collection and investigate further into the background of objects in the collection. Another new assistant means that the museum can extend their opening times to the public in 2011.

University of Aberdeen £40,000
Funding will allow the University to continue its development of on-line access to the University’s Herbarium and Zoology Museum. The funding means that the Herbarium’s British plants catalogue can be completed. Some of the most significant items in the Zoology Museum can now be documented to resulting in an online catalogue of the insects and arachnid collections.

University of Edinburgh £32,858
Funding will allow the University to improve the way in which they manage details about their wonderfully varied collection of historical musical instruments. Creating a new digital preservation archive will result in a single rich repository of information on the collection. Museum staff will be able to use this information to make important decisions about the sustainability and perform research into the Recognised Collection.

ENDS

For more information on the Recognition Scheme, including a list of the Recognised Collections, visit the Recognition pages on the Museums Galleries Scotland website

Press contact: Communications Manager

Published
1st Mar 2011

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