The lure of the new
November 2 2011
Arts Council England announced their new £440m spending plans today. The headlines have sounded bad: 'Arts Council to halt new galleries'. But in fact, the decision to not fund new capital projects, but to concentrate on supporting existing strategies and institutions, is good news.
Too often, museums are lured by the thrill of a huge new extension, and succesfully raise millions to build it (with the bulk of funding usually coming from the Lottery). But amid the excitement, these museums sometimes ignore their existing collections and infrastructure.
A classic example is the British Museum, which recently hoped to build a new wing, but still cannot afford to keep all its galleries open all the time. And today I went to Birmingham, where I visited its fine Museum & Art Gallery. The Museum is building a new £10m gallery on the history of Birmingham. But meanwhile its decent collection of old masters sweats in hot rooms cooled only by portable fans and temporary humidifiers. I was uncomfortably hot just looking at a Bellini Madonna on panel - I dread to think how the picture felt.
Invariably, these new extensions end up costing more money than expected, and can sometimes act as a drain on future resources. For while it may be relatively easy to raise money for the shiny new building, the extra running costs are another matter. So in these times of austerity, it may well be better not to over-reach, and put much needed funds back into existing collections.
