Sharing art with local communities: Open Eye Gallery will be a partner in a new collaborative touring programme
More people will experience inspiring art on their doorsteps through new projects supported by Art Fund.
Open Eye Gallery, together with 22 other arts and heritage organisations, is taking part in the development phase of Art Fund’s Going Places – a UK-wide programme that will engage underrepresented audiences with museum collections through collaborative touring exhibitions.
Seven networks have been established to develop plans for two touring exhibitions over five years. Local communities will be involved in shaping exhibition themes and outreach programming and will bring their voices to each display by reinterpreting collections to tell new stories. If Art Fund is successful with a subsequent delivery phase application to The National Lottery Heritage Fund, and with further fundraising, the networks will go on to produce their exhibitions with audiences across the country from 2025 to 2030.
Full list of development phase partners and networks
New Faces New Focus
- Aberdeenshire Museums Service
- Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council (FE McWilliam Gallery; Armagh County Museum; The Market Place Theatre & Arts Centre)
- Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool
Founding the Future
- Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth
- Watts Gallery – Artists’ Village, Guildford
- The Bowes Museum, County Durham
Communities of Making
- Carmarthenshire Museums
- Inverness Museum & Art Gallery
- Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum
Four Lanterns
- Blackwell – The Arts & Crafts house (Lakeland Arts), Windermere
- Dovecot Studios, Edinburgh
- Tŷ Pawb, Wrexham
- William Morris Gallery, London
The Journeys We Take
- Hartlepool Art Gallery
- The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery (University of Leeds)
- Wolverhampton Art Gallery
Green Spaces, Shared Places
- Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum, Exmoor
- Dales Countryside Museum, Yorkshire
- Sunderland Culture
- The National Memorial Arboretum (NMA), Staffordshire
Long Distance Connections (Female Artists)
- Museums Worcestershire
- Penlee House Gallery & Museum, Penzance
- OnFife
Jenny Waldman, director, Art Fund, said: “We’re delighted to help museums and galleries work together to share their collections with local communities across the UK through innovative and sustainable approaches to exhibition-making. Through the Weston Loan Programme with Art Fund and Going Places, there will be more opportunities than ever for people to enjoy exceptional art on their doorsteps.”
Sarah Fisher, director, Open Eye Gallery, said: “This is an amazing opportunity for Open Eye Gallery to develop our partnerships and think about how we connect to communities and ensure that communities are at the heart of everything we do.”
Going Places builds on the recommendations of the 2022 research report Going Places: Touring and shared exhibitions in the UK, commissioned by Art Fund and Creative Scotland, which revealed that touring and shared exhibition partnerships are a key way to meet the audience demand for high-quality, accessible exhibitions. The development of Going Places is made possible with support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and additional support from Esmée Fairbairn Foundation.
