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Blog – University museums – beyond the exhibitions
Collections at university museums such as the Hunterian will share £3.6 million of funding announced today at the Glasgow School of Art by Shirley-Anne Somerville, Minister for Further Education, Higher Education and Science. The funding will be managed by the Scottish Funding Council.
University museums look after over two million items which account for around 18% of Scotland’s national collection. They include the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Collection at the Glasgow School of Art, a collection of musical instruments at the University of Edinburgh and a collection of historic scientific instruments at the University of St Andrews.
The announcement was made at the Glasgow School of Art (GSA) whose collections continually document the work of its students. The Minister was shown 20 pieces of new art which are about to be added to the collections. Commissioned as part of the 2018 Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art, they formed part of a vibrant public art display in the city’s East End. The Minister met two of the young artists who contributed to the display though workshops supported by Glasgow School of Art’s widening participation team.
John Kemp, interim chief executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said: “Scottish university museums are an important educational and cultural resource for the nation. This funding is a significant investment in the valuable work that goes on there and will also support the museums’ ambition for the future in areas such as digital technology.”
The Museums, Galleries and Collections grant is £1.2m for three academic years beginning 2018-19.
The universities that will share the grant are:
- Aberdeen.
- Dundee.
- Edinburgh.
- Glasgow.
- Glasgow School of Art.
- Heriot-Watt.
- Robert Gordon University.
- St Andrews.
- Stirling.
