New contemporary art could be finding its way to the Harris Museum after they secured funding.
AdvertisementThe Harris along with the Peter Scott Gallery have won £30,000 to put towards buying up new art.
Testing Media is a fund for 65 museums who take part in the Contemporary Art Society’s Acquistion Scheme.
Alex Walker, Head of Arts and Heritage, Preston City Council said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with the Peter Scott Gallery and to have the support of CAS and The Art Fund on this project. It’s vital that we acquire contemporary work to ensure that our collections reflect the developments in art taking place now so that they tell the story of contemporary art for our visitors of the future.”
The funding will enable the Harris and partners to put on displays of contemporary art and develop in this area.
Lucy Bayley, Museum Acquisitions & Public Programmes Manager at the Contemporary Art Society, said: “We’re thrilled to be working closely with the Art Fund on this new purchasing scheme.
“The winning proposals, developed by the curators at New Walk Museum & Art Gallery and Peter Scott Gallery in partnership with the Harris Museum & Art Gallery, are exciting opportunities to place these museums at the centre of research into collecting new or challenging artwork – work that has often been missed out of public collections. We look forward to seeing how these two ambitious projects develop.”
Sarah Philp, Head of Programmes at the Art Fund, said: “The quality of the proposals submitted to Testing Media was fantastic, and it is extremely exciting that the museums selected have decided to focus on collecting performance art, a particularly fertile and challenging area of current artistic practice. We are looking forward to working closely with the Contemporary Art Society and the selected museums, and cannot wait to see how their projects develop.”