Art Fund Collect 2010
For the third year running, independent charity The Art Fund in partnership with the Crafts Council is calling upon curators to apply to Art Fund Collect - a competitive challenge giving selected curators the opportunity to acquire an ambitious new piece of contemporary craft for their museum or gallery.
From today, 16 December 2009, curators from accredited museums and galleries across the UK are invited to apply to participate in Art Fund Collect, which takes place on the preview day of the Craft Council’s international fair Collect, held at London’s Saatchi Gallery from 14 to 17 May 2010. Applications close on 19 February 2010.
Selected by an expert judging panel, short-listed curators will be granted VIP access to Collect on Thursday 13 May, before the private view which happens later that day and a day before doors open to the public. Against the clock, participants will have just one hour to select a work they wish to purchase for their public collection. Each piece will then be inspected by the judging panel who will then select final winners. Chosen works will be announced on the day and purchased outright for each winning institution.
Art Fund Collect was set up in 2008 by The Art Fund, the UK’s leading independent art charity and the Crafts Council, whose goal is to make the UK the best place to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft.
Art Fund Collect widens the scope of international contemporary craft in the UK, challenging curators to seek out bold and original works that will expand their craft collections in new directions. The judging panel is keen to see applications which embrace the international remit of Collect, which this year will be representing galleries from 13 countries worldwide.
This year, The Art Fund has allocated £75,000 in total towards Art Fund Collect.
Andrew Macdonald, Acting Director of The Art Fund, said: “Over the past two years, Art Fund Collect has enhanced public collections with some really exciting works by makers at the top of their field; from cutting-edge Japanese glassware to intricate gold jewellery and bold ceramics. We look forward to receiving a new round of applications for Art Fund Collect 2010 and to see what craft treasures are acquired for the nation.”
Rosy Greenlees, Executive Director of the Crafts Council, said: “We are delighted to be working with The Art Fund for a third year on Art Fund Collect. This partnership has already enabled museums and galleries across the UK to acquire major works for their collections through the scheme in 2008 and 2009, and for 2010, we hope that curators will be even more bold, ambitious and international in their choices at Collect.”
In 2009, 23 institutions applied to participate in Art Fund Collect. Ten were short- listed and the final winners, announced on 15 May, were Aberdeen Art Gallery; Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales; Bilston Craft Gallery, Wolverhampton; mima, Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art and the V&A.
Art Fund Collect takes place on 13 May 2010, the preview day of Collect. Now in its seventh year, Collect will take place from 14 – 17 May 2010 at the Saatchi Gallery, Duke of York’s HQ, King’s Road, London, SW3 4SQ.
For more information visit Art Fund Collect
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Notes to Editors
• The Crafts Council’s goal is to make the UK the best place to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft.
We believe that craft plays a dynamic and vigorous role in the UK’s social, economic and cultural life.
We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to make, see, collect and learn about craft.
We believe that the strength of craft lies in its use of traditional and contemporary techniques, ideas and materials to make extraordinary new work.
We believe that the future of craft lies in nurturing talent; children and young people must be able to learn about craft at school and have access to excellent teaching throughout their education.
• 11% of the UK population visited a craft exhibition in 20089/09, and 17% participated in craft activity in the same year (DCMS/ACE Taking Part data update August 2009).
• More than 2.8 million visits were made to the Crafts Council website in 2009. To find out everything you need to know about where to make, see, collect and learn about contemporary craft visit www.craftscouncil.org.uk
• The Crafts Council is supported by Arts Council England. Arts Council England works to get great art to everyone by championing, developing and investing in artistic experiences that enrich people’s lives. As the national development agency for the arts, it supports a range of artistic activities from theatre to music, literature to dance, photography to digital art, and carnival to crafts. Between 2008 and 2011, Arts Council England will invest £1.3 billion of public money from government and a further £0.3 billion from the National Lottery to create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.
