The Collections Care Audit grant scheme is run by AIM in partnership with Icon and is generously funded by the Pilgrim Trust. The grants enable small museums to undertake a basic but professional collections care audit. Audits are intended to help museum staff identify key collection care issues and priorities and are undertaken by an Icon accredited conservator (ACR).
The aims of the scheme are to:
- Support museums to care for their collections more effectively and efficiently in the long-term.
- Support museums to meet the standards required for museum accreditation status.
Icon accredited conservators welcome the opportunity to work with such varied collections and in a close manner with museum teams.
‘Certainly, the institutions seem to be very happy with the results, and I am delighted to be involved in such a popular and successful scheme.’ Victoria Stevens ACR
‘They have such interesting collections and quite a few problems so it would be a great opportunity to pull together this information with the support of an AIM grant.’ Helen Lindsay ACR
The recipients in this round of awards are:
Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum – The majority of objects in the collections at Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum are items that were in the building when it was acquired in 1968. In addition, there are a small number of objects that have been donated over the intervening years. The collections have never been assessed by a conservator so this grant will be an important step towards their ongoing care.
Frenchay Village Museum – The grant will support the continued preservation of the historic collection of fine art, books, letters, porcelain, archaeological artefacts and local history objects for the enjoyment and education of the community.
Andrew Logan Museum of Sculpture – The museum holds a unique collection of artworks often made of combinations of relatively modern materials in a single piece. They also have a variety of accessioned works including t-shirts, drawings, catalogues, posters, sculptures, and jewellery. While undertaking collection packing for storage during a recent visitor improvements project the team became increasingly concerned about a number of objects – particularly those made of wood (Earth thrones and portrait, Singing Tree) and a large Fire Portrait (1995). This added to existing concerns about an outdoor fibreglass RED ROSE (1974) and so the museum is keen to initiate a full Collections Audit.
St Andrews Museum – Set in a stunning Victorian mansion nestled in the grounds of Kilnburn Park, the St Andrews Museum explores the heritage of this university town and from its medieval past to the flourishing present.
Cresswell Craggs Museum and Heritage Centre – The Trust holds a collection of nearly 100,000 objects. Many of these objects are the bones of small mammals found during excavations at Pin Hole Cave in the 1980s. Other objects include flint stone tools and bones of large mammals found during earlier excavations in other caves at Creswell Crags.
Collections Care Audits grants are £1,100 plus travel and VAT (if applicable) which will cover the cost of a fully accredited conservator undertaking a three-day audit. The Collections Care Audits grants are a good starting point to support a future application to the Collections Care or Remedial Conservation schemes if a museum has not previously had a professional conservation advice.
Details of the other Conservation Grants and Collections Care Grants awarded in this round of funding can be found on the AIM website.
Photo credit - Woodbridge Tide Mill Museum
