£36,000 Arts Council grant to fund Museum of St Albans’ legacy
A top artist is creating a series of artworks reflecting the Museum of St Albans’ history and evolution following a £36,000 award from Arts Council England (ACE).
Over the next few years, Lyndall Phelps, as artist-in-residence, will produce works that document the Museum of St Albans’ origins, collections and future changes.
This will include a legacy piece for the new museum and art gallery when it opens at the Town Hall in 2017. There will also be a series of events engaging with the community.
There are plans for the current museum to close in September so that the Hatfield Road site can be redeveloped into housing to fund the new museum.
Staff and volunteers are currently packing up museum exhibits to go into storage until they are required for display at the new museum.
Lyndall is working alongside the team, using the experience to provide inspiration for an installation that will go on display in the empty museum later this year. The artwork will be immersed within the remaining display cabinets and interpretation boards and act as a window on the past, echoing items that have been removed. Lyndall will also exhibit documents and objects from the Museum’s archive and off-site store that relate to St Albans’ past. At the same time, the installation will help generate anticipation and excitement about the museum’s future move to a new home in the centre of St Albans.
The Cambridgeshire-based artist is also working with museum staff on a programme of community engagement events to provide access to the museum collections during the transition period. One of the events will include a public artwork created by Lyndall in collaboration with a local community group that will go on display in Easter 2017.
The project has been developed by the Museum of St Albans in association with UH Arts, the University of Hertfordshire’s public arts’ programme. Lyndall’s residency is being funded by ACE’s Lottery-funded programme for individuals, arts organisations and other people who use the arts in their work.
Cllr Annie Brewster, Portfolio Holder for Sport, Leisure and Heritage, St Albans City and District Council, said: “This wonderful grant from Arts Council England will fund an artist to help keep the spirit of the Museum of St Albans alive during the development of our new museum and art gallery in the heart of the City. Both the exhibition and the exciting new artwork being created will pay homage to the origins of the Hatfield Road museum.”
Hedley Swain, Area Director, South East, Arts Council England, said: “We are delighted to support the Museum of St Albans’ legacy art project through our Grants for the arts programme. It will be exciting to see how Lyndall’s work ensures that the Museum’s wonderful treasures remain visible and accessible to the public whilst it is closed for relocation to a new building.”
Councillor contact:
Cllr Annie Brewster, Portfolio Holder for Sport, Leisure and Heritage, St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 01438 832255
Contact for the media:
Amanda Wilkinson,
Senior Communications Officer
St Albans City and District Council
Tel: 01727 819317
E-mail: amanda.wilkinson@stalbans.gov.uk
www.stalbans.gov.uk
Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/StAlbansCouncil
Notes:
1. Work is underway to raise funds to transform St Albans’ grade II* listed Town Hall, in St Peter’s Street into a new museum and art gallery. This will provide a new home for the Museum of St Albans. St Albans City and District Council is working with St Albans Museums and Galleries Trust and the University of Hertfordshire Galleries on the project. The St Albans Museums and Galleries Trust is leading the ‘renaissance: St Albans’ public fundraising campaign for the project. More information about the campaign is available on the website: www.renaissancestalbans.org.uk.
2. St Albans City and District Council’s museums’ service runs Verulamium Museum in St Michael’s Street and the Museum of St Albans at the St Peter’s Street end of Hatfield Road. It also manages the medieval clock tower in the High Street, a field archaeology unit and associated excavations. For more information, please visit the museums’ website at:
www.stalbansmuseums.org.uk or call 01727 751810.
3. University of Hertfordshire Arts supports the cultural life of the University and its wider community and encompasses a contemporary visual arts programme, a classical and contemporary record label (link content no longer available due to external page no longer existing) the University's resident classical orchestra, and management of the University's art collection. UH Galleries, at Hatfield and within the Museum of St Albans, are amongst the most innovative contemporary art spaces in the UK and give artists space to experiment and develop new ideas. More information is available at: www.herts.ac.uk/artsandgalleries.
4. Information about the Arts Council England’s grants programme is available online.
5. Lyndall Phelps specialises in art projects involving history, flora, fauna, the military, flight, horticulture, architecture, the decorative arts and women’s craft.
Photo above: Museum of St Albans, Hatfield Road