Art Fund award for museum and art gallery

Collections at Buxton Museum and Art Gallery are set to get a boost after an Art Fund grant of £40,000.

It will be invested in the museum's collection of paintings and artefacts relating to Derbyshire in the 18th and 19th centuries. 

Staff at the museum, will research and buy works that reflect developments in the Derwent Valley Mills World Heritage Site, tourist hotspots like Dovedale, Castleton, Wingfield Manor and Bolsover Castle.

Mike Ashworth, our strategic director of economy, transport and communities, said:

"This is fantastic news for Derbyshire. Buxton Museum and Art Gallery will be in a position to enhance its collection, reflecting important developments over the history of Derbyshire, its people and how they lived their lives in this landscape.

"This is a very exciting time for the museum."

The Art Fund is a charity that helps museums improve their collections by developing curators' skills and buying artefacts. The windfall is one of only six granted under the New Collecting Award − a competitive round of funding. 

The museum and art gallery, in Terrace Road, has a track record of improving its collections and their display. The museum's Collections in the Landscape project, funded by a £869,100 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund, is redeveloping the main gallery and building online access to its collections for people to use at home and out in the countryside on smartphones, tablets and other devices. 

Wonders of the Peak − Pocket Wonder, can used to create tours of the Peak District to discover more about the landscape. The website links what is on display at the museum with places of interest in the Peak.

Further funding has been secured from Arts Council England and the Wolfson Foundation, alongside £330,000 of our funds, to be used towards the programme.

A grand opening of the redeveloped museum will be planned later in the year.

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