the esmee fairburn collections fund from the museums association

Sally Crosssally@museumsassociation.org020 7426 6933

Museums AssociationIndependently funded, and the oldest museums association in the world.

5,200 individual members, 600 institutional members and 250 corporate members.

Mission: To enhance the value of museums to society by sharing knowledge, developing skills, inspiring innovation, and providing leadership.

CollectionsA policy priority since the Collections for the Future enquiry began in 2004.

“Too many museum collections are underused - not displayed, published, used for research or even understood by the institutions that care for them.”

“disposal is not risk free, but neither is unthinking retention.”

“A stronger emphasis on collections is not just compatible with increasing access and learning in museums: it is vital to it.”

Effective CollectionsA £1m programme supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation to make better use of collections, principally through increased long-term loans of stored material and a more active approach to disposal.

•Upwards of 40 projects with museums•Find an Object•Smarter Loans•Disposal

Collections KnowledgeWhat we know about collections is as important as the objects themselves – knowledge about collections is the key to unlocking their potential and to making them accessible to as wide an audience as possible.

•Monument Fellowships•Monument Toolkit•Sharing Collections Knowledge research•Participation in the Sharing Expertise Group

Has practice changed?Do museums think differently about their collections? Do they have different expectations?Do they use collections more? Or in new ways?

In groups, spend a few minutes talking about whether practice has changed at your museum in the last 5-10 years. What examples can you think of? Have hearts changed, or minds – or neither?

Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund

Developed from:

•Effective Collections, 2006-12•Museum and Heritage Collections strand, 2008-10

At a glance:

• £800,000 per year, for three years

• Two application deadlines per year: 30 Oct

• £20,000-£100,000 over (at the most) three years

• Improved understanding of collections; appreciation of the potential of collections; and/or use of collections

• While almost any work on collections is eligible, the fund will be oversubscribed and therefore competitive

• Selection panel made up of six individuals: 3 EFF, 3 MA and sector

Writing the application:

• Meet as many criteria as you can

• Be concise

• The best projects are really part of the organisation

• Being developmental: a challenge for larger museums

• Developing projects and legacy through the collections network

• Partnership

• The budget: salaries, equipment, overheads and capital costs