The weekly feature rounds up the latest updates in museum appointments, openings, funding and new exhibitions from across the UK.
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Appointments
The People’s History Museum in Manchester has announced Clare Barlow as its new Director. Barlow joins the museum from the Foundling Museum in London, where she served as Director of Programmes and Audiences.
Former Foundling Museum director to lead People’s History Museum
Poole Museum has appointed Jaine Fitzpatrick as its new Interim Director to guide it through the rest of the £10.3million pound redevelopment project, and reopening (detailed below).
The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Announce Appointment of Interim CEO, after Tim Cooke’s resignation earlier this year. Rachael North will become Interim CEO, having formally served as Director of Museum and Public Programmes, to provide a transition before Cooke leavesNovember. An open recruitment process to search for a permanent CEO will begin soon, said the trust, which cares for historic Shakespeare family homes in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon.
Bishop Auckland’s regeneration charity, the Auckland Project, which includes the Faith Museum, has appointed David Land as Interim CEO. Land’s appointment comes as Edward Perry steps down as CEO after two years.
Lycia Lobo, currently Commercial Director at English Heritage and Trading Board Chair at Queer Britain, is to join the Design Museum next year as Chief Operating Officer, Lob announced on LinkedIn.
The British Museum has announced new appointments to its Executive team with a Managing Director and Director of Finance.
British Museum appoints new Managing Director and Director of Finance
Openings & closures
Poole Museum is set to reopen summer 2025, its owner and operator Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) Council has announced. The museum consists of a Grade II listed Mill, Grade I listed medieval Wool Hall, and Grade I listed Scaplen’s Court and gardens, closed in 2022 to carry out a multimillion pound transformation funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund.
The National Slate Museum in Llanberis will close its doors until 2026 while it undergoes a redevelopment. The museum, at UNESCO World Heritage Site The Slate Landscape of Northwest Wales, will close on 4 November 2024. Its Grade 1 buildings will be conserved and renovated, and visitor experience will be improved with a new learning centre, play area, shop and café.
The Science Museum Group has publicly opened the Hawking Building, a facility in which more than 300,000 historic objects have been studied, digitised and moved.
Exhibitions
The National Portrait Gallery has revealed its programme of major exhibitions and partnerships for 2025. It begins with ‘The Face Magazine: Culture Shift’, which showcases fashion images and portraits from the influential youth culture magazine, The Face. Over 200 photographs by more than 80 photographers, including Sheila Rock, Stéphane Sednaoui, and Corinne Day, will be on display. The exhibition runs from 20 February 2025 – 18 May 2025. It will be followed by ‘Edvard Munch Portraits’, which showcase the artist’s portraiture, including works depicting family, friends, lovers, and numerous self-portraits. On display will be commissioned portraits and personal works, many of which serve as archetypes of the human condition. The exhibition runs from 13 March 2025 – 15 June 2025.
London’s Foundling Museum‘s next exhibition, ‘Self-Made: Reshaping Identities’ explores identity and self-determination through ceramics. Works by Rachel Kneebone, Matt J Smith, Renee So and Phoebe Collings-James will be on display, examining themes of cultural heritage, gender, and historical legacies. The exhibition runs from 15 November 2024 to 1 June 2025.
The Bath Society of Artists’ 119th Annual Open Exhibition is currently on display at Victoria Art Gallery, featuring nearly 400 works selected from a record 1,400 submissions. Highlights include a rainbow of 200 birds, a sculpted giraffe’s head, and a cat collage made from Tunnock’s teacake wrappers, alongside sculptures by invited artist Peter Randall-Page. The exhibition runs from 13 October 2024 to 11 January 2025.
The ‘Catching the Chain’ exhibition at St Albans Museum + Gallery explores the history and future of criminal justice, featuring a life-size modern prison recreation and artworks created by offenders and local artists. Objects on display include prison-inspired architectural models, paintings, charcoals, mosaics, and a song with accompanying animated video. The exhibition runs from 11 October 2024 – 25 April 2025.
The Everlyn Nicodemus exhibition at National Galleries Scotland: Modern One is set to showcase over 80 artworks spanning 40 years of the artist’s career, including drawings, collages, paintings, and textiles. Highlights include Nicodemus’s first painting “After the Birth” (1980) and the debut of her new series “Lazarus Jacaranda” (2022-24). The free ‘Everlyn Nicodemus’ exhibition runs from 19 October 2024 – 25 May 2025.
Funding
Eight projects by Association of Independent Museums members have received further funding as part of the AIM New Stories New Audiences grant funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Since its launch in 2021, has supported 43 small museum members to develop new interpretation and work with new partners. The recipients are Ledbury Places, Judges Lodgings Museum, Hundred Heroines, Sturminster Newton Heritage Trust, The Mixed Museum, Turners House, Englesea Brook Chapel and Museum of Primitive Methodism, and The Finlaggan Trust. More info.
