Image: Photography exhibition in Open © Rob Battersby
Art Fund’s Going Places programme will see 20 organisations collaborate to create 40 unique exhibitions over five years, with significant community involvement.
A new £5.36m exhibition programme will see 20 museums and galleries across all four nations sharing their collections.
Art Fund’s Going Places programme will see the museums collaborate to create 40 unique exhibitions over five years, with significant community involvement.
It said the project is the largest collaborative touring project of its kind, and has been supported by landmark grants with £2.86m from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and £1.5m from the Julia Rausing Trust.
The museums will invite local communities hand-picking artworks and objects to feature in touring exhibitions, and will collaborate with contemporary artists and craftspeople to co-create new works inspired by local histories and landscapes.
Personal items and collections will also be contributed for display in exhibitions, with community members sharing their own stories and interpretations.
Going Places builds on Art Fund’s commitment to helping museums and galleries work together to share their collections with communities through innovative and sustainable approaches to exhibition-making.
Projects include Green Spaces Shared Places, which sees Arlington Court and the National Trust Carriage Museum, Dales Countryside Museum, Sunderland Culture and The National Memorial Arboretum collaborate to explore the positive impact that the outdoors can have on health. Their first exhibition will open at The National Memorial Arboretum in May 2026.
The Long Distance Connections project will see a collaboration between Museums Worcestershire, OnFife, Penlee House Gallery & Museum. It will begin by exploring the stories of women artists represented across each of their collections, with works from all three museums brought together in dialogue to create new narratives. The first exhibition will open at Penlee House Gallery & Museum in May 2026.
‘New Faces New Focus’ sees Aberdeenshire Council, Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council, and Open Eye Gallery use socially engaged practice to connect newly formed and isolated communities with their heritage collections. Exploring the theme of journeys – from migration and exile to the milestones, traditions and celebrations of journeys through life. Their first exhibition will open at Open Eye Gallery in September 2026.
‘Founding the Future’ is a collaboration between The Bowes Museum, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Watts Gallery will uncover new stories and narratives, exploring how their museums, all founded by couples with a passion for art, culture and collecting have relevance to their communities today. Their first exhibition will open at Watts Gallery in October 2026.
The Four Lanterns project will be a collaboration between Blackwell – The Arts & Crafts house, Dovecot Studios, Tŷ Pawb, William Morris Gallery. It will take the Arts and Crafts movement as a starting point to consider the politics, social values, and new possibilities emerging around contemporary forms of manufacturing, connecting crafts, contemporary makers and communities. Their first exhibition will open at William Morris Gallery in October 2026.
‘Communities of Making’ will see CofGâr – Carmarthenshire Museums & Arts Service, High Life Highland – Highland Folk Museum and Inverness Museum & Art Gallery, and the Irish Linen Centre & Lisburn Museum explore the evolution of local heritage and traditions of making – such as Irish linen, Scottish wool and Welsh basketry – through objects from their collections including textiles, heritage machinery and paintings. Their first exhibition will open at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery in April 2027.
