ACE replicates arts funding model for museums

For the first time major grants to regional museums are set to be awarded via an open application process, assessed against published criteria, in a similar way to the National Portfolio funding process for arts organisations run by Arts Council England (ACE) earlier this year. ACE has a total budget of around £46m a year for its new responsibilities for museums and libraries, with £43m of this set aside for Renaissance in the Regions. £20m a year is earmarked for the new Renaissance major grants programme. This replaces the scheme used by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council, whose roll will end on 1 October. ACE hopes that by opening up the funding application process, a new mix of museums across the country will find support through the Renaissance programme. As happened in the arts sector, museums that have had a long-term funding relationship with Renaissance whose applications are not successful will be offered transitional funding to support them through this change. Coinciding with the funding announcement, ACE has published ‘Culture, knowledge and understanding: great museums and libraries for everyone’, the companion document to ‘Achieving great art for everyone’, its 10-year plan for the arts. The new document reveals how ACE plans to fit museums and libraries into this framework and announces the programmes it will run for the next three years, while it considers longer-term directions, when strategies for museums, libraries and the arts are likely to be fully integrated.