Skills Day: Co-acquisitions, a case study

Speakers to include:-
Eva González-Sancho Director of Frac Bourgogne,
Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan, Artists,
Kate Parsons Head of Collection Management at Tate; Chair, UK Registrar’s Group

Addressing the issues of joint purchase between two or more institutions from a range of perspectives: In 2004 artists Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan were commissioned by the National Collecting Scheme for Scotland to make a work that is now jointly owned by six museums in Scotland. The most ambitious example of a national scheme are the FRAC collections in France, each institution has its own approach, Eva González-Sancho (Director of Frac Bourgogne), will give us an overview of the system. For the first time a national collection has been shared and shown simultaneously across the UK; ARTIST ROOMS is jointly owned and managed by National Galleries of Scotland and Tate on behalf of the nation. Kate Parsons (Head of Collection Management at Tate), will discuss the project.

Case studies from a range of national projects and initiatives (from National Network members) including the Imperial War Museum, Tate, Wolverhampton Art Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, the Potteries, Stoke on Trent. This will be a practical day to discuss the advantages, the contracts and the financial, legal and ethical considerations, including an update on the Contemporary Art Society's current Acquisition Scheme for Craft, The New Story for Craft: A plan to purchase 8 to 10 works for twenty nine collections.

FREE to National Network members
£30 for non members
To book please contact nationalprogrammes@contemporaryartsociety.org or call 0207831 3221


Timetable for the day:

10.30 – 11.00
Tea, coffee and arrivals

11.00 – 11.05
Kathleen Palmer (Imperial War Museum), Head of Art
Welcome to the Imperial War Museum

11.05-11:20
Lucy Byatt (Contemporary Art Society, Head of National Programmes)
Introduction to the day followed by an update on the Contemporary Art Society’s current Acquisition Scheme for Craft

11.20 – 11.50
Joanne Tatham and Tom O’Sullivan, Artists
In 2004 Joanne Tatham & Tom O'Sullivan were invited by the Contemporary Art Society and the six museums of the National Collecting Scheme for Scotland to produce an ambitious new work that would challenge and expand their approaches to collecting contemporary art. The resulting commission "Rhetoric Works & Vanity Works & Other Works" (2006), took the form of an event, with the artists choosing to produce and present a collection of objects at Newhailes, an 18th Century house near Edinburgh. Joanne and Tom will talk about this work and their response to the commission brief, as well as the process of working with the Contemporary Art Society and NCSS.

11.50 – 12.20
Eva González-Sancho, Director of FRAC Bourgogne
The Regional Fund for Contemporary Art in France (or FRAC’s), are cultural institutions existing in each French region to promote contemporary art. Supported by funds from regional councils and the state through the Ministry of Culture., in 2007, FRAC had acquired since their inception 23,000 works by 4,000 artists. Eva González-Sancho, will discuss the main mission points of the scheme: to constitute a heritage of contemporary art in the region and support the creation by the combined acquisition and commissioning of works of art (each region may decide to specialize in a particular category of contemporary art); disseminate widely the fund established on the regional territory by developing partnerships regularly and educate the public on broader approaches to contemporary art.

12.20 – 12.45
Kate Parsons, Head of Collection Management, Tate
ARTIST ROOMS is a collection of international contemporary art which has been created through one of the largest and most imaginative gifts of art ever made to museums in Britain. The gift was made by Anthony d'Offay in 2008, with the assistance of the National Heritage Memorial Fund, The Art Fund and the Scottish and British Governments. ARTIST ROOMS is jointly owned and managed by National Galleries of Scotland and Tate on behalf of the nation. Kate Parsons will talk about the experience of jointly acquiring this collection and sharing overall responsibility and governance for the registrarial, legal and practical aspects of lending and caring for works in the ARTIST ROOMS collection.

12.45 – 1.00
Questions

1.00– 2.00
Lunch
Lunch is not provided, but the café at the Imperial War Museum provides a good range of food

2.00 – 3.00
Breakaway Groups
Join one of three breakaway group sessions about strategic partnerships, common themes and contracts.

Session 1.
Amanda Draper, Keeper of Art, Harris Museum and Art Gallery
Focusing on the portrait of British engineer and inventor Sir Richard Arkwright by renowned portraitist Joseph Wright of Derb, co-acquired between the Harris Museum and the National Portrait Gallery, this session will focus on developing strategic partnerships between organisations and will look at the benefits of partnering with national institutions.

Session 2.
Sara Bevan, Curator, Imperial War Museum and Marguerite Nugent, Head of Curatorial Services, Wolverhampton Art Gallery
Identifying common themes that institutions have within their collections strategies - Wolverhampton Art Gallery and The Imperial War Museum will speak about the joint purchase of Buried, Willie Docherty.

Session 3.
Jean Milton, Collections Officer, The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery and Kate Parsons
Looking at how contracts are drawn up in relation to complicated acquisitions. Kate Parsons from Tate will talk about Tate’s varying models of joint-ownership agreements and how they affect management of the artworks involved, while Jean Milton will talk about the co- acquisition of the The Staffordshire Hoard with Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

3.00 – 3.30
Break

3.30 – 4.00
Feedback
Each breakaway group leader presents discussion points from their session.

Image: courtesy the artist; Alexander and Bonin, New York; and Matt's Gallery, London
Photographer: Joerg Lohse