Rebecca Atkinson

2 weeks ago | museumsassociation.org | Rebecca Atkinson

Arts Council England (ACE) has announced details of a new £20m fund aimed at English civic museums looking to safeguard community access to their collections and invest in upgrading their services. The Museum Renewal Fund follows the announcement from the culture secretary last month of the £270m Arts Everywhere Fund, which aims to deliver on the government’s Plan for Change to boost economic growth and increase opportunities for people across the country.

3 weeks ago | museumsassociation.org | Rebecca Atkinson

A Henry Gibbs painting that has been in the Tate’s collection for 31 years is to be returned to the descendants of the Jewish art dealer Samuel Hartveld, whose Antwerp gallery was looted by the Nazis in 1942. Aeneas and his Family Fleeing Burning Troy (1654) was one of 66 artworks stolen from a gallery owned by Hartveld on 26 March 83 years ago.

3 weeks ago | museumsassociation.org | Rebecca Atkinson

Teens living in England’s most deprived local authorities are less likely to study expressive arts subjects at schools than their counterparts in the least deprived areas – and are also less likely to experience creative and cultural extracurricular opportunities.

3 weeks ago | museumsassociation.org | Rebecca Atkinson

The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) is to close one of its largest permanent galleries next month ahead of a major redevelopment supported by Burberry. The Fashion Gallery will close on 4 May and is scheduled to reopen in spring 2027 as the Burberry Gallery. Sponsored by the luxury fashion brand, the redesigned space will display the V&A’s extensive fashion collection, which includes rare 17th century gowns, 18th-century ‘mantua’ dresses, 1930s eveningwear, 1960s daywear and post-war couture.

3 weeks ago | theguardian.com | Rebecca Atkinson

When I was growing up, I was obsessed with watching TV. I would rush home after school and wake up early on weekends, just to soak up the magic of storytelling on screen. But as a child with partial deafness, I could only catch about 70% of the dialogue; the rest was guesswork. Like being in a foreign country, winging it with limited vocab, not having full access is tiring and everything is tinged with a sense of alienation. One day in the early 80s my parents brought home a new TV set.