Museum of the Year award – part 1

The Art Fund awarded the William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow the accolade Museum of the Year award this April. Funnily enough Inspiring Collections reviewed the Gallery back in November last year. The redeveloped museum definitely deserves the accolade with its imaginative use of displays and engaging collections, as well as being aesthetically pleasing.

Inside the William Morris Gallery

However I also understand the secret of its success is to appeal to its core audience effectively. When I mean core audience I include funders as well as typical visitors. The museum is largely funded by the London Borough of Waltham Forest, which will be pushing a strong learning and access agenda. The other key funder is of course the Heritage Lottery Fund who will be echoing the local authority priorities as well as supporting the care and promotion of an important collection and building. Pleasing your key funders can sometime lead to a virtious cycle of success, although its easy for museums to fall from grace.

My next post will be looking at another Museum of the Year nominee the Horniman Museum & Gardens.