Chief Executive’s Report
Introduction
2005-2006 has been an exciting year for York Museums Trust. One of the major events of this year was the reopening of the York Art Gallery, after a period of refurbishment, in April 2005. We also launched the very successful Ice Age exhibition at Yorkshire Museum as well as the first site specific contemporary art commission in York St Mary’s.
During the year we prepared for the major international loan exhibition Constantine the Great – York’s Roman Emperor which was opened by HRH The Princess Royal in March 2006. The organisation of this exhibition was greatly helped by the association we have with the British Museum through the UK Partnership and the sponsorship support from Shepherd Building Group.
Our Constantine Press launch in London, November 2005
During this year we also prepared for the Kirkgate project at the York Castle Museum which reinterpreted and re-presented the Victorian Street in an imaginative evocation of the lives of the people who had lived and worked in the trades and shops during the late 19th Century.
The ambitious programme of exhibitions and displays was only made possible through the additional funding we were able to attract. In all, the investment in the museums and galleries amounted to £494,000 over the year.
During the four years the Trust has been in existence, we have secured £3.2 million from a range of trusts and foundations, Government funding and business sponsorship. Key to our development has been the Heritage Lottery Fund and the Arts Council Yorkshire who have been very supportive of the Trust. We are also very fortunate that the City of York Council supports the Trust with revenue funding of £1.4million per annum which gives us stability and sustainability. The City of York Council’s support enables us to plan developments in the long term and also gives confidence to other funders that the museums are considered a valued part of the city’s life and that any investment will build on a sound foundation of support.
Our Constantine Press launch in York, November 2005.
As one of five partners of the Yorkshire Hub, the Trust is one of the regional museums services supported by the Government’s initiative Renaissance in the Regions programme. This scheme has radically changed the museum sector in the regions and has enabled us to develop an exciting schools programme. Working with the five partners across the region, the Trust now has a dedicated learning team who are delivering a comprehensive service to schools. We have also worked hard to improve the care of the collections including documentation and storage and this has been recognised by the Trust being awarded Accreditation in the first round of the new standard on museum performance which is managed by Museums Libraries and Archives Council.
One of the Trust's key objectives is to increase the number of visitors to all of the sites in our care. During the year from April 2002 to March 2003 the total number of visitors was 395,000. Since then we have seen an upward trend with 426,000 visitors in 2003-04. However last year saw numbers drop back to 358,000 with the closure of York Art Gallery for refurbishment. For 2005-6 we set ourselves a target of 450,000. The actual total was 465,000 visitors.
None of our success would have been possible without help from the City of York Council and all the other organisations and individuals we have worked with during the year. We are very grateful to everyone with whom we have had contact. The network created by the activities of the Trusts staff is necessarily complex and widespread and we actively look for, and encourage, partnerships and collaborative projects.
All in all 2005-6 has been a great year for the Trust. I would particularly like to thank Robin Guthrie, our Chairman, and the Trustees for their continuing support and congratulate all my colleagues on the success of the Trust. It is their skill, knowledge and enthusiasm that has been the motor behind the success of the Trust and enabled us to achieved so much in such a short time. I would also like to thank all of our visitors for their time and interest and of course their money which has enabled us to improve these wonderful institutions that are in our care.
Janet Barnes - Chief Executive
York Museums Trust, September 2006