Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums

Charity Details

Full Name: Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums
Field: Arts, Culture and Heritage
Founded: 1986
Headquarters: Newcastle, NE1 4JA

History and Activities

Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums (TWAM) is a major regional museum, art gallery and archives service, managing nine museums and galleries across Tyneside and the archives for Tyne & Wear. It is a rare example of a collectively-funded consortium based professional service overseen by a strategic board comprised of funding partner representatives. The funding partners remain the ultimate owners of the premises and collections TWAM manages and develops. Newcastle City Council owns the Discovery Museum (founded 1934) and the Laing Art Gallery (founded 1901), Gateshead Council owns the Shipley Art Gallery (founded 1915), North Tyneside Council owns the Segedunum Roman Fort, Baths and Museum (founded 2000) and the Stephenson Railway Museum (founded 1986), South Tyneside Council owns the Arbeia Roman Fort and Museum (founded 1953) and the South Shields Museum and Art Gallery (founded 1876), and Newcastle University owns the Great North Museum – Hancock (founded 1829) and the Hatton Gallery (founded 1926). Five local councils own the Tyne & Wear Archives (founded 1974) based at the Discovery Museum.

The museums, galleries and archives managed by TWAM contain collections of fine art, decorative art, artefacts and documents of international significance, covering a long swathe of history from before the Roman Invasion of Britain down to the present in its economic, social, cultural, political, technological and scientific dimensions. Many of these collections and the buildings that house them were the product of philanthropy, of which the Great North Museum – Hancock, the Laing Art Gallery, and the Shipley Art Gallery are prime examples. The pattern here and elsewhere is collections to be augmented and new collections created through the philanthropy of successive generations of donors. Across the board, TWAM conserves, displays or makes accessible 45,653 works of art, 226,831 archaeological finds, 7,112 ethnographic items, 206,718 historical objects, 643,890 natural history specimens, and 1,582 cubic metres of archives. This is a formidable undertaking and responsibility. In archaeology, for example, TWAM is responsible for much of the record of frontier life in Roman Britain, and its archives contain the record of firms at the very heart of the nineteenth-century revolution in engineering.

Museums and galleries have played and continue to play a vital role in the present day economy and society of the North East, helping “people determine their place in the world and define their identities, so enhancing their self-respect and their respect for others.” Education, pleasure in discovery, recognition of possibility, celebration of achievement and empathy with the past are at the heart of good curatorial practice. In this, TWAM can take pride in its many achievements. It has spearheaded campaigns that have raised many millions of pound from philanthropic sources to renovate its premises, revitalize its displays and improve its premises. In consequence, its visitor numbers have increased year on year to reach 1,336,296 in 2016/17, many of whom are school children (161,898) taking part in organized educational activities. The Great North Museum, the Discovery Museum and the Laing Art Gallery with 35%, 28% and 15% of total visitor numbers respectively remain the choice destinations within the TWAM portfolio.

The strong visitor numbers enjoyed by TWAM are a reflection of the many innovative exhibitions and events it offers. In 2017/18 alone, carefully researched and compellingly presented exhibitions took place at the Hatton Gallery (Pioneers of Pop), the Great North Museum (Mithras: Roman Religion from Thames to Tyne), the Discovery Museum (Charge! The Story of England’s Northern Cavalry), and South Shields Museum and Art Gallery (L.S. Lowry), alongside commemorative exhibitions marking the visits of Muhammad Ali to South Shields in 1977 and Dr Martin Luther King to Newcastle in 1967. The expertise TWAM in museum and gallery management has been recognized through its appointment by Arts Council England as a Sector Support Organization responsible for development activities across the North East, and its designation by the Arts Council as Culture Bridge North East to connect “cultural organisations and the education sector so children and young people can have access to great arts and excellent cultural opportunities.”

Philanthropy is not only important for funding TWAM capital projects, but it is also a source of operational support and funding for new acquisitions. In 2016/17, TWAM’s philanthropic income amounted £1,830,847 out of a total income of £10,869,698. To help with fundraising, TWAM created its own development trust (charity number 1137867) in 2010.

Vital Statistics (year to 31/03/2018)

Website
https://twmuseums.org.uk

References