Kirklees Together

Our Museums and Galleries service will be awarded a significant level of investment from Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) programme, which will run over three years from 2023 to 2026.

Oakwell Hall Country Park, Bagshaw Museum, Tolson Museum, and Huddersfield Art Gallery, as well as the Kirklees Collection itself, will all benefit from the funding and inclusion in the NPO programme.

It will also connect with the development of the new Huddersfield Museum and Art Gallery in the town centre’s Cultural Heart.

What impact will the funding have on services?

The funding will support the team in focusing on increasing the range and scope of the museum and galleries service’s core activities.

Examples will include;

• Providing training opportunities for local young people
• The creation of community steering groups for specific projects
• An expanded school learning programme, including online resources and partnerships with local schools.

Councillor Shabir Pandor, Leader of Kirklees Council, said:

“We are delighted to have been awarded National Portfolio Organisation investment into Kirklees Museums and Galleries. This is the first time we have received this funding and we are excited to work in partnership with Arts Council England to deliver their ‘Let’s Create’ strategy, to ensure that the communities of Kirklees have access to inspiring cultural and heritage activity.

“This significant investment will target our core museum and gallery priorities of increasing learning offers to schools and adults, more opportunities for community participation in our activities, expanded digital activity and greater access to collections. We are proud to become a National Portfolio Organisation and play our important role in bringing the transformative benefits of culture to the people of Kirklees.”

Arts Council England Chief Executive, Darren Henley, said:

“Together, each of the 990 organisations that have been offered funding today will contribute to a portfolio that is rich, varied and truly national. This is our widest ever spread of investment across the country, ensuring that many more people will have access to a wider choice of exceptional art, culture and creative opportunities on their doorsteps. We are in tough times but we must remember creativity brings with it extraordinary dividends, boosting our country’s economic growth, creating jobs, bringing communities closer together, and making us happier as individuals. Everyone deserves to enjoy the benefits it brings, and with this investment, we believe we’ve taken a decisive step towards making that vision a reality.”

Kirklees has been designated an Arts Council Priority Place 2021-24, one of 54 places across England where cultural investment and engagement has been low, and a Levelling Up for Culture Place 2022-26, one of 100 places outside London that will be the focus for ACE engagement and investment.

What will this investment do for museums and galleries?

This investment strengthens the long-term resilience of Kirklees Museums and Galleries’ sites and collections and comes at an exciting time for culture in Kirklees with the forthcoming publication over the course of 2023 by the council of three new strategies focusing on heritage, tourism, and culture.

There will be an opportunity to learn more about these strategies at an event in Huddersfield, “Culture is Ordinary – a cultural symposium” on 11 November, which will bring together local cultural organisations, sector representatives and members of the community to begin the process of creating a cultural strategy for Kirklees.

Further ambitions for heritage and culture in Kirklees are demonstrated by Huddersfield’s Cultural Heart project, and Blueprints for its town centres, which all feature investment into the built heritage and cultural facilities.