Compton Verney has been awarded £36,000 from the DCMS / Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund.

The money is for the redisplay of its Folk Art collection, which is one of the largest and most important collections of this genre in the UK.

The award winning, national art gallery in Warwickshire, based in a Grade I-listed Georgian mansion and set in 120 acres of Grade II-listed Lancelot 'Capability' Brown parkland, applied for the grant in order to help it accommodate the growing popularity of Folk Art,
Dr Steven Parissien, Director of Compton Verney, says “We want to capitalise on the ever increasing popular awareness of this wonderfully rich and accessible genre which bridges the gap between amateur and professional, arts and crafts. The starting point of our plans is to create a more resonant and accessible installation of our collection.

He explained “This grant will help us renovate our Folk Art galleries, providing us with the capacity to rotate and re-display the collection it in order to attract new and serve repeat audiences, increasing our ability to contribute to new understanding and knowledge. We will also now have increased facilities for young people to enjoy and experience the collection with the creation of a brand new ‘Learning Space.”

“This is wonderful support and a great start, but we will also need to raise further funds for construction and design. We’d also like to work with an artist and have an outreach consultation with communities reflected in the collection - military families, small business owners and rural families.”

The award has dedicated in the memory of the long serving DCMS / Wolfson Museums and Galleries Improvement Fund independent panel member Giles Waterfield, who sadly died in Nov 2016.

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