Side Gallery which had temporarily closed last year and was under threat of permanent closure (see here) having lost its Arts Council National Portfolio status and funding has provided an update of its position. In 2023 is secured over £50,000 as part of a Crowdfunding exercsie and it has just been awarded a £236,000 grant by The heritage Fund which 'secures our building for the next year, which will allow us to host pop-up exhibitions and do comprehensive cataloguing.'
Side's statement sent to those who had supported its Crowdfunder says:
When we last emailed you in March we had several exciting updates to share about the collection, however, the future of Side Gallery was still uncertain…
We had one final funding application under review, which if not won would mean the permanent closure of the Side Gallery.
I am pleased to announce that we have been awarded a £236,000 grant by The Heritage Fund thanks to National Lottery players.
This grant secures our building for the next year, which will allow us to host pop-up exhibitions and do comprehensive cataloguing.
But this grant isn’t just about the gallery, it’s much bigger.
This means exploring new partnerships and ensuring we are more connected to working photographers and the North East arts community.
This grant will enable us to run a 12-month project that includes:
- Expanding our team (new roles to be announced soon)
- Business & Resilience Development
- Creating new exhibitions representing many viewpoints, nurturing an inclusive culture
- Exploring new ways to collaborate with new artists, audiences and lifelong supporters.
- A comprehensive, publicly accessible catalogue of the AmberSide Collection
The grant puts us on the path to reopening the gallery, but we not going back to business as usual; instead, we are forging a new direction that is mindful of our original principles.
We have a long way to go, but we would not have made it this far without you
Your donation to #SaveSide allowed us to protect the collection and gallery space and spend time creating the highest-quality funding applications.
Thanks to you and the 2,000 others who care deeply about telling North Eash stories we #SavedSide.
We’ll share updates and stories from the project along the way, and can’t wait to see what this next chapter brings for the collection and photography in the North East.
All the best,
Laura Laffler
Amber Film & Photography Collective
See: https://www.amber-online.com/side-gallery/
Comments
Good news overall... but more staff?
I think that there's more work to do on long term sustainability but the grant will help deliver that.