User:Acte43/National Heritage Museums Action Movement

National Heritage - Museums Action Movement Founded 1971 - Registered Charity no.313057 http://nationalheritage.org.uk/

National Heritage is a charity supporting and encouraging museums and galleries in the UK. It also represents the interests of museum and gallery visitors and other users.

It is entirely run by volunteers, so every penny donated goes to support heritage, helping to engender good practice and improve visitor experience. An area which is currently in need of support is travel bursaries for heritage professionals and volunteers wishing to attend courses, seminars and conferences.

History: It is hard to imagine now, but in the late 1960s many museums and galleries were not the family-friendly, inspirational and welcoming places they are today. County councils were struggling to house people let alone art collections – industry was more inclined to sponsor sport than the arts – many exhibits were locked away in glass cases often too high for children to see, labelling was poor, exhibits were dusty and badly displayed, with many works of art being left to rot in dilapidated buildings.

John Letts who co-owned the Folio Society, was appalled how our heritage was being neglected. So he, and an army of like-minded people, formed National Heritage – the Museums Action Movement in 1971. They worked tirelessly to achieve their aim to make museums and galleries more accessible to users and visitors, and to encourage industry to sponsor the arts as it had done in the previous century. In an article by John Letts published by The Illustrated London News April 1973 issue, he set out National Heritage's aims and the poor state of some of our museums and galleries.

National Heritage quickly realised that an annual prize should be awarded and in 1973 the Museum of the Year was created, with The Illustrated London News as sponsor. The top museum receiving a cheque and the trophy, "Moon Head", which one of six porcelain sculptures by Henry Moore, 1964. Latterly the trophy was Elisabeth Frink’s "Easter Head" which had been commissioned by National Heritage as an award for the Museum of the Year Award in 1989 and was sold at Sotheby's London 3 December 2003 Lot 98

By 2003 there were a number of museum prizes and it was agreed at a meeting at the Museum of London that one prize should be awarded. James Bishop and Simon Tait were trustees, and the Gulbenkian Prize of £100,000 was created. It has now evolved into the Arts Fund Museum of the Year Prize. Complete list of Museum of the Year Award winners 1973-present can be found on the National Heritage website

About National Heritage Founders John Letts attracted the best minds in the business to National Heritage. On their website you will find tributes to just some of those who forged the charity’s beginnings:-

John Letts Lord Montagu of Beaulieu James Bishop Dennis Farr (and Independent obitury) Ray Sutcliffe Philip Taverner Kenneth Hudson

References First Museum of the Year Award shortlist - First Museum of the Year Award winner announced - James Bishop obituary John Letts obituary Elisabeth Frink's Easter Head sculpture sold http://www.remembering1916.co.uk/about.aspx?SubCatID=251 https://www.beaulieu.co.uk/edward-lord-montagu-in-memoriam/ , published Macmillan 1981, in it he mentions his role as chairman of the judges for National Heritage Museum of the Year Awards. , Stoke-on-Trent displays plaque commemorating their winning the National Heritage Museum of the Year Award in 1976, which was presented to a museum or gallery, large or small, anywhere in the UK, whose entry, in the opinion of the judges, best demonstrates a track record of imagination, innovation and excellence through work mainly undertaken during the previous calendar year. http://gladstonepotterymuseumstory.blogspot.com/p/awards.html Obituary of http://www.staitarts.com/2016/03/philip-taverner/

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