LEP backing for major Lake District arts project
An ambitious multi-venue arts project in the Lake District has won support from the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership in its bid to secure a share of a £15m Government fund aimed at showcasing the north of England.
The £3.29m World Heritage Lake District proposal will now go forward as the Cumbria LEP submission to the Northern Cultural Regeneration Fund, where it will face competition from other schemes across the region.
Bid leaders Lakeland Arts and the Wordsworth Trust have proposed a package of investment at the Windermere Jetty, Dove Cottage and the Wordsworth Museum, Grasmere, and Kendal’s Abbot Hall Art Gallery and Museum.
These include:
• Windermere Jetty will create a new museum on Windermere’s shores, including the creation of a permanent exhibition; a temporary exhibition space, a project space for artist commissions, residencies and community projects in the Old Fire Station in the grounds; and an outdoor learning and play area
• Reimagining Wordsworth will transform the visitor experience of the historic Wordsworth Museum, which holds the largest collection of Wordsworth’s letters and manuscripts anywhere in the world. It will create a new gallery increasing space for exhibitions; and a learning centre;
• Abbot Hall, home to one of the region’s most significant visual arts collections, will undergo refurbishment across its main galleries
Cumbria LEP director Graham Haywood said: “We assessed several submissions from within the county before deciding that the World Heritage Lake District project had the potential to make a significant impact in terms of arts, culture and attracting visitors to Cumbria.
“Delivering the WHLD programme of major capital investment will secure a series of important collections that are emblematic of the Lake District’s World Heritage status and identity – and central to the artistic, creative and industrial history of the North of England.
“For those reasons, the assessment panel believed that the bid could stand up against proposals from the 10 other LEPs across the north and agreed that Cumbria LEP should assist organisers in developing the full business case that has today been submitted to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.”
In a joint statement, Gordon Watson, chief executive of Lakeland Arts, and Michael McGregor, The Robert Woof director of the Wordsworth Trust, said: “We are delighted to have the full support of Cumbria LEP for World Heritage Lake District and this application to the Norther Cultural Regeneration Fund.
“The transformational project celebrates Cumbria as an internationally significant cultural landscape, and builds on the announcement of the English Lake District as the UK’s newest UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2017.
“The project will bring significant benefits to Cumbria’s communities and boost cultural tourism. It will create a step-change in the quality and impact of culture in the region and we are excited about how the capital developments in the project will greatly increase learning and engagement opportunities and participation in cultural activities, as well as developing skills and creating new permanent jobs.”
