Southampton City Art Gallery awarded Arts Council England funding to digitise its collection

Southampton City Art Gallery has successfully secured a £26,000 National Lottery project grant to digitise a major part of the art collection in partnership with Southampton Solent University

28/10/2024

"Farewell Farewell One Kiss and I'll Descend", Sir Frank Dicksee © Southampton City Art Gallery The project is being supported using public funding by Arts Council England, through its Unlocking Collections campaign within National Lottery Project Grants, set out to enable museums to develop their collections-based work and increase public engagement with their collections.

Southampton City Art Gallery has an internationally renowned fine art collection spanning eight centuries, which is designated as nationally significant. While most of the oil paintings and sculpture have been digitised in collaboration with Art UK, the works on paper, numbering around 1,500, remain an untapped resource. Due to their light-sensitive nature, they cannot be frequently displayed, and there is currently no public catalogue or detailed listing. The project will digitise around 1,000 of these artworks, making them available to audiences online.

Building on the Gallery’s long-standing relationship with Southampton Solent University, two paid student interns from the University’s Department of Art and Music will be recruited to work on the project, providing hands-on experience and involving them in making the collections more accessible online, as part of the University’s work-ready approach to learning and teaching. The digitisation programme is set to begin in early 2025 and be completed by early 2026, aligning with the refurbishment of the Gallery, which is now underway.

During the refurbishment, the digitised images will be used to maintain the gallery’s visibility and engage audiences, which will include virtual exhibitions on the Gallery’s website, the Art UK website, and a social media campaign.

Councillor Fielker, Leader, Southampton City Council, says:

"We’re thrilled to have been awarded this grant from Arts Council England, on top of the £2.23m investment supporting the refurbishment of the Art Gallery from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport’s Museum Estate and Development Fund. Culture is fundamental to shaping our vision of this wonderful city, and we need to keep investing in our nationally important cultural assets to increase public access. Accessing the arts and heritage can improve our health if we have diagnosed mental or physical health problems, but is also good for our health and wellbeing more generally, and for the health of our communities and society. We are delighted to be working in partnership with Solent University who share our ambitions, to provide new opportunities for students to grow their talent and gain unique experiences in Southampton."

Southampton Solent University’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor James Knowles, says:

"Art has a profound impact on communities, and projects like this one are essential in ensuring everyone has access to public art. I am therefore delighted that Solent is partnering with Southampton City Art Gallery to bring art to our communities and give our students meaningful work experience which reinforces their connection to the city and its history."

Phil Gibby, South West Area Director for Arts Council England, says:

"Thanks to National Lottery players, we are able to invest in Southampton City Art Gallery's journey towards a fully accessible public collection. We know museums and galleries provide a vital space for the public to discover the past, engage with the present, and imagine new possibilities for the future. The same is true online and once digitized, each work will be preserved for both local and international audiences to enjoy. It’s great to also see two talent development opportunities coming soon to Southampton’s sector – a place of strategic importance to Arts Council England."