1 November 2010 Plus Tate, a major new national initiative for the visual arts involving Tate and 18 of the UK’s most dynamic arts institutions, was launched on 21 October at Tate Modern by Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. Joining together to exchange ideas, knowledge, skills and resources, as well as programmes and collections, the Plus Tate partners, along with and facilitated by Tate, will broaden and deepen engagement in modern and contemporary art across the country.
The full list of partners announced is as follows: Arnolfini, Bristol; BALTIC, Gateshead; Cornerhouse, Manchester; firstsite, Colchester; Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea; Grizedale Arts, Cumbria; The Hepworth Wakefield; Ikon, Birmingham; Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge; mima, Middlesbrough; Mostyn, Llandudno; Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange, Penzance; Nottingham Contemporary; The Pier Arts Centre, Orkney; Towner, Eastbourne; Turner Contemporary, Margate; WhitworthArtGallery, Manchester; and Wysing Arts Centre, Bourn (Cambridge).
The impact of the visual arts on cultural and socio-economic regeneration in the regions has been hugely significant in recent years. Building on the achievements of this sector requires imaginative new models of collaboration and entrepreneurial thinking.
During a pilot phase of the Plus Tate programme in 2009, then known as Tate Connects, several organisations in the network began to set new standards for sector responsibility through a cost-effective and resilient approach to running galleries and arts organisations, exploring together new ways of increasing generated income, setting up staff training and placement schemes, as well as sharing audience research and joint business models. The network has subsequently expanded and now 18 organisations are on board, plus Tate.
Culture Secretary, Jeremy Hunt said: “In a week where we achieved a good spending settlement for the arts, I am very pleased to be at Tate to launch Plus Tate. It is an outstanding example of initiative, creative thinking and collaboration. The partnership between Tate and these eighteen arts organisations up and down the country will bring huge public benefit, by pooling resources and inspiring people through art.”
Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate said: “The Plus Tate network is central to Tate’s vision. Working in partnership, collaborating closely with leading organisations that have high national and international profiles and strong links to their local communities, means we can support their further development and strengthen their hand by sharing with them Tate’s resources and Collection. At the same time, we can deepen our own experience by tapping into their particular expertise and inventiveness.”
Matthew Rowe, Artistic Director of Towner, said: “The partnership has enabled Towner to build strong relationships with both Tate and our peer galleries across the country – allowing us not only to benefit from our association with the national organisation and regularly bring items of the national collection to Sussex, but also to share our own experiences and strengths.
“Plus Tate is innovative in that it is a two way process of exchange between like-minded organisations, big and small, that share a commitment to artistic excellence and broad audiences for visual art. Illustrative of this is that Towner is working with Tate directly to help inform development of their visitor services, in recognition of the exceptional standards of customer care set at Towner since we opened last year."
