Winners of the Collections Trust Awards Revealed at OpenCulture Reception

Three prestigious awards for excellence in collections management were awarded at theOpenCulture 2013 conference reception at the Kia Oval on Tuesday 2 July. From a high-quality longlist the winners of the Collections Trust Awards 2013 were:

• Collections Practice Award: Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery
• Participatory Practice Award: Beaney House of Art & Knowledge
• Collections on a Budget Award: East Grinstead Museum

The winners were (left to right): Mitch Robertson and Joanna Jones of Beaney House of Art & Knowledge for the Participatory Practice Award; Claire Gulliver and Julien Parsons of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum for the Collections Practice Award; Sheila Fennings, Chris Seager and Sarah Corn of East Grinstead Museum for the Collections on a Budget Award; and Laura de Caro, University of Leicester, M.A. Museum Studies, winner of the Collections Trust’s Prize Dissertation 2012 Award.

The winning entry from the Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery focused on its review of collections, which marked “the most important year in RAMM’s history since it opened in 1868”. The judges said: “Isn’t this how all museums should work” and “A really inspiring project”.

The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge’s nomination was for The Paper Apothecary, a life-size and fully-functioning apothecary shop created by Animate Arts Company and made entirely out of paper and card. The judges said: “Well thought out, beautifully designed, and a flash of the future” and “High in immediate and demonstrable impact and innovative in its approach”.

East Grinstead Museum’s entry was titled Digital Preservation Made Easy and it aimed to make digital copies of all images in the museum’s collection available for visitors to view and enjoy. The judges said “A great project that will make a lasting difference to this small but well-run museum” and “The way volunteers have been managed and rewarded is very impressive”.

This year’s judging panel was chaired by the Collection Trust’s CEO Nick Poole and comprised: Fiona Talbott, Head of Museums, Libraries and Archives at the Heritage Lottery Fund; Nancy Groves, Editor of the Guardian Culture Professionals Network; Scott Furlong, Director, Acquisitions, Exports, Loans and Collections Unit at Arts Council England; and Nick Stanhope, CEO of Historypin’s parent organisation We Are What We Do.

The OpenCulture 2013 evening reception was attended by more than 150 guests, and during it the Collections Trust’s Prize Dissertation 2012 Award was also presented to Laura de Caro, the University of Leicester, M.A. Museum Studies.

Detailed nominations and background information about the Collections Trust Awards are available on the Collections Link website at www.collectionslink.org.uk/ct-awards. The CT Awards 2013 long list was:

• Collections Practice Award: Edinburgh Libraries and Information, Lanhydrock House (National Trust); and the Royal Albert Memorial Museum
• Participatory Practice Award: Luton Culture; Glasgow Museums; Beaney House of Art & Knowledge; and Orleans House
• Collections on a Budget Award: The Royal Fusiliers Museum; East Grinstead Museum; and Preston Park Museum