'Easily forgotten’: Scarborough Museums boss calls for coastal art organisations to receive funding and attention from new council

Andrew Clay, the chief executive of Scarborough Museums and Galleries Trust, has said that the organisation recently launched a five-year business plan to expand its space and displays.

Mr Clay told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that limited space was “an issue that almost every gallery and museum has to grapple with, trying to maximise the exposure of the permanent collection with the space that you have”.

He added that April’s local government reorganisation, which saw Scarborough Council replaced with a county-wide North Yorkshire Council, could bring benefits in terms of greater cooperation with other galleries, such as in Harrogate.

However, he said the reorganisation also brought challenges and he emphasised the need for Scarborough to “overcome physical and geographical barriers” to maintain its voice and funding for cultural activities as part of the new authority.

It comes as a Freedom of Information (FoI) request revealed last week that less than four per cent of more than 1,500 council-owned artworks in Scarborough are on display to the public.

North Yorkshire Council owns the facilities run by the Museums Trust, including Scarborough Art Gallery, the Rotunda Museum, and the Woodend Gallery and Studios.

The highest number of artworks on display to the public is at the Art Gallery with 40 items on display, while there are eight at Woodend, with another 13 available to view “by appointment”, and just five at the Rotunda.

The FoI request revealed that in addition to works on display to the public, there are also 42 artworks on display at Scarborough Town Hall.

Mr Clay, who took over as chief executive of the Museums Trust in 2018, said that the Art Gallery’s “massive” basement had recently become available for it to use and would in time give it “a third extra” of space for displays in the building.

Mr Clay commented that the basement space “isn’t suitable for visits” at the moment but funding was being sought as part of a recently launched business plan “which is looking at redeveloping the Art Gallery”

He said that he wanted to “throw out of the window” the idea that galleries “should be treated like churches because galleries aren’t temples, they are community spaces and hubs where we want as many people to feel as comfortable and safe as possible.”

The chief executive, who has lived in Scarborough for the past 16 years, admitted that the Museums Trust should improve its marketing of displays and events with better use of social media.

He said that the Trust was also working towards attracting a wider demographic of visitors through outreach events and schemes that give young people from disadvantaged backgrounds opportunities to interact with and have an impact on the Art Gallery and its displays.

Mr Clay said that although the Museum Trust’s facilities are owned by North Yorkshire Council the collection “belongs to the people and the ratepayers… and we need to be involving community groups.”