Can Britain's museums and galleries save the high street?

Before the pandemic hit, more than half the population visited a museum every year
PA
Jenny Waldman13 October 2020
WEST END FINAL

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

The £200,000 Art Fund Museum of the Year prize, announced last night, is a reminder of the extraordinary impact museums have on communities in Britain – from revitalising a village in the far-flung Scottish Highlands to providing thousands of children and young people in South London with an arts education for over a century.

Before the pandemic hit, more than half the population visited a museum every year – to find inspiration and joy, for solace and to de-stress, to learn and be together. Although many museums have gradually reopened since July, attendance figures have been a fraction, in some cases only 10%, of pre-COVID times. Social distancing measures, the decimation of international tourism, and reduced local visitors have meant fewer people through the doors. And as many museums are charities raising a large proportion of their funding themselves, small audience numbers mean enormous loss of income.

With the PM’s guidance to work from home, footfall on our high streets is also way down. But visiting museums can help. Arts Council England recently published a report revealing that 75% of buildings used by arts organisations are either on or within a 5-minute walk of a high street. Culture is embedded in the high street, supporting local economies and community cohesion.

Jenny Waldman

A remarkable 55% of the population in England live within walking distance of at least one museum – and more than that in London, which has more museums per person than anywhere else in the UK. Not only will getting people back through museums’ doors enrich our lives and help solve their financial woes, it’s a surprisingly easy and effective way to bring our empty high streets back to life.

In this extraordinary year Art Fund has increased the world’s largest museum prize by 40% to be shared between five museums. Two of the winners are located in London – the Science Museum and South London Gallery. They show us just how important museums are: deeply rooted within local communities; major attractions for visitors to our city; stimulators of creativity and the knowledge economy, and agents of international soft power. With a wealth of opportunities for young people, diverse communities and artists, and extraordinary collections to explore, London’s museums make us confident as a city and a nation.

Jenny Waldman is Director of Art Fund.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in