Four arts and cultural organisations in the Midlands funded by Arts Council England have been awarded accolades at this year’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.
Four arts and cultural organisations in the Midlands funded by Arts Council England have been awarded accolades at this year’s VisitEngland Awards for Excellence.
Arts organisations, museums and cultural events play a huge role in attracting tourists to England and each year at least £856 million of spending by tourists visiting the UK can be attributed directly to arts and culture.
At this year’s Visit England Awards for Excellence, the rich cultural scene in the Midlands was celebrated as the Galleries of Justice museum in Nottingham, Elemental Force in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, Ironbridge Gorge Museum in Shropshire, and Curve Theatre in Leicester, all walked away with awards commending the contribution they make to the country’s tourism sector.
Peter Knott, Area Director, Arts Council England, said: “We’re really lucky in the Midlands to have so many fantastic cultural organisations and events based here. To be awarded a VisitEngland award for excellence is a real acknowledgment of quality and I would like to offer my congratulations to the Galleries of Justice, Elemental Force, Ironbridge Gorge and Curve. These organisations and events play an important part in Britain’s visitor economy, as well as giving local residents in Nottingham, Derby, Shropshire and Leicester access to great artistic and cultural experiences.”
Galleries of Justice – Gold in the Small Visitor Attraction of the Year category
The Galleries of Justice Museum is housed in Nottingham’s old courthouse and gaol. Tourists visiting the museum can explore the country’s history of crime and punishment from the rise of Robin Hood to the fall of Victorian England’s most notorious criminal, Charlie Peace. Earlier this year the Egalitarian Trust which runs the museum received more than £100,000 from Arts Council England to develop the museum's education programme for young people in the local area, giving them the opportunity to create and co-curate new interpretive materials using creative and digital technologies.
Elemental Force - Bronze in the Tourism Event of the Year category
Elemental Force was a spectacular series of outdoor events held in 2013 celebrating the cultural heritage of Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. Funded by investment from Arts Council England, the enormous audio-visual displays featured pyrotechnics, film animation and acrobatics, telling the history of Nottingham Castle, Derby Silk Mill and Chatsworth House in a unique way.
Ironbridge Gorge Museums Trust – Highly Commended in the Large Visitor Attraction of the Year
Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is one of Arts Council England’s major partner museums. Set in one of only seven World Heritage Sites in the UK, the Trust’s 10 museums attract over 545,000 visitors a year. Together, these sites tell the story of the area’s industrial and manufacturing heritage, from a living Victorian town at Blistshill to a hands on science and technology centre at Enginuity
Curve Theatre – Highly Commended in the Access for All Tourism Award
Opened in 2008, Curve is based in Leicester’s cultural quarter in a striking contemporary building. It produces and stages world-class theatre and is one of Arts Council England’s National portfolio organisations. Supporting the Arts Council’s aim to give everyone access to great artistic experiences, Curve’s performances can be signed and captioned, there are tactile torch tours of the stage available and both the main theatre and studio are accessible for wheelchair users.
Find out more
For more information about how Arts Council England works in partnership with VisitEngland to invest in and develop cultural tourism across the country, click here.
To see which other cultural organisations, heritage sites and events won VisitEngland awards, click here.