Round 2 - Sharing Museum Skills Millennium Awards Grants Announced

The Museums & Galleries Commission (MGC) has announced seven more
successful awards from round two of the Sharing Museum Skills Millennium
Awards scheme.  The scheme enables both paid and volunteer staff in
UK museums and galleries to undertake placements with other museums and
heritage organisations in the UK.  The aim of the scheme is to benefit
communities by improving the public experience of museums, art galleries
and
heritage institutions.  The Sharing Museum Skills Millennium Awards
scheme is funded by the Millennium Commission.

        Alison Hulse, the first secondee to complete her project under
the scheme commented:  "The Sharing Museum Skills placement was for all
parties a valuable learning experience and a success.  My professional
development during the programme was immense as I had the opportunity to
develop new skills, try out ideas and discuss issues with a variety of
people.  I would encourage any individual or organisation to take
advantage of this scheme."

Rosalyn Clancey, Assistant to the Deputy Director, National Museums of
Scotland, will be seconded to the Registrar's Department, Victoria &
Albert Museum, London.  Rosalyn will assist with the organisation of
touring and international exhibitions and will study the operation of
centralised procedures in this field.  She represents the first
successful applicant from Scotland under the nationwide scheme.  Rosalyn
has been awarded £2,701 and will begin her secondment in the latter half
of 1999.

Elizabeth Harvey, Assistant Curator, Burton Art Gallery & Museum, Devon,
will be seconded to The Tate Gallery, St Ives to work with staff and
members of the local community to assist in the preparation,
administration and evaluation of their education programme.  Elizabeth
has been awarded £2,201 and starts in May. 

Susan Jessop, Arts Education Officer, Hampshire County Museums Service,
will be seconded to The Tate Gallery of Modern Art (Bankside), London.
The secondment will include researching, supporting and developing a
project with the contemporary artist, Mark Dion, who is working with the
Tate Gallery at Millbank and at Bankside, and community groups in the
Southwark area.  Susan has been awarded £2,332 and will begin in June.

Moira Concannon, Audio-Visual Officer, Ulster Museum, will be on
secondment to the Liverpool Museum, part of The National Museums &
Galleries on Merseyside.  Moira will work on the creation of a
computer-based information point on the ecology of Liverpool Bay and the
Irish Sea which will be housed in the re-developed aquarium at the
Liverpool Museum.  She will be the first successful applicant from
Northern Ireland under the nationwide scheme.  Moira has been awarded
£3,705 and her secondment will take place between November 1999 and
February 2000.

Sally Dummer, Registrar, Ipswich Borough Museums & Galleries, will be
seconded to the British Museum, London, to join the COMPASS* project
team and undertake research into the commercial value of digital
resources and producing an estimate of the revenue potential which can
be generated.  She will then apply this experience to Ipswich Museums
Service. Sally has been awarded £3,178 and starts the secondment between
May and June.

Daniel Sandford, Natural History Conservation Assistant, Ipswich Museum,
will be seconded to the Entomology Department, the Natural History
Museum, London.  Daniel will assist with the re-display of the British
Coleoptera collection and their cataloguing.  Daniel has been awarded
£2,100 and will start at the Natural History Museum in May. 

Sherry Doyal, Conservator, Exeter City Museums & Art Gallery, will be
seconded to Maidstone Museum & Art Gallery to undertake remedial storage
work and local in-situ conservation of the internationally important
bark cloth collections at Maidstone Museum.  Sherry will be assisted in
this process by conservation students on placement.  Sherry has been
awarded £3,632 and starts in October.

        The Sharing Museum Skills Millennium Awards scheme draws upon
the experience and skills of national and non-national museums and their
staff throughout the UK.  It provides benefits to both parties and helps
develop links between the UK's museums and galleries.  The next deadline
for applications is 10 May 1999, with quarterly deadlines until the
conclusion of the scheme in May 2001.  Grants will normally be in the
region of £2,000-£4,000.  They are available to cover travel and
subsistence costs, additional equipment or materials, and a contribution
towards the employment of temporary staff during the secondee's absence.
A partnership contribution of at least 20 per cent of the grant
requested will be required for each application.  This will normally be
in the form of in-kind support by the host museum. 

More information about the Sharing Museum Skills Millennium Awards can
be found on the internet at www.smsma.org.uk or contact the Millennium
Awards Administrator, Annie Hollobone on 0171 233 4200.  The MGC's new
website can be found at www.museums.gov.uk where the current object of
the week has been chosen by tv presenter Zoe Ball.

The Sharing Museum Skills Millennium Awards Scheme is funded by the
Millennium Commission, which awarded a grant of £1.1 million to a
consortium comprising: The Museums & Galleries Commission; the Museums
Association; the Association of Independent Museums; the Committee of
Area Museum Councils and the National Museum Directors' Conference.  The
Millennium Commission is one of the six good causes supported by the
National Lottery.

*COMPASS is the British Museum's public multimedia system for the
Millennium.  Specially prepared to appeal to a wide public, it will give
access to records for 5,000 objects, and related 'Encyclopaedia'
information. It will be accessible through 60+ on-site terminals, and
the Web. COMPASS will demonstrate just what can be done with the latest
technologies, and highlights the effort needed to create suitable
content for public use.

Annie Hollobone
Millennium Awards Administrator
Sharing Museum Skills
16 Queen Anne's Gate
London SW1H 9AA

e-mail:[log in to unmask]
Tel: 0171-233 4200
Fax: 0171-233 3686

Web: www.smsma.org.uk