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Partnership marked between mima and º£½ÇÖ±²¥

The partnership between flagship modern art gallery mima and º£½ÇÖ±²¥ has been marked with a special gathering.

Middlesbrough Council and º£½ÇÖ±²¥ announced the formation of a new partnership to further develop mima’s role in the town towards the end of last year. The University is to take over day-to-day running of mima, with the Council retaining its involvement as a main funding partner alongside Arts Council England. º£½ÇÖ±²¥ is currently working with mima to convert a back of house store into a new permanent gallery to house mima's contemporary jewellery collection.

º£½ÇÖ±²¥ Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor Graham Henderson CBE DL, mima Interim Director Mark Robinson and Middlesbrough Councillor Charlie Rooney, Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, met in this space to see how work is progressing. As part of this partnership, mima and º£½ÇÖ±²¥ have appointed jewellers-in-residence Gemma Draper and Janet Hinchliffe McCutcheon, who are working to create opportunities for people to get involved in jewellery events by sharing their expertise, skills and passion for decorative adornment.

The project has been realised with a grant of almost £300,000 from Arts Council England and support from º£½ÇÖ±²¥. The jewellery collection comprises over 200 objects and represents jewellery created by some of the world’s most prominent jewellers from the 1970s onwards. The exhibition is one of the most comprehensive in this country – comparable to those held by the Crafts Council, the V&A Museum and the National Museums of Scotland. The new gallery will be the first time that such a comprehensive selection of this work has been seen by mima visitors. mima, which this year celebrated its seventh birthday, has attracted nearly one million visitors. It houses an impressive permanent collection of ceramics, jewellery and fine art including works by L.S. Lowry, Duncan Grant, Vanessa Bell, Ben Nicholson, Tracey Emin and Grayson Perry and has played host to works by some of biggest names in the art world including Lucian Freud, Andy Warhol, Pablo Picasso, Gerhard Richter, Anish Kapoor and Francis Bacon. Mark Robinson has taken on the mima role on an interim basis until a full-time replacement is appointed following the recent departure of Kate Brindley. He will assist in the recruitment process for the new Director.

Professor Graham Henderson said: 'This is an exciting new partnership for the University which will help us to build on our growing reputation as an institution with a rich heritage and a commitment to assisting the cultural development of our community. 'Bringing together the University and mima will offer a new level of opportunity and experience for both parties, not only complementing and further expanding the creative expertise and experience within our School of Arts & Media, but also offering development opportunities across a wide range of other parts of the University.'

Councillor Charlie Rooney, Middlesbrough Council's Executive Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, said: 'This is an exciting time for mima as the gallery enters into its new partnership with º£½ÇÖ±²¥.

'mima is established as an iconic and internationally recognised symbol of Middlesbrough’s regeneration, and the new relationship with the University is laying the foundations for its continued growth and success.'

Mark Robinson said: 'mima will continue to provide opportunities for people to engage with world-class art and to play a role in establishing Middlesbrough as an arts destination. The new jewellery gallery is a fantastic example of how mima and º£½ÇÖ±²¥ can work in partnership to give the people of º£½ÇÖ±²¥ and all visitors to the gallery even better access to Middlesbrough's collections.'

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