LONDON.- Last week, Art Fund, the national charity for art, shared news that its membership has grown by 8.5% in the last year, to 151,000 members – a doubling in the last decade.

The charity also announced brand new funding to support a range of conservation projects treating art and objects in museum and gallery collections. It is made possible thanks to the generosity of Art Fund donors and members.

In the last year alone, Art Fund has given £355,000 in grants dedicated to conservation, including major restorations of works by Artemisia Gentileschi, Lubaina Himid and Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

This new, dedicated scheme for public museums, galleries and historic houses in the UK is specifically designed to help give newly acquired works any conservation treatment they require, as well as to enable existing works to come out of storage and be prepared for public display. It is solely dedicated to conservation, allowing for a proportion of support for display and public engagement, and in the breadth of organisations eligible for funding. Applications will open from 28 July 2019.

Art Fund helps museums to realise their ambitions: from buying works of art and sharing them across the UK, to training and developing their curators – and much more besides. In 2018 Art Fund awarded £4.9m in grants. Over 400 works of art and objects went to 78 organisations across the UK. Some 80% of grants were awarded to organisations outside of London.

As an independent charity, Art Fund is supported by the generosity of our members, who buy the National Art Pass, as well as by many trusts, foundations and other individuals. The National Art Pass gives Art Fund members free or reduced-price entry to hundreds of museums, galleries and historic houses across the UK.

Together with supporters and partners, Art Fund has opened the following new funding programmes and services for UK museums and galleries to date in 2019:

• Headley Fellowships with Art Fund – a three-year, £600,000 programme with The Headley Trust to give curators the time and resources to develop specialist knowledge relating to their collections.

• Curatorial Network Grants – a £150,000 open fund to support Subject Specialist Networks and other curatorial channels to develop and share knowledge, skills and resources.

• Art Tickets – a free ticketing system to bring museum and gallery ticket sales online, streamlining the process for both visitors and museum staff.

• Art Fund & AAMC Foundation Travel Fellowships – an international collaboration between Art Fund and the US-based Association of Art Museum Curators Foundation to enable UK curators to travel and attend the AAMC conference in New York City, accompanied by further grants to active.

• Small project grants – seed funding for projects of up to £10,000 will be open for applications from 28 July 2019.

Art Fund chairman, Lord Smith of Finsbury, said: ‘Museums and galleries are vital spaces for society. That’s why we support them in doing more for everyone, everywhere. We’re proud to be providing new funding towards the conservation of objects in UK collections, to help unlock new stories about these objects and improve collections care and display. We’re entirely supported by our 151,000 members who buy the National Art Pass, as well as the generosity of many trusts, foundations and other individuals. This growing community shares our vision to help UK museums and champion them at every level.’