LONDON, ENGLAND.-A new-style, more marketing focused Museums and Galleries Month, is now taking shape for May 2006. Outline details are announced today with more information to follow as the month develops.

“The Campaign for Museums is delighted that MLA has agreed to continue to provide core funding for Museums and Galleries Month for the next three years”, says Loyd Grossman, Chairman. “This gives us an opportunity to re-focus Museums and Galleries Month as a great marketing initiative for museums and galleries around the UK aimed at new and lapsed visitors.”

The new-style Museums and Galleries Month will start on Saturday 29 April and run through to Sunday 4 June 2006 – all of May with the weekends on either side. The first weekend, May Bank Holiday, will be the WELCOME WEEKEND. Across the country, museums and galleries will be invited to open their doors and welcome visitors personally through the doors. The aim is to demystify the experience for those who don’t normally visit and to showcase the work of museums and art galleries.

“Museums and Galleries Month will start with a bang - the WELCOME WEEKEND”, adds Virginia Tandy, Co-Chairman of MGM 2006. “It will continue with a series of national and regional events. Museums and galleries will be invited to create their own events on the theme: Making connections: past, present and future…” It is up to each museum and gallery to develop this theme to suit their own collections and audiences.”

Loyd Grossman as Chairman of The Campaign for Museums, and Virginia Tandy as Co-Chairman of MGM 2005 and now of 2006 will continue to lead the MGM Working and Strategy Groups.

Museums and Galleries Month 2005 was the sixth promotion of its kind involving more than 1,000 museums and galleries around the UK. May 2005 got off to a great start with a spectacular launch at The Queen’s Gallery, Buckingham Palace, hosted by HRH Prince of Wales. The report of Museums and Galleries Month 2005 is now available on the MGM website, www.mgm.org.uk. MGM2005 successes are summarised as follows:

Media coverage up by over ten per cent – with some 500 separate articles and news items

Website coverage through the 24 Hour Museum reaching some 250,000 users during May. Website coverage also included Visitlondon, Visitbritain, British Council, National Grid for Learning and numerous other UK and overseas sites
Increased reach of print by distributing through supermarkets and service stations
Evaluation showed that about half the museums/galleries participating attracted additional visitors during May. Hundreds of events took place in museums and galleries across the UK. For the third year, participants were invited to submit events for Museums Journal/MGM commendations. Five were chosen on the basis of these submissions for their originality and inspiration for the future both for the museum and for others. They are featured in Museums Journal August and will also be featured on the MGM website. The commended museums and galleries are:

Pitts River Museum and Oxford University Museum of Natural History In a different light - Theme of lights in the night - an after-hour encounter with the collection accompanied by Javanese music (first ever evening opening).

Waterfront Museum Poole, Russell-Cotes Art Gallery Past Present Future (aimed at 16-25 year olds) choosing objects for a 100 years from now.

Jersey Museum, St Helier Star Objects chosen by staff and rotated weekly.

Hunterian Museum, London Saving Faces - drawing workshop with artist Mark Gilbert, aimed at the museum’s core stakeholders – surgeons.

Mansfield Museum Objects of Desire – local collectors brought in objects from the last 50 years

Nottingham Castle My Special Collection: Young collectors, aimed at families with children 8 - 12.