Mansfield Museum and Art Gallery has won two awards, one for Overall Excellence and the other for Creative Collections for its stunning new natural history collection.
The Mansfield District Council Museum team attended the Museum Development Midlands Power of Place awards in Birmingham to collect the awards.
The Creative Collections Award was in recognition of the museum’s World of Birds exhibition – a rich and internationally significant taxidermy collection of around 3,000 specimens created by botanist and naturalist Joseph Whitaker. It includes species that are now on the brink of extinction.
The exhibition, which opened last year, was made possible thanks to funding of £76,700 from the Arts Council England [ACE] Unlocking Collections Fund. This enabled items that had been kept in storage to be restored and put on display for the first time in decades in a modern way that reinterpreted their significance.he museum was also shortlisted for the Inclusive Impact Award for its work with disabled people and vulnerable women.
The museum was also shortlisted for the Inclusive Impact Award for its work with disabled people and vulnerable women.
Portfolio Holder for Planning and Growth at Mansfield District Council, Councillor Stuart Richardson, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to win these awards.
“They are so well deserved for what is a relatively small museum that really punches above its weight in terms of its cultural significance and the contribution it makes to this district and wider region.
“The extra funding it has received from ACE in recent years has made a huge difference to what it has been able to achieve and the kind of exhibitions it has been able to stage and we sincerely hope this funding will continue.”
The Power of Place Midlands Museum Awards are organised by Museum Development, funded by ACE, to support museums across the East and West Midlands through development, training, grants and advice.
For more information on Mansfield Museum and Art Gallery’s current exhibitions and events, visit the museum website (link opens in new window).