Holburne Museum begins first phase of development
After years of planning the Holburne Museum will close at the end of this month as it takes the first steps on the road of its development project. The development will see the Museum completely refurbished and more space provided for every aspect of its activity through its extension, designed by Eric Parry, opening onto Sydney Gardens.
Preliminary building work has already begun with the excavation of some vaults of the Museum's basement, filled in early in the twentieth century, in which it is planned to install some of the equipment essential to the running of the newly refurbished Museum. Other investigative works are planned in the coming months.
Museum staff have been working on the complicated tasks of packing and storing the collection and sending key objects out on loan to other museums and galleries, both locally and nationally. The remainder of the collection will be sent to a specialist fine art store. The transfer of office staff from the Museum to temporary accommodation is also underway.
The Holburne will close to the public to begin packing the collection when the current exhibition Seventy Years of Penguin Design closes on Monday 24 March. Visitors are presented with a fantastic opportunity not only to see the popular book design exhibition, but the Holburne's collection in situ for the last time before it is reinstalled in 2010.
After two months of packing the Museum will re-open in June for a month of celebration and activities in its near empty building.
A final exhibition Painting Aardman will open on Saturday 7 June (until Sunday 6 July) 2008 where the prize commission painted by winner of the 2006 Holburne Dukes Portrait Prize, Vincent Brown will be unveiled. The prize is a portrait commission worth £5,000 to paint a figure connected to the arts in the south west: and Vincent Brown has chosen the three Directors of Aardman Animations, Nick Park, Peter Lord and David Sproxton.
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