What is Renaissance?

“Renaissance is about long-term change in England’s museums - building their capacity to transform how they work with each other and interact with visitors.”

Sue Wilkinson, Director of Policy and Advocacy, Museums, Libraries and Archives Council

‘World-class, sustainable museums across England’ is the vision behind Renaissance in the Regions – a £150 million development programme from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Managed by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council through a network of nine museum ‘hubs’, Renaissance funds the work of the hub venues, strategic partnerships and initiatives at regional level. It is also supporting the Museum Development Fund, Subject Specialist Networks, the Designation Challenge Fund and Strategic Commissioning.

Increasing visitor numbers to England’s museums is one of the main aims of Renaissance – and we need to sustain those increased levels by improving access to our collections and encouraging user participation. We are increasing access by developing our organisations and workforces. We are making better use of our collections through care and interpretation.

“The North West has remarkable cultural and heritage assets. Renaissance North West is about working in new ways to use and develop these assets, and to maximise the contribution our museum services can make to the region’s economic, social and cultural development.”

Virginia Tandy, Director, Manchester City Galleries

Renaissance North West is delivering a programme of investment through the hub venues and their strategic partners, as well as initiatives that are impacting across the region.

Every one of the 160 registered museums in the North West has a stake in Renaissance. The project has already been enthusiastically received in many parts of the region, but there is much more to do – and you can get involved. Museums can work in partnership with Renaissance North West to develop and improve services and put users at the heart of everything we do.