Aims of University Art Collection and Art Collection Committee Annual Report

The University Art Collection is managed by the Art Collection Committee that meets at least twice a year. The aims of the Collection are laid down in the policy documents approved by this Committee.

The following are members of the Committee:

• Chair: A senior professor
• Registrar's representative: Senior member of Estates
• A member of academic staff
• Two representatives of the student body
• Independent external adviser (appointed by University Council)
• Independent external adviser (member of local education community)
• Independent external adviser (senior museum professional)
• Two representatives of the Coventry art community who may experience barriers to a career in the arts

Statement of Purpose 2025

The University Art Collection shares art in open, everyday spaces to inspire new experiences, insights, and exchanges in the widest audiences.

Aims

• To develop a collection of significant and diverse modern and contemporary art that is integrated into the University of Warwick campus.
• To use the Art Collection to deliver placemaking for the University campus that enhances the porosity of campus and offers a sense of belonging.
• To increase and diversify campus and off-campus audiences for the Art Collection.
• To create innovative, well-used and valued resources for teaching, learning, research and recreation.
• To set a benchmark for our sector with our management and development of a dispersed University Art Collection.

Objectives

Display

• • To contribute to a distinctive and stimulating campus environment through the development of free displays in the public spaces of the university that invite engagement.
  • To ensure as much of the Art Collection as possible is on show and accessible.
  • To support loans to other exhibitions to contribute to the national and international profile of the University, to increase access to artworks and to develop ideas around them.

 Engagement

• • To create a range of access points for diverse audiences that develop and deepen engagement, including on-site interpretation, talks, trails, artist-led workshops and events, co-creation projects, Bloomberg Connects.
  • To involve artists, scholars and other specialists to ensure these activities are high-quality, inspire creativity and model innovation.
  • To develop and deepen student engagement, through formal support of teaching and research and informal support of societies and student initiatives.
  • To develop access by communities who experience barriers to engagement with the visual arts.
  • To lead a group of University curators in the UK and Ireland in the development of new strategies for campus placemaking.

 Commissions

• • To develop innovative commissions for new buildings and the landscape that contribute to campus placemaking.
  • To ensure community involvement in the development of commissions as part of campus placemaking.

Risk management

• • To manage budgets to ensure there are sufficient funds to care for the Art Collection and safeguard its strategic development.
  • To develop and implement a robust and sustainable programme of preventive and remedial conservation that maintains the majority of the Art Collection in good condition.
  • To manage the risks associated with the open display of the collection while ensuring that access remains as unrestricted as possible.
  • To ensure that within the context of a very small team, succession planning is robust to protect a significant university asset.

Management