Scottish universities to make galleries and museums more accessible

Scottish universities are to receive £3.6m from the Scottish Government to make their museums and galleries more accessible to the public. 

Universities minister Shirley-Anne Somerville announced the funding while visiting the restoration of Glasgow School of Art's fire-damaged Mackintosh building, which houses the Charles Rennie Mackintosh Collection.

The funding will be managed by the Scottish Funding Council.

Scottish universities hold around 1.8 million items, including 32 per cent of the country's materials on history of science, 31 per cent of the nation's coins and medals, 24 per cent of its fine art, 20 per cent of natural science collections and 18 per cent of its world culture collections, but many of the galleries or museums are not well known to the public.

The University of Edinburgh, for example, houses a collection of historical musical instruments.

John Kemp, interim chief executive of the Scottish Funding Council, said: “Scottish university museums are an important educational and cultural resource for the nation.

“This funding is a significant investment in the valuable work that goes on there and will also support the museums’ ambition for the future in areas such as digital technology.”