The National Portrait Gallery is delighted to be undertaking a programme of work with regional partners, supported through grants from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Education and Skills.

The purpose of the programme, People, Places and Portraits, is to broaden access to the Gallery's collections for children, young people and communities, through specific projects at local level.

2005

Barnard Castle, County Durham 5 February - 28 August
Norman Parkinson: Portraits in Fashion will be on display at the Bowes Museum, County Durham, from 5 February - 5 June 2005. The exhibition of classic Norman Parkinson fashion photography from the National Portrait Gallery Collection, concentrates on the styles and glamour of the 1950s. The photographs have been given a wider dimension by the addition of the original Vogue magazine text, describing the fashions being modelled. The images are accompanied by the fashionable dress of the era taken from the Bowes Museum's own collection. The National Museums Strategic Education Development Fund supported an associated learning programme.

South Shields Museum & Art Gallery 16 April - 11 June
Heroes of Trafalgar: Collingwood and Nelson, 16 April - 11 June is a collaboration between South Shields Museum and Art Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery and includes works from the National Portrait Gallery archive and the large Guy Head painting of Nelson shown alongside material drawn from the collections of Tyne and Wear Museums.

The life of Cuthbert Collingwood, the Northumbrian who led the British Navy to victory after the death of his close friend Horatio Nelson at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, will be celebrated to coincide with the 200th anniversary of the battle. Alongside this the public image of Nelson will also be explored. The exhibition is part of the Sea Britain events in 2005.

2003/04

In 2003/04 five projects were funded including extremely successful collaborations with Montacute and Beningbrough, and the formation of new relationships with Dove Cottage, Sheffield Galleries and Museums Trust and Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens. For the period of this funding, Beningbrough and Montacute were able to focus on reaching rural schools and catering for children and groups with additional learning needs, appointing staff to develop on-site and outreach education provision. During 2003/04, there were two exhibitions accompanied by associated learning programmes.

Works were selected from the Gallery's collection for the exhibition Turning Heads at the Graves Art Gallery, Sheffield (November 2003 - February 2004). The selection aimed to show the changing nature of, and ideas about democracy, regulation, power and freedom throughout history. Portraits ranged from Nell Gwyn and Salman Rushdie to Ms Dynamite and included paintings, photographs and sculpture. More than 10,500 people came to the exhibition.

Sheffield's education team worked closely with secondary school students, giving drama workshops and showing pupils how to use digital photography to create their own portraits.

Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens
The exhibition Claim to Fame (January - March 2004) contained fifty-nine portraits, from Henry VIII to David Beckham and from Ellen Terry to JK Rowling. Several of the sitters were local personalities, such as Ellen Wilkinson who led the Jarrow Marchers. The exhibition was extremely popular, with 49,465 visitors attending.

Schools and community groups were involved from the start in outreach projects, which were displayed at the centre of the exhibition. Among the interpretive materials produced by groups was a 'children's trail', working with Steve Donald of Viz fame. Over 2,275 children and people from community groups took part. The Minister for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Estelle Morris, visited the exhibition and was enthusiastic about the collaboration.

Go to a large print, text-only version of this site

All images and text are subject to copyright protection. 21 November 2008