IMPACT: OUR WIDER INFLUENCE
Our strengths in art history/theory, technical art history, conservation and contemporary collecting policy mean that we are ideally placed to achieve impact beyond the purely academic sphere.
In particular, we seek to have an impact on cultural life and economic prosperity, on public services (especially museums and galleries), on knowledge-sharing and research collaboration with external bodies, and on policy making in the arts sector.
Our ambitions have been fuelled by the university’s commitment to relocating the Institute to the planned Kelvin Hall cultural complex (a £35m investment, which has received a £4.5m Heritage Lottery grant towards Phase 1 of its development). This move provides the Institute with exciting opportunities for outward-facing projects such as display of collections, exhibitions, public lectures and conferences.
In recent years our research has impacted on diverse audiences, ranging from the nearly 750,000 people who attended Clare Willsdon’s various exhibitions in the UK and Spain, to the large numbers who visit Margaret Macdonald’s online Whistler Etchings catalogue (c. 27,000 visits/month). Sally Rush’s advisory work on the high-profile £12m refurbishments at Stirling Castle Palace, were key to the castle being named Which? magazine’s top heritage attraction in 2012 and have led to a further advisory role at Linlithgow Palace.