£1 million funding success as National Glass Centre celebrates the anniversary of their re-opening

The funding has been awarded as part of Arts Council England’s National Portfolio funding stream and will secure National Glass Centre’s future until 2018.  

The timely announcement comes as National Glass Centre at the University of Sunderland  celebrates the anniversary of their re-opening last year, following a £2.3m redevelopment. 

James Bustard, Director at National Glass Centre, said: “This is fantastic news for National Glass Centre and is testament to Arts Council England’s ongoing commitment to developing access to the arts and culture in the city of Sunderland. We are looking forward to working in close partnership with Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art over the next three years to further improve the city’s contemporary art and craft provision.”

Plans for National Glass Centre over the next three years will build on the successes of the past year and include:

• Bringing important collections of glass to National Glass Centre, including collections from Northlands and American glass from the Museum of Glass in Tacoma, USA;




• Delivering a collaborative show with NGCA and Museum and Winter Garden drawn from Arts Council and Crafts Council Collections;




• Plans to bring contemporary glass art festival GLASSTRESS to England;




• Continued work to deliver joint programmes aimed at children and young people, including a Sorrell Foundation initiative that gives young people aged 14–16 the unique opportunity to study art and design every Saturday morning at their local college or university, free of charge.

2013 – 14 Achievements for National Glass Centre

• National Glass Centre at the University of Sunderland reopened its doors (29/30 June 2013) following an ambitious £2.3m redevelopment programme.




• During their opening weekend they received a record number of visitors, 4,435 people visited in two days.




• To achieve this vision, National Glass Centre successfully attracted £750,000 from Arts Council England’s Large Capital Programme, £250,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, £100,000 from the Sir James Knott Trustand £50,000 from the Foyle Foundation. This, coupled with a significant investment from the University of Sunderland, illustrates a significant commitment to the development of the arts in the City of Sunderland.

Since August 2013:

• National Glass Centre had welcomed 200,000 visitors, and are set to break their first year re-opening target of 220,000 visitors




• They have delivered 17 Exhibitions




• They have delivered over 1,000 Christmas bauble blowing experiences




• They have delivered an estimate 1,500 free glass blowing/flameworking and lathe demonstrations




• Over 5,300 young people and adults have participated in National Glass Centre’s Learning & Engagement Programme




• They have engaged with 64 schools




• 236 people have participated in over 32 adult courses




• They have been awarded funding from the Gillian Dickinson Trust to facilitate access the arts and culture with up to 60 disadvantaged young people from the surrounding area.

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2011 and 2015, we will invest £1.4 billion of public money from government and an estimated £0.85 billion from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country. www.artscouncil.org.uk

For further information about funding announcements from Arts Council England visit: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/funding/our-investment-2015-18/