In 1997 the Contemporary Art Society successfully applied to Arts Council Lottery for funding to enable 15 regional museums to take part in what became known as the Special Collection Scheme. Each participating museum spent £30,000 each year on acquisitions and a further £2,500 on curatorial research and travel. Museums were required to provide 25% of their total purchasing and travel budget as partnership funding. Over seven year the museums acquired 610 works of fine art and craft by 313 different artists and makers with a total purchase price of almost £3 million.
Special Projects
