Robert Hiscox: Support our bid for a new museum and art gallery

By Jamie Hill - 11 October 2017

Opinion and Features

As Chairman of the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Trust, I was pleased to read that the outgoing editor of the Swindon Heritage magazine, Graham Carter, supports our bid to build a new museum and art gallery in the town centre.

However, I must correct some of the inaccuracies in his column.

Graham says quite rightly that the Trust put its hands up at the event we organised at New College in April 2017, and agreed that engagement with the public up until then could have been better. That evening we committed to improving our communications and engagement with various groups, stakeholders and individuals, and we have done so. 

Since then we and our volunteers have met with many hundreds of teachers, students, heritage enthusiasts, parish councillors, staff of some of the largest employers in the town, charities, arts experts, and far more. We’ve shown them our initial ideas and invited feedback and comment, and acted on much of it, altering our plans and proposals accordingly. It would be unfeasible to go out to a town with a population of more than 200,000 with a blank piece of paper and ask people for their thoughts, so developing a basic proposal as an initial point of reference was essential to that process.

Drove Primary school pupils pictured during there visit to Swindon Museum and Art Gallery today. Pictures: Stuart Harrison Photography. 15/5/17.

Since April 2017 we have had more than 3,000 individual conversations with people in and around Swindon, and support for the project from those has been overwhelmingly positive. 

We have taken the architect’s model of the new museum and art gallery to around 30 public events – including several heritage events - and are continuing to do so. 

We have reached many thousands more through social media and the local media, including the Link magazine.

We are running weekly articles on individual items in Swindon’s marvellous collection of artefacts, to introduce as many people as possible to the wonderful items that help tell the story of Swindon. By doing this, we hope to give them a flavour of the rest of the 100,000-odd items that are currently in store, but that will be able to be seen when the new museum and art gallery is built. 

Finally, I must pick up on Graham’s comment that “it is also disappointing to find that the magazine did not seem to have a role in the bid for a new museum and art gallery. Nobody has ever actually asked us for our opinion about this project”. 

We are at a loss to understand that assertion. We have met with the Swindon Heritage magazine board members as a group and individually and have been delighted not only with their advice and suggestions, but with the substantial amount of time and expertise they have given us – whether hosting the model, advising us on engagement, or joining us at community events to talk to people about the project. 

Much of our work depends on the goodwill of the many volunteers who want to do their bit to see this project come to fruition. We thank them for their continued support and encouragement, and for sharing our belief that Swindon deserves this.

Robert Hiscox,

Chairman

Swindon Museum and Art Gallery Trust

Your Comments

Instead of spending loads of money building a new museum and art galleries come on Swindon we have a beautiful building begging to be restored to its former glory in the mechanics that would be a lovely building with stacks of history in a central location waiting to become your new museum and only a stonesthrow from the designer village which has millions of visitors from all over the U.K. and rest of the world .

Posted: 11 October 2017, 10.03AM by: Robert Hamley

Please see the petition on change.org against this new-build and for its location instead in the Carriageworks opposite the Mechanics'. This would complement the plans already well established for the use of the Mechanics', which SBC have hitherto delayed supporting an lottery fund bid for while it pushes for lottery money for the new build. Disgusting behaviour all round from SBC and Mr Hiscox should be considering a rethink instead of this appeal.

Posted: 11 October 2017, 11.41PM by: Ana

Mechanics matters of course. It needs collaboratively sorting and action.

The SMAG work to engage is almost unprecedented in recent times.

An iconic catalyst to appreciate the art and history of Swindon and to re-generate the forgotten town centre. Let's give ourselves a chance to shake from our shoulders some of the negative vibes.

Posted: 12 October 2017, 2.07AM by: Tony Hillier

Offering the residents of Swindon a choice of options is hardly presenting them with 'a blank piece of paper'. This is a vanity project which has gone so far down the road that the group promoting it are completely unwilling and unable to back down. They are stubbornly insisting that theirs is the only way, while being unable to admit that they made a fundamental error in not considering the Carriageworks in the first place.

Posted: 12 October 2017, 5.30AM by: Denise Humphries

Sorry but the people of Swindon, given a choice, would rather you start looking after what we've got and our heritage than build this. Whether you think that's right or not, it should be down to people who live here. Please. The heritage lottery funding is needed for preserving what we have left of our history.

Posted: 13 October 2017, 0.22AM by: Clare

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