NOTES FROM THE SLUG CAMPAIGN PUBLIC MEETING ON 2 APRIL 2019
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NOTES FROM THE SLUG CAMPAIGN
PUBLIC MEETING ON 2 APRIL 2019
Firstly, a few notes of thank you first before you read the notes of the meeting, from Fiona Hodges, who
started and coordinates the SLUG Campaign. I feel it is important to recognise and thank the contribution
made to the campaign so far from many people.
• to Lincoln Minster School for providing us with the venue at a re-
duced price.
• to Jane Riley for organising the venue and inviting the speakers.
• to Amanda Drury for all her help in running the campaign, managing
social media, production of communications, organising & publicis-
ing the Art March, and so much more.
• to all our speakers – Richard Wood, Carol Butler, Nic Lance and Cllr
Robert Parker – for giving us their time to come along and talk so
passionately about how important it is to save the Usher Gallery.
• to Andrew David for facilitating the meeting.
• to all the people and groups who are working so hard to generate ideas to put forward to the coun-
cil to save the Usher and revitalise it.
• to everyone who has helped to get the message out to the wider public, delivering leaflets, helping
with the running of this and other meetings, sharing messages around social media, etc
• to everyone who has contributed to help us raise money to fund the campaign.
• to you, the audience, for coming along to this meeting and contributing your views.
Just a reminder that the acronym SLUG not only stands for Save Lincolnshire’s Usher Gallery but was also
chosen for its meaning of ‘slugging it out’, i.e. to settle a dispute or contest by fighting or competing
fiercely. It feels like we are in a fight to save the Usher Gallery from closure and to ensure that it gets the
care, investment and appreciation it deserves as a valuable asset to Lincoln and Lincolnshire.
Now, on to the notes from the public meeting.
The meeting started by Jane Riley reading out a message of support from Karen Lee MP. The full message
is on the SLUG Campaign website here: http://www.slugcampaign.co.uk/News/
Karen has also invited people who are concerned about the proposals to write to her.
Fiona Hodges, who started the SLUG Campaign, thanked everyone for coming and said she had been
heartened by the large amount of support for the campaign to save the Usher. She reminded people that
the Heritage review was not only going to affect the Usher Gallery but also that there were question
marks over the future of the Alford, Burgh le Marsh and Ellis windmills. And that whilst sites such as the
Museum of Lincolnshire Life were to remain untouched by the review, there were no plans at the mo-
ment to provide much needed investment.
The meeting was facilitated by Andrew David, Managing Editor of Siren FM. He said it is sad that we have
to have this meeting, given the threat to the Usher Gallery. In this time uncertainty, we need things to
hang on to. We need certainty and sometimes looking backwards helps us to move forwards.
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RICHARD WOOD representing the Usher Gallery Trust.
Key points from Richard are:
The Usher Gallery is managed by Heritage Services at Lincolnshire County Coun-
cil. The Usher Gallery Trust was set up in 1993, not to administer the gallery, but
for the purpose of purchasing works of art for the Usher and to support its pro-
gramme of exhibitions, education and research. It is not responsible for manag-
ing the gallery. The Trust is very passionate about what is being proposed about
what is being proposed. The Trust unanimously opposes the proposed closure.
Encouraging that the City Council opposes the use of the building for alternative
purposes.
It has been stated in the press recently that the Usher does not meet the securi-
ty and environmental conditions. It has been approved for the Government In-
demnity Scheme and passed museums accreditation. It’s not a perfect building
but this is due to the lack of investment and improvements in recent years.
We believe that closing the gallery as a centre for visual and decorate arts will
have a profound detrimental effect on the future reputation of Lincoln and Lin-
colnshire. It could have a detrimental effect on any future donations or bequests and could have a detri-
mental effect on loan of prestigious exhibitions and individual exhibits that we have seen in recent years
from the national collections. The Heritage Trust has already received correspondence from the British
Museum in which they state that it could have an effect on future loans to exhibitions. Similar letters have
come from the V&A, Royal Academy, Royal Collection saying they have received the news with dismay.
The heritage service has suffered severe cuts in recent years. From £2.5m in 2016/17, in 2017 it was down
to £1.6m and the current budget is down to just over £1m. By 2023/24 it is planned to set the budget at
around £222,000.
The intention is to run Heritage Services at no cost to the LCC at all and the closure of the Usher would
save the council around £100,000.
The Usher Gallery is extremely important to the city.
The Trust has been having meetings behind the scenes with representatives from other heritage, cultural
and arts trusts and organisations. A recent Vision workshop has been held and the output from that will
form a proposal to the county council.
The end result must match what is required by the council – sustainability.
Working with other groups to put forward constructive proposals for a vibrant Usher Gallery. The Usher
Gallery Trust and Lincoln Heritage Trust will come together and joining with others in putting forward
constructive proposals to ensure a vibrant future for the Usher gallery.
Proposing that any decision on the Usher Gallery is delayed for a year to allow all parties to come togeth-
er to look at a range of options to ensure the Usher can survive and thrive in the future.
Will be bringing in new ideas and working with groups across the county to make sure we get involve-
ment. Need support from residents of Lincolnshire and external counties around Lincolnshire.
We are feeling quite encouraged but there is still a lot of work to be done.
2
Councillor ROBERT PARKER
The county council (LCC) want to balance the books. However, they are not without funding and have
£200 million in savings and will be adding another £6 million of underspend to that this year.
LCC say it costs £2.34 per visitor to run the Usher Gallery and they want to reduce it £0.65 per person.
Has everybody signed the petition and contributed to the formal consultation process? It is vitally im-
portant to urge as many people as possible to complete the LCC’s consultation questionnaire. At the mo-
ment there are just over 500 responses (compared to over 3,400 who have signed the petition). The con-
sultation responses hold far more weight than the peti-
tion.
Some people said they had problems getting onto the
website to complete the questionnaire and others that
they had problems getting hold of a paper petition. If an-
yone has a problem accessing the consultation process
please let Cllr Parker know. If the will of people is being
frustrated by technology that isn’t good enough.
We need to create a vision. Have the new Usher Gallery
rising like a phoenix. As a consequence of underfunding
the numbers of visitors have dropped. If people knew
about the Usher there would be more people who would.
There are ways that we can improve the gallery. It needs to be considered as a centre for the arts and in-
volving the local community. It’s not just a place that people go to but also goes out to the community to
inspire people.
It is important to win over hearts and minds of councillors on the LCC. We need to try to get the decision
makers at LCC to get excited about art, engage the emotions, not just financial reasons.
There wasn’t much in the heritage review business case about art and inspiration. Need to get them to
understand the Wow factor of the Usher Gallery and not just focus on the financial model.
We have to get the LCC to be excited about art. If not, they will stick with the financial model.
NIC LANCE, representing Friends of Lincoln Museums and Gallery
LCC have miscalculated grossly. It is completely inappropriate to move the contents of the Usher Gallery
into a basement bunker, and we have to try to make LCC rethink their proposals.
He feels that arts are being marginalised.
Look at new models to find a model that will work for the Usher Gallery, perhaps including the university,
artists, local philanthropists. It can’t just work with the LCC which will have less money over the years.
For the £2.34 per visitor that the LCC says it costs to run the Usher, that is likely to generate around £16
income for the local economy, based on an economic generation model already used by The Drill Hall to
study the impact of their visitors to the local economy, where for every £1 spent there is £8 return to the
local economy. People visiting the Usher are also eating out, staying in hotels, shopping, etc.
3
The Usher is the only publicly funded art and craft gallery in the county, and it is unthinkable that the
county would no longer have a dedicated public art gallery. What kind of county are we if we can’t even
have an art gallery?
LCC are lacking in imagination in the way they have managed the Usher in recent years and there is very
little marketing so fewer people have been made aware of its existence and what it offers.
Have to work with the LCC to revive, regenerate. Put signs up, put in decent parking.
Need to involve more local artists, poets, musicians in exhibiting, performing and being involved with the
Usher.
The Usher Trust was approached by heritage
services for a review they were carrying out in
2016. The Usher responded with many ideas.
None of the items listed were ever taken up in
the review.
Many of the suggestions made for workshops,
including more artists, music, dance, etc are
things that used to be done at the Usher, but
no more. There isn’t the investment in staff
skills and because of cuts over the years there
aren’t the staff now to ensure that the artwork
is displayed properly, rehung and made inter-
esting to visitors. The front door closure has made the Usher look closed. Looks like it has been moth-
balled. Dark, poor lighting, clocks not wound, etc.
CAROL BUTLER, representing Lincolnshire Artists’ Society
Usher Gallery is seen by Lincolnshire Artists’ Society as their home. The LAS is 113 years old. One of the
best and oldest in the country. They used to exhibit at the Usher twice a year but now are only allowed to
exhibit there once every two years. One of their recent exhibitions had 12,000 visitors, so their exhibitions
bring a lot of people in and if they were able to exhibit at the Usher more often this would help to in-
crease the visitor numbers significantly.
A visit to the Usher lifts the spirits. It is different to the Collection and doesn’t serve the same purpose.
The two should work better together rather than have the Usher subsumed into the Collection.
She compared the Usher to the Ferens Gallery in Hull. Both opened in 1927 and were created from be-
quests made by wealthy local businessmen. In recent years, that’s where the comparison ends. The
Ferens is vibrant, lively, brings lots of people to Hull from around the country and the world. It is well
managed and appreciated by the local authority that runs it. It has a large Open competition and exhibi-
tion once a year. This is a great way of encouraging local artists to submit their work to be shown at the
gallery, attracts a lot of visitors and revenue to the gallery. The Ferens Gallery has a huge banner outside
welcoming people in. In contrast there is no banner on Lindum Hill for the Usher. You would struggle to
notice the gallery if driving down the hill.
In contrast, the Usher has an Open which is more of a Closed. It selects 3 to 6 artists to work and exhibit
at the gallery and excludes the vast number of local artists who would love an opportunity of showing
their work at the gallery.
4
The Usher could do a lot more to encourage and support local artists, established and emerging.
There is so much that can be done to attract more visitors to the Usher. It should be more inclusive.
Should be giving artists, musicians, poets, etc space.
She wants her grandchildren to be able to visit and future artists to be
able to show their work there.
The floor was opened to the audience to make comments
and ask questions.
Ian Walter, president of the Lincolnshire Artists’ Society emphasised
that the money was given to the city to build a gallery. We need to lob-
by the LCC because politicians respond to what people have to say. The
two buildings work together. Lincoln is trying to build its tourism offer
and the Usher is a key part of that. We are a principal cathedral city and
like other principal cathedral cities, should have a dedicated public art
gallery.
Need to emphasise that the money for that building was given to the City to house the collection of James
Usher and we don’t wish to see that building converted into something else, so the council can save mon-
ey on buildings elsewhere.
He has spoken to the Chairman of the Council (which is a non-political role) who indicated that he thought
many of the councillors didn’t have much knowledge of the issues. And that if we make a case to save the
Usher then it will be listened to.
Cllr Lucinda Preston said that the loss of the Usher would be the loss of a rich source of education to the
city. The LCC had fallen behind on using educational programming as an income stream to the Usher. It is
also important to develop future interest in the arts and culture. Lincoln is isolated and for many children
it is their only opportunity to see art.
Ric Metcalfe, Leader of the City Council, said he had a great affection for the Usher. It is a huge arts and
cultural asset to the city and plays an important part in the vitality of the city. LCC has not got the best
record in terms of valuing our cultural heritage. It must be seen as a Lincolnshire issue, not just a Lincoln
one. Most arts and cultural activity needs some funding. There may be no legal remedy in terms of the
bequest, but there certainly is a moral one. The City can legally enforce the terms for the use of the
grounds around the gallery. The City Council is proposing that the LCC defers a decision on the fate of the
Usher for 12 months to allow stakeholders time to put forward robust, funded and sustainable proposals
to keep it as an art gallery. The City Council can refuse to grant consent for the building to be used for al-
ternative purposes. As many people as possible need to ‘shout loud’, to take part in the consultation,
write to their county councillors, etc.
Other members of the public made the following points:
• Archives are now a rich source for contemporary artists to use as part of their art practice. The ar-
chives are a very valuable resource for research, working documentation and financially. Need to
establish who owns the archives and how they can be used more effectively. Need to educate the
LCC about what is held in the archives and how important this is, e.g. the de Wint collection.
• Disappointing that no officer or executive councillor from the LCC was prepared to come to the
5meeting. Concerned that this means they are not taking seriously the options that will be put for-
ward.
• Self-fulfilling prophecy. Lack of investment and care towards the Usher has resulted in fewer visi-
tors. If they were to invest they could generate far more interest and visitors to the Usher in the fu-
ture, and therefore more income and greater benefits to the city. We have collections that are of
international significance, e.g. de Wint collection.
• Recent reductions of staff who have sufficient knowledge about the art and collections.
• There needs to be a lot of imagination used to turn things around at the Usher. Also requires some
investment.
• Get students involved in the campaign and the Usher in future.
• Need to get more young people involved in the campaign but also in the running of the gallery in
the future, as well as aiming at far more diversity.
• If the Usher Gallery goes, the LAS will go. Then the city council needs to abandon the title Cultural
Quarter because something will be ripped out of the city. Agree that more needs to be made of the
gallery. There is no proper accounting system used to say how many visitors are actually going into
the exhibition space, rather than just using the toilets, café, shop and play space. Suspect that if visi-
tor figures were recorded properly we would discover that as many, if not more, people visit the
exhibition space of the Usher than do to the Collection.
Amanda Drury from the SLUG Campaign reminded people about the Art March
taking place on Saturday, 13th April
CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS
Please tell people about this
and come along to support it.
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