Local museums could help regenerate our dying city centres, but they need investment, says Ellen McAdam. Plus Nick Stevenson on the lack of representation of the working classes
Charlotte Higgins is spot-on about Derby’s Museum of Making and the potential role of museums in civic life (Go to Derby: see how a museum can help shape a better future, 1 July). Derby Museums has three major advantages: a local authority that understands the value of culture and heritage; an excellent team led by Tony Butler, and an outstanding collection – part of which has been formally designated by Arts Council England as being of national importance.
There are 25 civic museum services in England with similarly designated collections, which I am surveying with an Art Fund grant. Together, they paint a picture of 19th-century municipal confidence and pride supported by industrial wealth and imperial power, resulting in collections of astonishing richness. Unfortunately, this was followed by postwar industrial collapse and the erosion of civic powers and funding by central government.
