Artwork owned by local authority
Case reference FOI2019/00707
Published 25 July 2019
Request
Please provide the following information
How many artworks have been purchased by the local authority in 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19?
How many artworks are in the possession of the local authority?
What is the estimated value of the artworks?
How many of the artworks are on public display? (Public display includes those that can be viewed by the members of the public in local authority buildings such as council headquarters, libraries, sports and leisure centres, and schools that are under local authority control. It would exclude areas of council properties that cannot be readily be entered into by members of the public (such as, for example, the office of the head of paid service)).
Artwork includes, but is not limited to, paintings, photographs, sculptures and electronic art.
Response
The Borough Art Collection (formerly the collection associated with Guildford House Gallery) contains 620 items. The Borough Art collection is online at http://www2.guildford.gov.uk/boroughcollection/
The museum collection includes works which could be considered art such as photography but these are too numerous to count individually. The Council maintain some pieces of public art (primarily, outdoor sculpture) numbering about 20 pieces.
In the years you have listed above, only one artwork was purchased by the Council for the collection, in the financial year 2017/18. This was an oil painting by Thomas Octavius Clark of a view of the River Wey.
It is not considered ethical for museums and galleries to share financial value of individual artworks. To do so is additionally considered a security risk. The art collection is insured for a total value of £566,200.
None of the art collection is on permanent display anywhere within heritage sites. Instead, we rotate works for temporary display or for loan to other venues. On average, around 20 artworks are on public display at any one time, making use of the full collection and avoiding too much repetition.
Documents
This is Guildford Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.
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