THREAT TO THE WILLIAM MORRIS GALLERY
The William Morris Gallery in Walthamstow, London, is the only public
museum in the world devoted to William Morris’s life, work and influence,
and has internationally important collections reflecting the enormous range
of his activities. Morris’s original designs and textiles, wallpapers,
furniture, stained glass, tiles, fine printing and book arts, are shown
alongside works by Burne-Jones, Rossetti, Webb, May Morris and many others.
The museum also has applied arts by Morris's followers in the Arts & Crafts
movement, as well as paintings and drawings by the Pre-Raphaelites and by
Sir Frank Brangwyn, who generously gifted his own significant collections
to form the nucleus of the Gallery.
For the over 50 years since the museum was opened by Clement Attlee, many
thousands of people – locals and visitors and researchers from every corner
of the world – have made the pilgrimage to Walthamstow to visit for free
this museum in Morris’s boyhood home, a beautiful Georgian house set in a
Victorian park.
In January 2007 Waltham Forest Council proposed cutbacks to severely limit
the opening hours of the William Morris Gallery and also of the local
Vestry House Museum & Archives and to terminate the contracts of all staff
as part of a drastic restructuring – who learned about the threats to
their jobs and museums in the local newspaper. The internationally
renowned Curator of the William Morris Gallery has worked tirelessly for
thirty years to build up the collections, to hold inspiring exhibitions, to
educate visitors and to assist researchers. Now, the so-called consultation
period is over and many fear this will be the beginning of the end of this
unique museum – and damaging to William Morris’s legacy.
The Friends of the William Morris Gallery are asking for your help. Please
visit http://www.keepourmuseumsopen.org.uk/ where there is A LINK TO AN
ONLINE PETITION. 10,000 names are needed by the end of the month, so
every single name and comment helps! Please tell your contacts.
Jonathan Glancey has written on this story in today's Guardian, please see:
http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/design/story/0,,2058882,00.html
Time is of the essence and we are very concerned that this will be yet
another cultural disaster in the UK, and another loss of precious
historical resources for students and researchers.
Thank you for your support. As Morris said: FELLOWSHIP IS LIFE
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