£5mn grant from new Julia Rausing Trust completes National Gallery’s NG200 campaign
Melanie May | 19 July 2024 | News
The £5 million grant to the National Gallery was one of the first made by the recently launched Julia Rausing Trust, and completes their NG200 fundraising campaign, which commemorates the Gallery’s bicentenary.
The Julia Rausing Trust launched last week in memory of the late philanthropist, who died earlier this year, and will see £100 million donated to UK charities and organisations in its first year.
The £5mn given to the National Gallery will be used for three projects:
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- To refurbish the mews, connecting the Sainsbury Wing and the Wilkins building for an anticipated six million annual visitors. The link between the two buildings will follow the line of the original architecture of the royal stables located there since the reign of King Richard II.
- The creation of a new artist studio. The National Gallery has a long-standing programme which welcomes artists in residence, associate artists, and contemporary fellows each year. The new studio will be situated overlooking Trafalgar Square and offer artists close access to its library and archive.
- A new Seminar room. The new Research Centre, as part of NG200, will increase access and enable departments to work more closely together, and the Seminar Room in the new Research Centre will be situated in the Wilkins Building and will seat up to 60 people.
At the start of the Gallery’s campaign the Julia & Hans Rausing Trust funded the complete refurbishment of the facade of the historic Gallery building with a donation of over £2.6mn, after Julia Rausing noticed the impact on it from air pollution and the urban environment since its last clean in the 1980s.
Gabriele Finaldi, Director of the National Gallery said:
“Julia Rausing was a huge influence on the National Gallery. She thought it was an important and beautiful museum and that to fulfil its purpose it should be well run, it should look elegant and smart, and it should be welcoming to everyone. She wanted to help, to make a difference. It was thanks to her very direct interest that we undertook two major renovation projects: the refurbishment of Room 32, the gallery that now bears her and Hans’s name, and the cleaning of the National Gallery facade on Trafalgar Square.
“This latest grant to honour Julia’s memory enables us to look to the future, to a Gallery that serves its visiting public better and supports artistic creativity and research on the paintings in the collection.”
£10mn to Royal Opera House
The Julia Rausing Trust also announced a £10mn donation to the Royal Opera House as part of this first wave of funding. This will be used to fund major upgrades across its staging and lighting to improve the environment for artists and the audience.
This includes replacing the current production lighting rig, which has been in use for 25 years, having been used up to 16 hours a day and often seven days a week. Specialist lighting known as ‘ballet booms’ used to illuminate dancers on stage will be upgraded, and the stage curtain will be replaced after 25 years. This will weigh approximately 1.6 tonnes and measure 12m by 18m and will recognise His Majesty, King Charles III, as Patron of the Royal Opera House with the inclusion of his personal cipher on the curtain.
The Royal Opera House was an organisation which Julia Rausing had previously supported through her philanthropy, giving £12.5 million in 2023 as headline sponsor for the opera and ballet seasons over five years, recognising the importance of supporting the UK’s world class artistic companies.
Alex Beard, Chief Executive of the Royal Opera House said:
“Julia Rausing was a dedicated patron and true lover of the arts, and we are extremely thankful for this generous grant in her memory, which will be providing vital funds needed to help us renew our stage infrastructure to deliver the state of the art facilities that our artists deserve and allow our audiences to continue to enjoy performances in our beautiful Grade I listed building in Covent Garden.
“This gift is in addition to an annual fixed contribution that The Julia and Hans Rausing Trust has pledged over five years, which supports our two artistic companies, our ability to build the audiences of the future and our work in schools and communities up and down the country.”
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.