History Of The Museum & Art Gallery

The principles of the Museums Service in Dudley were established in the late 19th century when the first acquisitions of Fine Art were made. In 1911 the Dudley MP Brooke Robinson bequeathed his collection of paintings, furniture, ceramics, enamels and medals to Dudley.

Further purchases and donations of paintings continued throughout the early 1900s during which time the Geology collections of the Dudley and Midland Geological and Scientific Society also came under the control of the authority.

Throughout this period and until the 1960s the current museum building functioned primarily as a School of Art and Library. The Art Gallery was housed in one room on the upper floor of the building.

In 1981 the Brooke Robinson Collection was relocated to the Museum and Art Gallery and re-opened to the public. In 1987 a fresh initiative developed the geological collections, culminating in the opening of the acclaimed Time Trail gallery in 1992.

Those available records for the 1980's show that the Museum attracted on average 21,700 visits per year.

In 1992 a new approach was taken to the programming of exhibitions with the appointment of a new Keeper of Geology, Colin Reid. Beginning with Dinosaurmania and The Age of the Pharaohs the emphasis was shifted away from hanging Fine Art exhibitions to staging theatrical exhibitions running for longer periods and directed towards popular culture and the national curriculum. Visitor numbers have increased dramatically since this shift in emphasis.

Recent exhibitions have included Monsters of the Deep, The Great War and Titanic and have heralded an exciting new period in the development of DMAG. All these exhibitions have been supported with Teachers Packs to assist teachers plan effective visits to the Museum. There is also the opportunity to continue work in the classroom with the development of a small number of Loan Boxes.

During the 1990's the average number of visitors per year has risen to 58,800. These exhibitions have attracted young and old, local residents and regional day-trippers. At peak periods the building has literally run to its maximum capacity. Indeed one of the most remarkable features of these theatrical exhibitions is they attract a broad cross section of the population… A phenomenal success story on a small exhibitions budget.

Towards the late 1990s the emphasis has moved away from 'block buster' type exhibitions to more traditional displays. There are a number of reasons for this change in policy:

There has been a determined effort to encourage the reintroduction of Fine Art. Exhibitions have included Art Attack, Artists Choice and an exhibition of work by local artist Percy Shakespeare.

There was also a need to make budget savings.

There was a need to redirect the workload from developing temporary exhibitions to other projects which since the inception of the block buster type exhibition had been continually relegated to the 'back burner', in particular the redisplay of some of the permanent collections at BHGM.

One of the second floor offices was also refurbished 'in house' to create a 'Community Gallery' in order to provide addition space for local artists and residents to hang their work. Exhibitions in this gallery have included Humari Kuhani - My Story.

This change in emphasis has however impacted the visitor numbers significantly. For the financial year 99/00 the figure dropped to 35,469, the lowest figure for 8 years.

In reality the changes to the programming have actually increased the exhibitions workload and overstretched the small team.

In addition the restructuring of the team at Dudley has seen the new Keeper of Geology take on more of a field role, with an emphasis away from exhibition programming.

In light of the departure of the Exhibitions Officer, Janine Parrish, the Museum is at a crossroads in terms of exhibition programming and strategic direction for exhibition over the next few years.

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