About the scheme
The Art Fund allocated £50,000 towards a new initiative, Art Fund Collect 2008 in partnership with the Crafts Council. This scheme was designed to encourage curators to acquire ambitious and significant works of contemporary applied and decorative art, by leading UK-based and international artists and makers, at Collect 2008.

By providing preview access to the fair for selected curators, as well as 100% grants for outstanding examples of contemporary applied and decorative art, and a swift and straightforward decision-making process, The Art Fund and the Crafts Council enabled museum collections to compete with private collectors, and in turn raised the profile of public collections of contemporary craft in the UK. Art Fund Collect purchased selected works outright, and no additional funding was required from the museum or gallery. David Barrie, Director, The Art Fund said: 'Great works of contemporary craft are still available for affordable sums if you seize the opportunity offered by fairs like Collect. This strategic and active intervention by The Art Fund is designed to by-pass the often cumbersome decision-making processes and enable museum curators to be able to compete with private collectors to acquire the very best work now being made.'

The proposals were considered by a committee which consisted of Jonathan Marsden, David Barrie, Sir Nicholas Goodison and Rosy Greenlees.

From applications submitted, 10 museums and galleries were shortlisted, and curators were given the opportunity to select significant works for their museum’s collection on the morning of Thursday 24 January 2008. At this time the Crafts Council organised privileged access, prior to the fair’s formal opening. The committee then considered final applications, allocating a total of £50,000 across successful proposals, basing its decisions on the curators’ initial proposals, and on the significance and vision of their subsequent choices at Collect 2008.

Art Fund Collect runs in addition to existing Art Fund grant giving. For more information about routine applications and how to apply, contact
Sarah Philp, Senior Grants Officer (020 7225 4803; sphilp@artfund.org) or Francesca Geens, Head of Grants (020 7225 4815; fgeens@artfund.org) at the Art Fund.

If you are a museum or gallery and would like more information on collecting craft generally, please contact Annabelle Campbell, Exhibitions and Collections Manager at the Crafts Council (020 7806 2521; a_campbell@craftscouncil.org.uk).

The Art Fund is an independent charity committed to saving art for everyone to enjoy. Since we began in 1903, we have helped save over 860,000 works of art and have 80,000 members who support us.