May I offer to you a Review of 2025.
In January, 2025 the Salisbury Civic Society presented the museum with an award for the outstanding repairs and conservation work undertaken as part of the Past Forward project in 2024. This was a fitting acknowledgement of the care and investment that has gone into preserving this remarkable historic building for future generations. And a tribute to Adrian Green, his colleagues and the previous generation of trustees.
Additional works were carried out during 2025 thanks to the generosity of our major donor, Peter Bradshaw. These projects may not always be visible to visitors, but they have been essential in securing the long-term future of the museum and protecting the collections entrusted to our care.
Our exhibitions programme during the year demonstrated the breadth and diversity of the museum’s offer. We began with the final weeks of the Trinity Buoy Wharf Drawing Prize before presenting 1980s Britain – Money Changes Everything, a lively and engaging exhibition that explored the culture, photography and music of that transformative decade. It drew on contributions from local people and proved particularly popular with visitors of all ages.
Our major summer exhibition, Elisabeth Frink: A View from Within, was a highlight of the year. Developed by Dorset Museum and Art Gallery and supported through Wessex Museums, it offered fascinating insights into Frink’s life and work in Dorset and attracted strong visitor interest throughout the summer months.
2025 concluded with an exciting new initiative: the Landscape Open. Developed in partnership with Parker Harris, this international competition attracted almost 2,000 submissions from more than 1,000 artists. The resulting exhibition showcased nearly 80 outstanding works and demonstrated the enduring appeal of landscape as a subject for contemporary artists. We were delighted to award the first prize to Sophie Bartlett, who will return to the museum in 2026 with a solo exhibition.
We continued to support artists through a programme of smaller exhibitions, lectures and events. Highlights included talks on costume design, twentieth-century sculpture and landscape art, as well as our highly successful fundraising lecture delivered by Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert Museum. We also welcomed audiences to a season of ceramics-themed activities, family workshops and adult learning opportunities.
During 2025 the museum remained a vibrant centre for community activity throughout the year. Events such as the Spring Fayre, the Festival of Archaeology and the Fashioning Our Future fashion show brought together people of all ages and backgrounds and reinforced the museum’s role at the heart of the community.
A particularly important aspect of our work continues to be engagement with young people and under-represented audiences. Through the delivery of the Past Forward Activity Plan, we expanded our schools and outreach programmes, supporting young people through creative projects, after-school clubs and partnerships with local schools.
Our Community Curator has continued to build meaningful relationships across the city and county. Projects this year included intergenerational oral history work, creative activities for visually impaired participants, sessions with English language learners, and the ongoing Conversation Club for older people experiencing loneliness or living with the early stages of dementia. These programmes demonstrate the museum’s commitment not only to preserving heritage but also to improving wellbeing, fostering inclusion and creating opportunities for people to connect.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund-supported Fashioning Our Future project has also continued to flourish. From improving collection storage and developing new exhibitions to engaging schools, colleges, young carers and volunteers, the project is helping to unlock the potential of our fashion collections for new audiences. I would particularly like to congratulate Katy England on achieving Associateship of the Museums Association and on representing the museum at the Museums Association Conference.
The museum’s collections continued to grow, with 26 acquisitions adding further depth and richness to our holdings. Notable additions included the Bennett family archive, an important work by Elisabeth Frink and two paintings by Salisbury artist Margaret Sarah Carpenter. We are especially grateful to Donald Whitton for his generosity in helping secure these last two works for the collection.
Acknowledgements:
Our achievements would not be possible without the dedication and expertise of our staff and many volunteers. During the year we welcomed Jane Booth as Marketing Officer and Clare Parry as Learning Officer, while Alice Maddicott took on the role of Learning and Engagement Manager. We also bid farewell to learning officer Owain Hughes and thank him for his significant contribution to the museum, wishing him every success in his new role.
May I also mention the trustees of the museum; over the past couple of years we have refreshed the board with new members, including Tim Moulding and Sam Mullins, subject to your approval here this evening, which demonstrates our forward looking culture.
We have amongst us a lawyer, accountant, heritage expert, historian and museum experts such as Tom Wright, Sam Mullins and Val Greathead. We are well balanced to serve you.
However, at the same time, I would like to reiterate our appreciation to past and retiring trustees but in particular David Edmonds who has served as our Treasurer and coordinated the handover this past year to Katie Blackwood. And to Dave Baker – another long serving trustee. We will miss you both although will no doubt remain close to the museum.
I am delighted to report that the museum welcomed almost 30,000 visitors during the year. This figure reflects the continuing support of our local community, our members, volunteers, donors, partners and visitors from further afield. Every visit, donation, membership and act of support contributes to the success of the museum and helps us fulfil our charitable purpose.
Looking ahead, we are now preparing the next phase of our masterplan. This exciting development will transform the south wing of the museum, creating a dedicated art and exhibition space that will enable us to host an ambitious programme of temporary exhibitions, alongside our permanent displays, including the nationally important Rex Whistler archive. The plans also include safe archive storage and enhanced visitor facilities – they are on display downstairs within the link corridor behind the reception area. With estimated capital costs of around £5 million, this will be a major undertaking. Work is already underway to seek the funding required to bring this vision to life – and so please do engage with us if you feel able to support this project, or know of others who might do so.
As we look towards the future, we do so with confidence. We have strengthened our historic building, delivered an ambitious programme of exhibitions and activities, expanded our community engagement, and laid the foundations for an exciting new phase of development. On behalf of the trustees, I would like to thank our staff, volunteers, funders, supporters and visitors for their continued commitment to our shared Salisbury Museum.
