Art Fund announces UK-wide touring exhibition programme

Art Fund has announced a £5.4m exhibition programme of touring projects.

Touted as the UK’s largest ever collaborative touring project, the Going Places programme will see 20 museums and galleries across the four UK nations develop 40 unique exhibitions over the next five years.

Exhibitions set to form part of the project include Green Spaces Shared Places, which will explore the health benefits of the outdoors and will open at the National Memorial Arboretum in May 2026. In the same month, an exhibition called Long Distance Connections, that will explore stories of women artists, will open at Penlee House Gallery & Museum.

Other planned projects include New Faces New Focus, which plans to connect newly formed and isolated communities with their heritage via an exhibition opening in September 2026 at Open Eye Gallery. Meanwhile Communities of Making, which will explore the traditions of making textiles including Irish linen, Scottish wool and Welsh basketry, is set to open in April 2027 at Inverness Museum & Art Gallery.

Across each of the projects, local communities will work with curators and play a role in shaping the exhibition.

Going Places is being support by a £2.86m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and £1.5m from the Julia Rausing Trust. Art Fund says it is also fundraising to support the programme.

Jenny Waldman, Art Fund director, said Going Places is “a celebration of UK collections and the people who bring them to life”. 

“By pooling resources, sharing expertise and working together, museums are championing a sustainable and collaborative approach to touring exhibitions – while making their collections accessible and exciting for communities across the country,” Waldman added.

The charity adds that Going Places is a direct response to museums’ needs for more sustainable and collaborative ways of exhibiting, after the Art Fund’s 2024 survey of museum directors survey found 63% of museums are looking to partner on exhibition making.