Contemporary arts funding supports new acquisitions for The Harris

15 July 2020

The Harris is delighted to announce it has received funding from the Contemporary Art Society to add a ceramic pairing and work on paper by Shawanda Corbett to its collection. This artist has also just been announced as one of the recipients of the Turner Prize bursaries for 2020.

Corbett was born in Mississippi, America, but is currently working towards her doctoral degree in Fine Art at the University of Oxford. She has just opened her first UK solo show at the Corvi Mora Gallery in London.

Corbett's vessels come in pairs with beautiful painterly designs. Memories of childhood and of the neighbourhood where she grew up are a starting point for her work. Each pair has a personality - and her ceramics are sometimes intended as stand-ins for people that Corbett can remember from growing up. Corbett's practice also involves performances combining music, dance, prose and poetry. The Harris hopes to invite Shawanda to Preston - and to commission her to create a performance inspired by our building - once it is safe to do so.

Councillor Peter Kelly, Cabinet member for culture and leisure, said,

"We are delighted to have been successful in our application to the Contemporary Art Society's Rapid Response Fund. When we re-open our galleries later this summer we will not only be reflecting on the impact of Covid-19 and the Black Lives Matter movement with our local communities - but also testing new ideas and objects for our major redevelopment project Harris Your Place.

The ceramics and drawings by Shawanda Corbett will go on immediate display and be used as points around which we explore ideas relating to memory, community and creativity with our visitors. Corbett's work is hugely inspirational and, when it is completely safe to do so, we hope to invite the artist to Preston to perform so we can showcase the full range of her artistic practice."

The CAS Rapid Response Fund, in partnership with Frieze London, is a response to the Covid-19 pandemic to support both artists and museums across the UK. The fund is designed to support as many different artists and local museums as possible, based on the understanding that our museums will play a vital role in our communities as we exit the crisis.

Image credits

• Installation view of the exhibition "Neighbourhood Garden" by Shawanda Corbett at the Corvi Mora Gallery in London until 31 July 2020. Photo courtesy the Artist and Corvi-Mora, London. Photo: Marcus Leith.

Background information

About the Harris

• Based in Preston, Lancashire, the Harris is one of the leading museums, galleries and libraries in the region. Host to art collections of national significance, exciting activities and events for all ages and an award-winning contemporary art programme, the Harris welcomed over 384,000 visitors in 2018/2019.
• The city of Preston - located in the heart of Lancashire and the North West and with over 1,000 years of history Preston is a city that has much to offer.
• The Harris is proud to be an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation. The Harris consists of an art gallery, museum, library and café.
• The Harris has received development funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund of £180,900, for the Re-Imagining the Harris project, which is an ambitious project supported by key partners including the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and the Preston, South Ribble and Lancashire City Deal. Made possible by National Lottery players, the project aims to establish the Harris as the UK's first blended museum, art gallery and library. Having recently celebrated its 125th birthday the Harris aims to be a centre for Preston's cultural and social life, a source of inspiration, pride and creativity for the next 125 years.  #HarrisYourPlace
• Arts Council England is the national development body for arts and culture across England, working to enrich people's lives. We support a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries - from theatre to visual art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires us, brings us together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2018 and 2022, we will invest £1.45 billion of public money from government and an estimated £860 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.

About Contemporary Art Society

The Contemporary Art Society champions the collecting of outstanding contemporary art and craft in the UK. Since 1910 the charity has donated thousands of works by living artists to museums, from Picasso, Bacon, Hepworth and Moore in their day, through to the influential artists of our times. Sitting at the heart of cultural life in the UK, the Contemporary Art Society brokers philanthropic support for the benefit of museums and their audiences across the entire country. Their work ensures that the story of art continues to be told now and for future generations.

How the CAS Rapid Response fund works

The CAS Rapid Response Fund, in partnership with Frieze London, borrows the model of the CAS Collections Fund, which uses donations to directly fund the acquisition of important works of contemporary art for museum collections. Open to buy work from both fine art and craft practitioners, museums apply by making a case for how a specific artwork will support them in engaging with their local communities when they reopen. Applications are being reviewed on a rolling basis by the 2020 CAS Acquisitions Advisory Committee: Helen Legg, Director, Tate Liverpool; Patricia Bickers, Editor, Art Monthly; Haroon Mirza, Artist; Ben Cooke, Director, LUX; Tanya Harrod, writer and curator; Alison Britton, ceramicist, writer, curator; and Sarah Griffin, Independent curator