Salford Quays Art Comission

“Salford Quays, Manchester’s waterfront, was once the great port through which the nation’s goods flowed around the globe and through which the world’s products entered the country. Now, a century later, Salford Quays emerges as one of the United Kingdom’s great portals to the national and global community, through which knowledge, culture and creativity pass into and out of the country.” Michael Joroff, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on Salford Quays

The Arts Council and Salford City Council are jointly funding the commissioning of a piece of work for the public realm. The intention is to develop a 'signature' piece that says something distinctive about The Quays.

If you are interested in submitting an idea please contact Kathy Mc Ardle, Kathy.mcardle@thelowry.com or call 0161 876 2097 to obtain a copy of briefing notes.

Google Art Project

Described by Google as 'A unique collaboration with some of the world’s most acclaimed art museums to enable people to discover and view more than a thousand artworks online in extraordinary detail', the Google Art project really does have the potential to deliver a widely accessible experience of the world's most well known museums.

Whilst it will never replace a visit in person - the value of seeing art, it's scale and presence in a setting is uniquely informative - the 'street view' experience should draw in a wide range of people of all ages, internationally, to view art work, see the buildings that house some to the best art collections in the world, and should hopefully result in a wider appreciation of the arts and the value it brings.

Current partners of the project are:

* Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin - Germany
* Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian, Washington DC - USA
* The Frick Collection, NYC - USA
* Gemäldegalerie, Berlin - Germany
* The Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC - USA
* MoMA, The Museum of Modern Art, NYC - USA
* Museo Reina Sofia, Madrid - Spain
* Museo Thyssen - Bornemisza, Madrid - Spain
* Museum Kampa, Prague - Czech Republic
* National Gallery, London - UK
* Palace of Versailles - France
* Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands
* The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg - Russia
* State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow - Russia
* Tate Britain, London - UK
* Uffizi Gallery, Florence - Italy
* Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam - The Netherlands

It's worth spending a little time to explore this treasure trove for yourself.

Visit the Google Arts Project.

Museum of Contemporary Art for London (Moca London)

Charles Saatchi, co-founder of the global advertising company Saatchi & Saatchi is gifting the Saatchi Gallery and over 200 pieces of art to the nation. Artwork includes pieces by Tracey Emin, Grayson Perry and Richard Wilson. Read more on the BBC website.