CAMPAIGN
Palace Green Library Above, Professor Stuart Corbridge and Jonathan Ruffer sign partnership agreement
Our Cultural Contribution In the last issue of Dialogue, we explored the positive contribution the University makes to the economy of North East England. In this issue, we focus on our cultural contribution.
The facts
Zurbarán Centre We’re proud to be working with North East charity the Auckland Castle Trust to create The Zurbarán Centre for Spanish and Latin American Art in Bishop Auckland, County Durham.
Situated at the heart of the World Heritage Site, Palace Green Library is a place where visitors and researchers alike can explore the University’s treasures and collections from around the world.
Auckland Castle is home to paintings of Jacob and his twelve sons, by Spanish master Francisco de Zurbarán, in whose honour the new Centre is named.
It regularly has in excess of 120,000 visits to its year-round exhibitions, café, archive search rooms, activities and events. In recent years it has hosted the return of the Lindisfarne Gospels and a major exhibition celebrating the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta.
The Centre, which is due to open later this year, will link the University’s academic research to the curatorial programme at Auckland Castle’s new Spanish Gallery, which is due to open in 2019, and support public engagement and regional regeneration.
Upcoming developments include a new DLI Collections Gallery in partnership with Durham County Council, the conservation and opening up of the Medieval Exchequer and a major exhibition on time machines.
The University will support the Centre with £1 million of investment over five years and Santander will donate £600,000 over three years – the largest single donation made by Santander to a UK university.
In 2015/16, the Learning Team worked with 21,585 school children – reaching over 90% of primary schools in County Durham.
As well as playing a key role in the Durham Castle and Cathedral World Heritage Site, the University operates such popular attractions as the Oriental Museum, the Museum of Archaeology, Palace Green Library and the Botanic Garden. An independent study by BIGGAR Economics found 231,270 people visited University attractions in 2014/15 and the extra visitors the University brought to North East England generated £7.6 million for the economy. In addition, we deliver award-winning schools education and our staff and students volunteer across many tourist attractions and activities.
The University and its culture related activities play a crucial role in making Durham an attractive place to study, work, live, visit and invest. BiGGAR Economics
Mar | Apr 2017
For more information on how the University is So Much More than the sum of its parts, visit www.durham.ac.uk/about/somuchmore or follow us via #DUsomuchmore 13