NML and Tate Liverpool to receive £20m 'Levelling Up' funding

National Museums Liverpool and Tate Liverpool are each set to receive £10m from the Government’s Levelling Up fund.

The investment, announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak as part of his autumn budget, will help pay for capital and regeneration projects planned by the two major city cultural organisations.

It will enable NML to forge ahead with its Canning Docks Project, part of a 10-year masterplan to reimagine the city’s famous waterfront.

The project will transform the area between the Royal Albert Dock and Mann Island, increasing access to museums and galleries and conserving the fabric of historic buildings for the next generation.

Supporters of the scheme have pointed out that it will also contribute to the visitor economy by levelling up economic and cultural opportunities across the city, while improvements to the public realm will benefit health and wellbeing.

Meanwhile Tate Liverpool will use the funding it receives to modernise and update the dockside gallery and to reconfigure the external public realm so it connects more clearly with the Royal Albert Dock.

The £20m funding, which is coming from the Government’s £4.8bn Levelling Up fund, was secured through a bid spearheaded by Liverpool City Council.

Above: Tate Liverpool. Top: The Museum of Liverpool on the city's famous waterfront

National Museums Liverpool director Laura Pye said: “We’re incredibly excited and thankful to have successfully secured funding which brings us a step closer to realising our ambitions.

“The news follows the appointment of a design team last month who will take forward the transformation of the public realm, which includes new bridges spanning from the Pump House to Mann Island and bringing historic dockside buildings back into use.”

And Helen Legg, director of Tate Liverpool, added: “We’re grateful to the Government for this investment and for their vote of confidence in us to help Liverpool build back better.

“We want to be bold with the work we show and to tell the story of modern and contemporary art through the lens of Liverpool and the north. The money from the Levelling Up fund will be invested in remodelling our gallery spaces to meet the scale and ambition of today’s most exciting artists, while also creating social spaces that better connect with our city and the communities we serve.

“When Tate Liverpool was established in 1988 it was a pioneer for arts-led regeneration of industrial cities. This investment will enable us to remain at the cutting-edge for the next 30 years and beyond.”