Driving innovation through technology-enabled research spaces and collections management at The Courtauld

The Courtauld Institute of Art is the world's pre-eminent centre for the history and conservation of art. Our celebrated collection of 35,000 artworks, dating from the Middle Ages to the present, includes many iconic works, and encompasses paintings, works on paper, decorative arts, and sculpture. It includes the UK's greatest collection of Impressionist paintings and one of its finest collections of drawings. Our mission is to extend the understanding of the visual arts through a wide spectrum of complementary activities (teaching, curating, conservation, exhibitions, the display of the collection, and public programmes) all of which are rooted in our thriving research culture. Motivated by a commitment to significantly increase access to our collection, research, teaching, and public engagement for the benefit of society, we embarked on an ambitious project focusing on our gallery and conservation facilities in late 2018. The Courtauld aims to be a world leading centre for teaching and research; to redefine the notion of art history, which encompasses multiple disciplines; to understand global objects and image making in context; and to be an inclusive organisation for people of all backgrounds.

After more than 30 years in our current Somerset House home and with no major improvements since 1989, it was clear that these facilities urgently required extensive and sensitive renovation and refurbishment. The support of the AHRC Capability for Collections Fund is critical to ensuring that this transformation at The Courtauld produces world-leading research both within academic and public spheres, and expands our capacity to digitize our assets in order to contribute to the creative industries, including the heritage sector.

In bestowing The Courtauld with a world-class collection of art, our founders recognized that the study of works of art as physical objects was central to art historical and conservational expertise. The Courtauld has the largest concentration of art historians, conservators, and curators in the UK, and in keeping with these founding principles, our conservation department is responsible for our own collections. Our student body of c.550 students take degrees from BA to PhD, and our alumni numbering more than 8,000 are leaders in the arts and creative industries worldwide. Since the 1930s, The Courtauld has been a leader in the education of conservators. Our taught conservation programmes (wall and easel paintings) host more than 25 students per year; conservation alumni are leaders in the field nationally and internationally.

A robust programme of exhibitions and displays, research and cataloguing projects, a visiting curator scheme, international partnerships and a range of regular public and scholarly events have made The Courtauld's collection among the most dynamic of its kind internationally. The Courtauld believes that its distinctive programme of exhibitions is a primary means to deliver world-leading research and add value to the research environment.

The Courtauld's request delivers some of the most sensitive elements of the infrastructure development of its redevelopment works and which align to the Opportunities to grow our capability strategy. In the application, The Courtauld has identified three core areas for AHRC support: collection stores upgrade and refit; technology-enabled study spaces such as the Prints and Drawings Study Room and Technical Examination area and an Object Study Room; and mechanical improvements to better care for and examine all works in the collections.

The proposed interventions during the funding period drive a step-change in cultural and art historical education to advance research, and promote new forms of partnership with both physical collaborations and digital initiatives.