Regional art museums and their operations related to municipal cultural activities

In 2022–2023, Center for Cultural Policy Research Cupore is carrying out a regional development task assigned by the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture. The task focuses on regional arts museums and their operations related to municipal cultural activities and interaction with professional artists and amateurs.

The regional arts museums are carrying out the regional arts museum tasks that include being an expert in visual arts and culture, promoting accessibility of visual arts in the region and supporting documentation of the visual arts.

The regional arts museums’ tasks are in many ways connected to municipal cultural activities. Both include local and regional promotion of professional artistic activities. The legislation highlights collaboration in implementing both the municipal cultural activities and the regional arts museums’ tasks. The aim of Cupore’s regional development task is that the municipal cultural activities and interaction with regional arts museums will increasingly provide preconditions for artistic activities.

The project includes a) research on how the regional arts museums’ tasks support the implementation of the municipal cultural activities, b) development of operating models that will promote carrying out the municipal cultural activities and artistic activities as well as accessibility through the regional arts museums’ operations and c) spreading information and good operating models.

The project is carried out in collaboration with Kemi Art Museum, Kuopio Art Museum, Pori Art Museum and the Union of Finnish Art Associations. At Cupore, the project is implemented by senior researchers Maria Hirvi-Ijäs and Sakarias Sokka and researcher Vappu Renko.