Lakeland Arts aims to enrich communities and inspire individuals through stories of the people, landscape and ecology of Cumbria. We can only do so by being fully inclusive, by reflecting all individuals – by telling the full story.

Museums and galleries have historically mirrored a society built upon imperialism. The stories of the Global Majority have often been left out or minimised. Today we are proud to be a part of a sector that is standing in solidarity, digging deep and creating real change in arts and cultural spaces across the UK.

As an arts and heritage organisation, it is our responsibility and our privilege to reflect on our history and work with communities to shine a light on the whole picture, tell untold stories, champion those who have not had a voice and create a future of inclusivity.

The leadership team and staff of Lakeland Arts are also members of the local community who share a cultural, social and historic landscape and a responsibility to make our stories accessible to all.

This important work will be ongoing and it will take our whole team, for many years to come. It will be embedded in all we do.

In the last while we have been listening and planning. We are at the start of our journey to become a considered, equitable organisation. This includes:

• Reviewing and setting our organisation’s values and planning work to ensure we are able to uphold them;
• Board and team training with experts like Antiracist Cumbria;
• Developing partnerships to make our museums allied spaces;
• Researching untold stories of our collection and our communities and finding ways to give them a platform;
• Researching and planning the longterm process of decolonising our collections.

But this is just the beginning. We are fully committed to this vital, continuous work. Something we are reflecting on is one of the Museum Association’s Decolonising Principles, which states,

“The notion of neutrality maintains power and silences the experiences and histories of many. Challenging neutrality can ensure museums mean more, for more people.”

It is vital our museums and galleries provide a welcoming space for members of all communities to engage with the collections we look after.

We will not always get it right, but we are committed to trying our very best. We are learning and we are listening.