Green light for £2.58m Museum of Making

Bondholder Derby Museums Trust is to transform Derby Silk Mill into a new Museum of Making as it gets an invitation to apply for £2.58m funding from the Arts Council.

It is to be a creative and inspirational museum housed inside the world's first factory, Derby Silk Mill, and will be rooted in the city's industrial history and kitted out with the latest tech to help build peoples' skills and creative talent.

Over the next 18 months, the Trust will receive an £85,000 development grant to complete its application to the funding programme, showing plans at a detailed stage of design and development. If successful, the Trust will secure the additional £2.58m to support the project.

Tony Butler, Executive Director at Derby Museums Trust said: “We are thrilled Arts Council England is helping us take our pioneering project to the next stage. We are intent on making the arts fundamental in understanding of the STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). We want to turn STEM into STEAM.

Peter Knott, Area Director, Midlands at Arts Council England said: “We're delighted to be investing in Derby Museums' fantastic plans for its Museum of Making. This new museum will be a place where arts and culture meld with science and technology. Building on Derby's rich industrial legacy we hope the museum will be a place which inspires the creators and makers of the future.”