10 NADFAS REVIEW / AUTUMN 2010

www.nadfas.org.ukNADFAS REVIEW / AUTUMN 2010 11ARTS NEWSArts NewsArts and heritage updates from around the country. Compiled by Simon TaitUlster Museum is Art Fund Museum of YearAbove:Stephen Deuchar, newlyawarded a CBE, describedredevelopment of the UlsterMuseum (top) as 'stunning'Derry to be 2013City of CultureThe once troubledDerry/Londonderry is to be theUK's first City of Culture in 2013,beating Birmingham, Norwich andSheffield to the title. Keyto the year will be the formerEbrington Barracks that are to betransformed into a cultural quarterby the Northern Irelandregeneration company Ilex who arecommitting £200m to Derry,creating 3,000 jobs. Town Clerk Valerie Watts said:"We have been given a once in alifetime chance not only to shareour innate talent, creativity andenergy with the rest of the world,but also to transform this regionforever. This is a new chapter inour journey from plantation topeace, and its legacy will last forgenerations." The city council is also biddingfor World Heritage Site status intime for the 400th anniversary in2013 of its ancient walls. Top:The creation of a culturalquarter at the former EbringtonBarracks helped boost Derry'sCity of Culture claimsBelfast's venerable Ulster Museumhas beaten the Ashmolean inOxford, Blist's Mill at the IronbridgeGorge Museum, and the HerbertMuseum and Art Gallery inCoventry to win the Art Fund's£100,000 Museum of the Yearaward. Originally opened in 1833as the Belfast Municipal Museumand Art Gallery, it became theUlster Museum in 1962 and in1998 the centrepiece of theNational Museums and Galleries ofNorthern Ireland. It reopened inOctober 2009 after a three-year,£17.5m refurbishment. "UlsterMuseum is a brilliant example of amuseum that is passionate aboutits public," said the Art Fund'sDirector, Stephen Deuchar. "Theredevelopment is stunning,capturing its visitors' minds andhearts with exceptional creativeflair." Deuchar himself has somethingto celebrate. He was awarded theCBE in the Queen's BirthdayHonours List for services to thepublic during his time as Directorof Tate Britain, his role beforetaking leadership of the Art Fund inJanuary this year. . You can read our interview withStephen Deuchar on page 28.Chiswick House Gardens reopen after £12m restorationThe 65 acres of Chiswick House Gardens, created byWilliam Kent and Lord Burleigh through the 1720sand 30s, and credited as the birthplace of the EnglishLandscape Movement, have reopened following a£12m restoration. The work has been carried out by a trust createdby English Heritage and Hounslow Borough Council.Original vistas and designs have been restored afterdecades of disrepair and underfunding, and statuaryand garden buildings have also been repaired andrestored. More than 1,600 trees have been planted, includingtrees propagated from the original 18th-centurycedars of Lebanon.