How South Tyneside's £500,000 collection of art treasures is viewed, stored and displayed

South Tyneside Council has less than 10% of its art collection on physical public display, but has stressed residents can still access works digitally.

A mix of the local authority’s art objects are displayed across Segedunum Roman Fort, South Shields Museum and Art Gallery and Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens.

This ranges from watercolours, paintings and decorative art to prints and sculpture.

In addition, 12 objects (0.8% of the collection) are on private display in South Shields Town Hall, with art objects in the collection also being available to view online or by prior arrangement.

According to a freedom of information request to the local authority, the proportion of the art collection on public display is 7.7%.

This means around 91.5% of South Tyneside Council’s art collection is not on physical public display.

Borough bosses have said they try to display as much of the collection as possible via rotation and have taken opportunities to increase capacity to display pieces.

However, the local authority acknowledged it had “limited exhibition space” and that there would always be a proportion of art in storage.

A council spokesperson said: “Our art collection is just one part of the borough’s wider cultural and historical legacy which is celebrated through our borough-wide cultural strategy and supported as an Arts Council England Priority Place.

“With limited exhibition space, there will always be a proportion of the art collection in safe storage.

“However, we do try to display as much as possible in our buildings and local heritage attractions on a rotational basis and have recently made use of some corridor wall space within South Shields Museum and Art Gallery to extend our offer and put up some additional paintings.”

According to recent accounts figures, South Tyneside Council’s art collection is valued at around £0.54million.

As the council’s art collection is not valued in its entirety, with only items worth more than £10,000 identified separately for insurance purposes, the true value would be a higher figure.

When parts of the art collection are not on physical display, South Tyneside Council has encouraged people to view the artworks online.

Borough bosses also confirmed there were no plans to sell any of the local authority’s art collection.

The artworks can be accessed through the Tyne and Wear Archives & Museums website at: www.twmuseums.org.uk/collections/collections-search