Science Gallery International has announced that its efforts to develop the Global Science Gallery Network are now being supported by new funding worth €1.15 million. The U.S. Cordover Family Foundation has donated €450k, and another €700k has been secured from an unnamed philanthropic organisation. This is in addition to the initial support of €1m by Google’s charitable arm, Google.org.
7 new galleries will be set up worldwide by 2020 through the development of the Global Science Gallery Network. They will be based on the approach first pioneered by Trinity, and created through partnership with leading universities in urban centres of technological and cultural innovation. The first new gallery will open at King’s College London in 2017, followed by one in Bangalore, in partnership with the Government of Karnataka and Indian Institute of Science. There are also plans to establish a gallery in Australia by 2018, and Science Gallery is in talks over potential locations in the Asia, Europe, and the USA.
This is in addition to Science Gallery’s exhibitions which are touring internationally. ILLUSION is currently showing in Kuala Lumpur, and BIORHYTHM in Taiwan. HUMAN+ will open in Barcelona at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània this week.
The Dublin gallery has received more than 2 million visitors since opening in 2008, received numerous awards including Special Commendation for innovation in the museum sector at the European Museum of the Year Award. The current Dublin exhibition, SECRET, runs until the 1st of November, with various related events taking place over its duration.
This exciting news comes at the same time as Founding CEO of Science Gallery, Dr. Michael John Gorman, announces his intention to step down. He has led the development of the Gallery from its beginnings in 2007. In 2016 he will begin a new role as Professor at Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich and Founding Director of the Bavarian Museum of Life Sciences and Natural History. Speaking about his new direction, he said:
“Working to establish Science Gallery has been the greatest privilege of my career. It is with great excitement that we are able to announce this new and transformational funding today, which matches the gift received from Google.org in 2012, and sets SGI on a firm footing to secure all eight Science Gallery locations by 2020, as we reach the halfway milestone […] More than ever, I look forward to seeing the Global Network ignite the creativity of 15-25 year olds through the collision of art and science, inspiring the innovators of the future.”
The Board of Science Gallery is in the process of identifying a new CEO, who is expected to be in place within the first half of 2016, prior to Gorman’s departure.
