We view art and people’s relationship with art as a qualitative issue. This applies, first of all, to an individual’s personal encounter with a work of art. However, it also applies, albeit in a different sense and on a different scale, to institutions’ access to and thoughts about the art they contain or would like to contain. The art should be incorporated into the institution’s expression. An institution also ‘addresses’ its audience and its users, meeting them with a particular gesture. Art should be seen as part of this gesture.
All applications that fall within the scope of the charter are carefully reviewed and considered, and the quality and specificity of the application has a crucial impact on its chances for approval. Many applications are rejected. The applications with the best chances are the ones that clearly reflect a passion for and a sense of art ‒ perhaps with articulated ideas about how art might be incorporated into, for example, the museum’s collection and information activities or the institution’s educational activities or daily life.
‘The walls seem so bare,’ or ‘the neighbouring museum/school received funding’ is not sufficient motivation. The application should articulate why the institution wants to display works of art, and what sort of difference the role and placement of art might make.