Published on 21st February 2013

Computer generated image of the Wilson

Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum is launching MyFace Live, an innovative fundraising idea for a great cause – something a little bit different! Live today - Thursday 21 February

Rather than asking the public to ‘donate money, and we’ll put your name on a brick’, MyFace Live is encouraging the public to make a donation towards the Art Gallery & Museum’s Building for a New Future appeal, and in exchange, they will have their portrait projected onto the walls of the new gallery.

By joining MyFace Live, the public’s donations will be directly supporting the creation of a new arts space for young people in Cheltenham, through a special MyFace Live exhibition that will display their portraits both in the online gallery and also projected onto the new gallery walls at the Art Gallery & Museum – when it re-opens later this year. With suggested donations starting from as little as £10, this gives everyone a chance to show their support and be a part of the project.

Jane Lillystone, museum, arts and tourism manager, said: “We’re really excited about launching this campaign . The MyFace Live exhibition will be a unique new gallery, created and curated entirely by the public! It will also be our way of thanking the public for donating to, and supporting the Art Gallery & Museum. We want to show the rest of the world the faces that have helped to make our vision a reality – so we want your portraits!”

All mediums are welcomed - photographs, paintings or drawings – but it must be a portrait. These can be self-portraits, or of friends, family, a loved one or even a pet – and if you are an artist, then you can upgrade your donation and include links to your own website.

So …… get creative and get uploading!

Be part of it. Sign-up now:  www.myfacelive.com

The Art Gallery & Museum is scheduled to open later this year – and an exciting programme of exhibitions and events is currently being planned.



For media enquiries, please contact:  Maxine Noonan, web and communications officer, telephone: 01242 775192, or Anna Stanway, marketing and information officer, telephone: 01242 775707

Notes to editors
Information on donations:
  • £10 donation will secure 1 months' projection space
  • £15 for 2 months' projection space
  • £25 for 3 months' projection space
  • £50 for 6 months' projection space
  • £100 for 12 months' projection space and an invitation for you and a guest to a preview of the MyFace Live exhibition

The redevelopment scheme, Building for a New Future, is the design and build of a new extension and the refurbishment of some existing galleries and public spaces. Building for a New Future will transform Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum by greatly increasing its exhibition, display and other facilities. It will allow improved access and enhanced opportunities for the use and interpretation of its locally, regionally and internationally important art and heritage collections. It will also enable the Art Gallery & Museum to become a major venue for national and international touring exhibitions.

Building for a New Future will also significantly enhance the surrounding conservation area - as well as preserving the adjacent listed buildings - and create a 'new gateway' to Cheltenham's oldest building, medieval St. Mary's Church, and a 'first-stop' for visitors to Cheltenham, through the re-location of the Tourist Information Centre to the ground floor of the new extension.

The re-development is supported, with thanks, by the following key partners:

Cheltenham Borough Council
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Summerfield Trust
The Monument Trust
The Foyle Foundation
Garfield Weston
Wolfson Foundation
Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum Development Trust
Friends of Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum
The University of Gloucestershire