YORK'S Quilt Museum and Gallery is to close next year after struggling to generate enough income from visitors and business ventures.
The Quilter's Guild has today announced the museum, on Peasholme Green, will close at the end of October 2015.
The guild has provided financial support to The Quilt Museum through its own reserves and fundraising activities, but has now announced those funds cannot give the museum a sustainable long term future.
Guild President, Vivien Finch said: “The decision to close the Quilt Museum and Gallery is profoundly disappointing, but we can take comfort in the knowledge that since it opened we have welcomed over 75,000 people to over 50 exhibitions and introduced many visitors to the joy of quilts and quilting. In addition, we have taught sewing skills to over 8,000 children and adults.”
The museum has attracted between 10,000 and 12,500 visitors a year, Museum Manager Fiona Diaper added, a considerable achievement for a small niche museum.
Before the closure, visitors will be able to enjoy the exhibitions planned for 2015 including a major exhibition with American textile artist Kaffe Fassett entitled Ancestral Gifts.
In a statement, a Guild spokesman said they would continue to care for the collection of historic and contemporary quilts and look for a location where the public can see the quilts on pre-organised visits.
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