Women in Jazz lottery grant

Swansea-based Women in Jazz have been awarded a Project Planning grant of £44,700 from Heritage Lottery Fund to take forward plans to relocate the organisation and safeguard the extensive collection of archive material.

Women in Jazz was established in 1986 to ensure a central place for women in the past, present and future of jazz highlighting the suppressed history of women in jazz. Its archive includes recordings, writings, costumes, equipment and instruments

Plans to move to new premises are a priority for the organisation as existing space is no longer appropriate for the preservation and care of the collection.

The Heritage Lottery Fund grant will fund essential planning work which will inform the future care and management of the collection as well as research the potential for attracting visitors to a fully accredited museum, with appropriate training, education and access plans.

Women in Jazz have just appointed Abby Sohn as Project Planning Officer, a post also funded by Heritage Lottery Fund.

Abby has previously worked in museum conservation for institutions such as the Smithsonian Institute, National Museum of the American Indian, Bronx, New York and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She has also worked in Wales as a conservator at the National History Museum at St Fagans, Nantgarw Collections Centre, Big Pit National Coal Museum and the National Wool Museum.

Jennifer Stewart, Heritage Lottery Fund Manager for Wales, said: "Saving historic records is important as they provide such a useful tool for anyone who wants to explore their past.

"This grant will help Women in Jazz make future plans to ensure that their extensive archive is given the care it deserves."

See www.womeninjazzswansea.org.uk for more about the organisation.