Visiting Eastbourne's Towner gallery the other day, I was mightily impressed. The new Towner opened last year in a building created by Rick Mather, whose white lines grace the neighbourhood and whose interior is a succession of generous spaces. A permanent collection built up over nearly a century and rich in views of the South Downs and English coastal artists is shown in rotation in one attractive gallery, with state-of-the-art on-site stores keeping everything in tip-top shape when it is not on view.
Ten years ago it would have been unimaginable to see a gallery of this calibre outside Britain's biggest cities. Urban galleries were themselves often in a dilapidated state. Fine Victorian and Edwardian buildings had been run down in the 20th century, their collections stagnating, unloved. Meagreness prevailed and once-grand public spaces felt bereft. When I visited American or German cities the contrast was startling. Why did regional Britain so lack the kinds of cultural temples these nations took for granted?
The rebuilding and renovations that have taken place in the last decade have rescued our museums. But they have also done more than that. A city or town or rural area with a fine museum is a place with pride. A lot of what makes London or New York exciting is the possession of splendid art and great houses for it. Victorian city fathers knew this; when they created ambitious museums in Liverpool or Manchester, they were asserting the metropolitan nature of these cities.
Britain's loss of faith in its museums in the last century was a consequence of post-imperial self-hate. The recent growth and expansion of our galleries is part of a reborn pride in modern Britain. And why not? Pride inspires admiration. Visitors from abroad love our galleries – the London museums heaved with tourists this summer. Travelling beyond the capital, art lovers from all over the world can find modernity as well as history in these islands. Meanwhile, it is wonderful to think what it must mean to you, if you are 16 or so, to have one of the Artist Rooms shows turn up in your town.
So, to the future. Do public collections have one? Museums are threatened with cuts so severe they will not just lose their shine but their substance, too. All the confidence of a thriving visual culture will be washed away overnight. How can this make economic sense? What do you think tourists come to Britain for – the weather? Yet most of all, it would be an expression of national self-loathing, a depressive admission that we are nothing special. I am not usually given to patriotic flag-waving, but come on – in the arts we have a lot to be cocky about. Support the museums – it means backing Britain.
