That's an awful lot of Green Ladies
From Hansard:
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what pieces of artwork valued at over £1,000 were (a) purchased by her Department and (b) transferred to her Department's ownership in each of the last three years; and what the (i) name and (ii) value is of each.
Mr. Byrne: My Department does not have an annual budget for art. However following the opening of 2 Marsham Street in 2005 £122,000 was spent on the provision of internal art for the new building. This demonstrated the Department’s support for UK arts. The developer had direct responsibility for the costs of the external art strategy, the cost of which is included in the combined PFI charge for the building.
Or maybe weeping urchins, cat's eyes on black velvet or Spanish dancers were more to Ministry of the Interior's taste?
Note the bold text. I think this has the makings of a fabulous recurring rationale, not that there is any indication of the provenance of the art. Perhaps expensive chairs etc will 'demonstrate the department's support for the UK office supply industry', and 48" plasma screeens will 'demonstrate the department's support for the UK's retailers' etc etc. Burning our money indeed.
The Green Lady can be found here. Being a sensitive soul, I did not want her staring out at me for the rest of the day, so link, no picture.
Mr. Ruffley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what pieces of artwork valued at over £1,000 were (a) purchased by her Department and (b) transferred to her Department's ownership in each of the last three years; and what the (i) name and (ii) value is of each.
Mr. Byrne: My Department does not have an annual budget for art. However following the opening of 2 Marsham Street in 2005 £122,000 was spent on the provision of internal art for the new building. This demonstrated the Department’s support for UK arts. The developer had direct responsibility for the costs of the external art strategy, the cost of which is included in the combined PFI charge for the building.
Or maybe weeping urchins, cat's eyes on black velvet or Spanish dancers were more to Ministry of the Interior's taste?
Note the bold text. I think this has the makings of a fabulous recurring rationale, not that there is any indication of the provenance of the art. Perhaps expensive chairs etc will 'demonstrate the department's support for the UK office supply industry', and 48" plasma screeens will 'demonstrate the department's support for the UK's retailers' etc etc. Burning our money indeed.
The Green Lady can be found here. Being a sensitive soul, I did not want her staring out at me for the rest of the day, so link, no picture.
Labels: the Ministry of the Interior, Where your money goes
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on Wednesday, May 21, 2008 at 7:47 am.
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For goodness sake. They could presumably justify spending millions on potted plants on that basis as well, or perhaps purchase a Van Gogh to hang in Downing Street?
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