Spring is proving a positive season for Tullie Museum and Gallery, as two more awards bloom into its growing collection.
First for the organisation as a whole from Carlisle’s Elite Awards, where the team took home the prestigious ‘Contribution to the City’ award. This recognition comes at a key time for the museum, a year on from the unveiling of its new entrance, welcome space, shop and Carlisle Gallery. Work is also just getting underway on Tullie’s next contribution to the city – the dramatic transformation of the first-floor Border Galleries to reveal 100,000 objects from the collections.
Beginning in 2024, the Elite Awards are a showcase for the best in Carlisle and Cumberland, aiming to celebrate the success of local businesses and businesspeople that make a real difference to the area.
“Receiving this award is recognition of the vital role museums play in placemaking and supports our ambition to make Carlisle a more vibrant place to live through arts, heritage and community engagement. This would not have been possible without our dedicated team of staff and volunteers – my sincerest thanks and appreciation to them all.” – Andrew Mackay, Director at Tullie
The last weekend of the month saw Café Tullie scoop the ‘Best Attraction Café’ award for Cumbria at England’s Business Awards. This is a huge boon for the café, which relaunched after refurbishment last year with a brand-new in-house catering team. Café Tullie has received great critical acclaim and prides itself on using local produce to create a fresh, exciting menu to make the café an attraction in its own right, not merely an add-on to the museum. Though Café Tullie is distinct in display with artwork from Tullie’s contemporary art collection on the walls, including one by Turner prize-winner Keith Tyson.
Nominated and voted for by the public, England’s Business Awards recognise the people’s favourite businesses on both a regional and national level.
“This was such lovely news to get I’m so incredibly proud of my team, I’m lucky enough to see first-hand every day how hard working, caring and talented they are, so for those qualities to be recognised with an award is extra special.” – Sandra Bird, Catering Team Leader at Café Tullie
