As part of the 70th anniversary of its collection of Modern and contemporary art, Arts Council England plans to expand its national partners programme to include three more galleries outside London: the Birmingham Museums Trust, the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool and Towner Art Gallery in Eastbourne. The council will give the galleries a combined £1.8m to host 24 exhibitions drawn from the Arts Council Collection over the next three years. The collection includes work by more than 2,000 artists, from Francis Bacon to Rachel Whiteread. The anniversary celebrations also include new commissions from eight artists, among them Katie Paterson and John Akomfrah.
