Abergavenny Museum has been awarded a share of a £50,000 windfall from the Sharing Treasures project, a scheme designed to make the nation's treasures more accessible to the public.
The project is one of five at local and regional museums in Wales that have been awarded a total of over £200,000 to develop exhibitions and projects that will include artefacts from national collections across Wales and the UK.
The project is a joint initiative between the Welsh Government and the Heritage Lottery Fund who have contributed £105, 766 and £99,900 respectively.
The scheme aims to make historic collections more accessible to the public by helping local museums, archives and libraries across Wales to establish partnerships with national institutions so that items from national collections can be loaned to them and exhibited at a local level. The funding will assist with the costs of setting up exhibitions as well as alterations and improvements to buildings to make them suitable for the loaned exhibits.
Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum Wales is also an important partner in the scheme. It will offer specialist services to the local museums which are taking part to encourage the sharing of skills and expertise as well as lending collections to a number of the exhibitions.
Announcing the funding, Housing, Regeneration and Heritage Minister Huw Lewis said: "Sharing Treasures is an excellent project that will allow artefacts belonging to national collections to be displayed in the communities whose stories they tell.
"The Tintern and Llantony Abbeys project will ensure that local people can learn more about the history of their area by visiting their local museum. Our heritage is an incredibly important part of our local identity and culture so this is a very positive step forward in increasing access to our history to all in Wales
"I look forward to seeing the exhibition when it is ready and wish both Chepstow and Abergavenny museums the best of luck with the project"
Jennifer Stewart, Head of HLF Wales, said: "We are delighted to support the Sharing Treasures scheme and in doing so to have encouraged a wider range of museums and libraries to plan exhibitions using national collections. The planned exhibition will provide opportunities for local people to learn more about their local history and play a part in sharing it with future generations."
Anne Rainsbury Curator of Chepstow Museum & Rachael Rogers Curator of Abergavenny Museum said: We are thrilled to have been awarded a grant under the Sharing Treasures Scheme and excited by the prospect of working together on major exhibitions and event programmes to run at our two museums in 2014. We are looking forward to creating partnerships in our communities to involve them in this prestigious project.