• The trust was founded on 1 August 2002. On 3 October 2002 it took control of the sites. Many of the staff who had been working in the museums and galleries under the City of York council transferred across to the new organisation. • In 2009 jointly acquired with the
British Museum the
Vale of York Hoard, a Viking treasure hoard valued at over £1,000,000. • An exhibition in 2011 of
David Hockney’s largest landscape painting
Bigger Trees Near Warter was the best-attended since the Trust had taken over the York Art gallery in 2002. • In 2012 the Trust successfully raised enough money to retain one of a pair of Iron Age gold
torcs that had been found in
Towton,
North Yorkshire. • A number of objects with a Yorkshire connection and held by the Trust were included in the BBC History of the World project, including the
Middleham Jewel, the
York helmet, and a tin of
Rowntree's cocoa from
Ernest Shackleton’s unsuccessful
Nimrod expedition to the
South Pole. • In 2013 the Trust in conjunction with the BBC organised a
Stargazing Live event at the York Observatory in the York museum gardens. • In 2014 an exhibition at York Castle Museum focussed on the changes brought about by the First World War, in the centenary year of the start of the conflict. • In 2015
Janet Barnes, the founding Chief Executive of YMT retired.
Reyahn King was appointed as her successor. • King stepped down in summer 2022 to move to
National Trust for Scotland. YMT announced her replacement,
Kathryn Blacker, on 30 August 2022.
Funding The Trust is primarily funded through the City of York Council and the Arts Council. The Trust also derives substantial revenue from admission charges and other income sources. Total funding and income for 2013/14 is expected to be £5.85 million. On 4 November 2022 the Arts Council announced its continued support of York Museums Trust as a National Portfolio Organisation as part of the 2023-2026 investment programme. YMT's annual report for the
City of York Council in 2023 highlighted that the Trust expected to make a loss of approximately £300,000 in the financial year 2022/23 because of the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the
Cost of Living Crisis on visitor figures, donations, and secondary spending at its venues.
Governance York Museums Trust is led by a CEO, supported by directors and other senior staff. They are responsible to the Trustees.
COVID-19 pandemic • On 18 March 2020 the Trust announced that it was closing all of its sites due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. • On 28 July it announced that it had a £1.5 million shortfall in its finances due to the pandemic and, despite emergency funding from Arts Council England, it warned of possible job losses resulting from the prolonged closure of its venues. An August report sent to the
City of York Council requesting additional funds to ensure the continued operation of the Trust warned that the failure to do so would result in the closure of all York Museum Trust sites and the reversion of ownership to the council. • On 13 October 2020 the Trust announced that it has been awarded £850,000 as part of the
Culture Recovery Fund from the UK government. • On 2 November 2020 the Trust announced that it was due to close the York Art Gallery and York Castle Museum from 5 November as part of new national restrictions in England. • On 10 November 2020 the Trust announced that it has finalised the restructure of the organisation in an effort to close a £570,000 shortfall in its finances as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. 26 members of staff were made
redundant and 17 members of staff took voluntary redundancy. As of 1 November 2020 the Trust employs 101 people. The Yorkshire Museum remained closed. • York was moved into
Tier 3 Restrictions on 31 December 2020, forcing the Art Gallery and Castle Museum to close. • On 28 March 2021 the Yorkshire Museum announced that it has received an additional £18,000 'Lifeline grant' from the Culture Recovery Fund for repairs to the building façade and roof. • In March 2021 it was announced that the Art Gallery would reopen on 28 May to coincide with the launch of a new exhibition 'Grayson Perry: The Pre-Therapy Years' and that the Castle Museum would also reopen in May. • On 2 April 2021 the Trust announced that it had received £423,000 from the second round of funding of the Culture Recovery Fund. • On 7 May 2021 it announced the reopening of the Yorkshire Museum on the 9 July 2021 with an exhibition featuring a portrait of
Richard III of England from the
National Portrait Gallery. ==Sites==