Public Monuments and Sculpture Association
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The Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, or PMSA, was established in 1991 to bring together individuals and organisations with an interest in public sculptures and monuments, their production, preservation and history.
The primary aim of the PMSA is to heighten public awareness of Britain's monumental heritage - past, present and future - through activities, publications and dialogue. It campaigns for the listing, preservation, protection and restoration of public monuments and sculpture, covering a period from the Stuart monarchy to the present day. As well as campaigning for historic monuments and public sculpture, the PMSA has been active in promoting the commissioning of new public monuments and sculpture.
The PMSA's founding members were Jo Darke, with the writer, lecturer and broadcaster Paul Atterbury, Ian Leith of the National Monuments Record, and Catherine Moriarty, then Co-ordinator of the National Inventory of War Memorials, which was founded in 1989 to create a database of war memorials throughout the UK.
From the beginning, the PMSA was actively encouraged by the writer and sculpture scholar Benedict Read, and by Andrew and Janet Naylor, metal sculpture conservators. Subscriptions were opened in May 1991 and membership has now stabilised at around 250. Since 1991, the PMSA has initiated the National Recording Project and collaborated with the publishers Liverpool University Press on the acclaimed series Public Sculpture of Britain, and has established the much respected bi-annual Sculpture Journal. It has set up events, conferences and publications in collaboration with English Heritage, the UK Institute of Conservators, University College Dublin and many other similar institutions. The PMSA operates an advisory service and distributes newsletters and newssheets to its members.
The latest projects include collaboration with other organisations and individuals to oversee production of the Custodians Handbook, published in 2005 and occasionally updated. It was designed to give guidance to families and individuals who inherit sculptors' works, studios, archives and memorabilia; and the campaign Save our Sculpture (SoS) was set to encourage concerned members of the public to keep watch over their neighbourhood sculptures, and to report damage or negligence to the PMSA.
The Association is a charitable company which is run by a board comprising its Director and the Trustees, known as the General Committee. Ad hoc sub-committees are established to organise events, projects or campaigns.
The President of the PMSA is His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, KG, GCVO. The current chairperson is John Lewis, who took over from Loyd Grossman in 2007. Prior to that Benedict Read had been the PMSA chairperson. The Chief Executive is Jo Darke.
