A GROUNDBREAKING art project involving Bournemouth's LGBT community will launch later this month (OCT20).

The Russell-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum will be hosting an exhibition and series of events next year, which will be co-curated by the LGBT community to mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality.

It has been made possible following a Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) grant of £45,000 which will enable the Russell-Cotes to appoint an audience development officer and bring in specialist curators.

The project will be launched on Thursday 20th October 2016 when the LGBT community will be invited to the Russell-Cotes to find out more about the plans and how they can get involved.

Louise Clarke, chair of Bourne Free which organises Bournemouth’s annual Pride Festival, said: "We are very excited by the forthcoming LGBT exhibition at The Russell-Cotes.

"There has never been anything similar in Bournemouth and we are looking forward to seeing the art pieces on display and making connections with them.

"Marking the 50th anniversary of decriminalising homosexuality, we hope that it will reflect in some areas how far we have come within society, yet sadly, in other areas how far there still is to go.

"We thank Russell-Cotes for organising and housing this fantastic project and look forward to working alongside them throughout the process."

Members of the LGBT community, working with museum curators, will have an opportunity to explore some of the thousands of art works in the Russell-Cotes, taking inspiration from the museum-founders Merton and Annie Russell-Cotes’ passion for collecting. They will be able to choose the pieces they love to form a major co-curated exhibition in the museum galleries from May to October 2017, as well as running complimentary workshops, events and celebrations to showcase the museum and its collections.

The Russell-Cotes is only able to display a small percentage of its collection at any one time but this exhibition will be an opportunity to explore its ceramics, costume, sculpture and world collections as well as its internationally known art collection.

Sarah Newman, programmes officer, said: “Next year is going to be a very significant year with celebrations and events planned throughout the country, so it will be very exciting for the Russell-Cotes to be able to participate.

"We are thrilled to be working with Bournemouth’s LGBT community and excited to see the stories and objects they choose to uncover and to celebrate and which resonate with their lives and experience."

For more information on volunteering, email Elissa.noon@Bournemouth.gov.uk