TY - JOUR TI - The Whitworth: a place for Industry and Art AU -Imogen Holmes-Roe PY - 2022 VL - IS - Autumn 2021 KW - Arte Útil KW - Arts and Crafts Movement KW - Great Exhibition KW - Manchester KW - Social Change KW - Useful Museum KW - Whitworth AB - The Whitworth has been making art useful since 1889. Originally founded in the memory of the pioneering engineer Sir Joseph Whitworth (1803–87), the gallery was built for ‘the perpetual gratification of the people of Manchester’. As the Whitworth celebrated its 130th year, the gallery hosted a major exhibition which explicitly explores and acknowledges the history of the Whitworth institute, gallery and park. A proponent of standardisation, Sir Joseph revolutionised precision engineering through his development of interchangeable parts in machinery. While he maintained a natural interest in technical education throughout his life, less is known about whether this support extended to the fine and decorative arts. Conversely, today the Whitworth is celebrated for its internationally significant collections of art and design and its contemporary exhibitions programme, but for many visitors the gallery’s association with the great Victorian mechanical engineer is less clear. This paper, which was presented at the Science Museum Group Research Conference 2019: The Place of Industry, reflects on research that was first carried out in preparation for the exhibition ‘Standardisation and Deviation: the Whitworth Story’ (14 December 2019–January 2022). It is not intended to be an original piece of research nor to provide a comprehensive history of the gallery. What follows is a reflection on some of the original source material and research papers that were consulted in preparation for curating the exhibition. Together they have been used to illustrate how the history of the Whitworth provides an object lesson in how art and technology unite. N1 - Industry 4.0 sets out the national and regional research priorities of the University of Manchester and is being used as a framework to describe the latest phase of industrialisation, which includes 3D printing, smart factories, robotics and big data connectivity provided by the Internet of Things and AI. N1 - Quoted in the first Whitworth Committee letter, signed by L Whitworth, Richard C Christie and R D Darbishire, 21 November 1889, p 1 N1 - For a detailed account on Joseph Whitworth’s inventions including his fixed scale gauges refer to Atkinson, N, 1997, Sir Joseph Whitworth: The World’s Best Mechanician (Gloucestershire: Sutton Publishing). N1 - Conversion rate taken from https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/monetary-policy/inflation/inflation-calculator N1 - Sir Joseph Whitworth’s legacy had a far-reaching impact on the wider city of Manchester and its built environment. This is explored in detail in Abigail Wilson’s paper ‘Philanthropy, industry and the city of Manchester: the impact of Sir Joseph Whitworth’s philanthropy on Manchester’s built environment’ in this issue. N1 - Margaret Pilkington’s role both at the Whitworth and within the Red Rose Guild of Designer Craftsmen is well documented in the Papers of the Red Rose Guild, which can be accessed via the University of Manchester Library (GB 133 PIL/2). N1 - Arte Útil conceives art as a tool for social and political change. Initiated by artist Tania Bruguera, the term translates from Spanish to mean ‘useful art’. ‘Useful art’ is not separate from the world, it operates within it and has practical outcomes which respond to current political and social urgencies. You can see examples of ‘useful art’ case studies in the Arte Útil Archive – a database of artistic projects that take art from a state of proposal to action. In 2021 the Whitworth intends to open an Office of Useful Art that will be a space to put our new mission to ‘make art useful’ into action. PB - The Science Museum Group SN - 2054-5770 LA - eng DO - 10.15180/211604 UR - https://journal.sciencemuseum.ac.uk/article/the-whitworth-a-place-for-industry-and-art/ T2 - Science Museum Group Journal