A woman with dark brown hair photographed from behind. She is standing in a gallery looking at paintings on a wall. The painting in front of her also shows a woman in detailed white frame. The painting itself is full of colour and shows a woman sitting on an armchair.Image source, Rugby Borough Council
Image caption,

Councils across England own hundreds of thousands artworks, but what are they doing with it all?

ByEma SabljakEngland Data Unit
  • Published30 minutes ago

Fewer than one in 20 artworks owned by English councils are on public display, the BBC has found.

More than 500,000 pieces of art are held in the collections of 225 councils, but the vast majority is being kept in storage.

Local authorities remain "the biggest single constituent of public funding for arts and culture", according to the chief executive of the charity Art UK.