Editing Royal Academy of Arts (section)

==Activities==
[[File:Microcosm of London Plate 002 - Exhibition at Somerset House by Thomas Rowlandson and Augustus Pugin. 1800..jpg|right|thumb|An early [[Royal Academy Summer Exhibition|RA Summer Exhibition]] at the Academy's original home in [[Somerset House]]]]
[[File:Frith A Private View.jpg|thumb|''[[A Private View at the Royal Academy, 1881]]'' by [[William Powell Frith]], depicting [[Oscar Wilde]] and other Victorian worthies at a private view of the 1881 exhibition]]

=== Charitable status ===
[[File:RA Summer Exhibition 2015, Varnishing Day, opening speech Christopher Le Brun.jpg|right|thumb|[[Christopher Le Brun]], President of the RA, on "Varnishing Day", or the artists' opening of the [[Royal Academy Summer Exhibition|Summer Exhibition]], 2015]]
The Royal Academy receives funding from neither the State nor the Crown, and operates as a charity.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1125383&subid=0|title=The Royal Academy Of Arts|publisher=Charity Commission|access-date=25 July 2020|archive-date=26 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826182806/https://register-of-charities.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=1125383&subid=0|url-status=live}}</ref> The RA's home in Burlington House is owned by the UK government and provided to the Academy on a [[Peppercorn (legal)#In leases for real property|peppercorn rent]] leasehold of 999 years.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/archive/lease-of-burlington-house|title=Lease of Burlington House|publisher=Royal Academy of Arts|access-date=25 July 2020|archive-date=26 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826182803/https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/art-artists/archive/lease-of-burlington-house|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Permanent collection and loans ===
One of its principal sources of revenue is hosting a programme of temporary loan exhibitions. These are comparable to those at the [[National Gallery, London|National Gallery]], [[Tate Gallery|the Tate Gallery]] and leading art galleries outside the United Kingdom. In 2004 the highlights of the Academy's permanent collection went on display in the newly restored reception rooms of the original section of Burlington House, which are now known as the [[John Madejski]] Fine Rooms.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/home/fine-rooms-are-trading-up-7438101.html|title=Fine Rooms are trading up|date=12 March 2004|publisher=Evening Standard|access-date=25 July 2020|archive-date=26 August 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826182807/https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/celebrity-news/fine-rooms-are-trading-up-7438101.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Exhibitions ===
Under the direction of former exhibitions secretary Sir [[Norman Rosenthal]], the Academy has hosted ambitious exhibitions of contemporary art. In its 1997 "[[Sensation exhibition|Sensation]]", it displayed the collection of work by [[Young British Artists]] owned by [[Charles Saatchi]]. The show was controversial for its display of [[Marcus Harvey]]'s [[Myra (painting)|portrait of Myra Hindley]], a convicted murderer. The painting was vandalised while on display.<ref name=artcrime>{{cite web|url=http://www.artcrimes.net/myra|title=Myra – Art Crimes|access-date=5 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150302170505/http://www.artcrimes.net/myra|archive-date=2 March 2015|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In 2004, the Academy attracted media attention for a series of financial scandals and reports of a feud between Rosenthal and other senior staff. These problems resulted in the cancellation of what were expected to have been profitable exhibitions.<ref name="RA feud guardian">{{cite news|url=http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1235218,00.html|title=Feud at top 'tearing Royal Academy apart'|last=Higgins|first=Charlotte|date=10 June 2004|access-date=7 March 2007|work=The Guardian|location=London|archive-date=5 February 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080205040259/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/news/story/0,,1235218,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2006, it attracted the press by erroneously placing only the support for a sculpture on display, and then justifying it being kept on display.<ref name="empty plinth">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/southern_counties/5081744.stm|title=Empty plinth sidelines sculpture|last=BBC|author-link=BBC|date=14 June 2006|work=BBC News|access-date=7 March 2007|archive-date=5 September 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905035253/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/southern_counties/5081744.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> 

From 3 February to 28 April 2024, the RA showed the exhibition "Entangled Pasts, 1768-now" in order to reveal and discuss "connections between art associated with the Royal Academy of Arts and [[United Kingdom|Britain's]] colonial histories."<ref>RA. [https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/file/1969 ''Entangled Pasts: Large Print Guide (Main Galleries)'']. London: RA, 2024, p. 7.</ref> However, according to [[Colin Grant (author)|Colin Grant]], in ''[[The Guardian]]'', the exhibition "appears to be tame" though it attempts to "critique the exclusive and impenetrable RA."<ref> Grant, Colin: [https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2024/jan/30/entangled-pasts-1768-now-review-royal-academy-show "Entangled Pasts 1768-Now review – RA all at sea with its risk-light colonial revisionism"], ''The Guardian'', 30 January 2024.</ref>

=== Summer Exhibition ===
{{Main|Royal Academy Summer Exhibition}}
The Academy hosts [[Royal Academy Summer Exhibition|the Summer Exhibition]] an annual [[open art exhibition]], which means anyone can enter their work to be considered for exhibition. Established in 1769, it is the oldest and largest open submission exhibition in the world and is included in [[Social season (United Kingdom)|London's Social Season]]. The members of The Academy, also known as Royal Academicians select and hang the works. Art works in a variety of media are exhibited including painting, sculpture, film, architecture, photography and printmaking.

[[Tracey Emin]] exhibited in the 2005 show. In March 2007 Emin accepted the Academy's invitation to become a Royal Academician, commenting in her weekly newspaper column that, "It doesn't mean that I have become more conformist; it means that the Royal Academy has become more open, which is healthy and brilliant."<ref>Emin, Tracey. [http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:UKNB:TND1&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=118338C14803D1A0&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=102CDD40F14C6BDA "I can see that the Ra-Ra club is going to be a lot of fun"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110080330/http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004 |date=10 November 2013 }}, ''The Independent'', 30 March 2007</ref>

=== Friends programme ===
In 1977, [[Hugh Casson|Sir Hugh Casson]] founded the Friends of the Royal Academy, a charity designed to provide financial support for the institution.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=272926&subid=0|title=The Friends of the Royal Academy|publisher=Charity Commission|access-date=25 July 2020|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725211034/https://beta.charitycommission.gov.uk/charity-details/?regid=272926&subid=0|url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Literary collaborations ===
[[Pin Drop Studio]] hosts live events where well-known authors, actors and thinkers read a short story chosen as a response to the main exhibition programme. The literary evenings are hosted by Pin Drop Studio founder Simon Oldfield. Guests have included [[Graham Swift]], [[Sebastian Faulks]], [[Lionel Shriver]], [[William Boyd (writer)|William Boyd]], [[Will Self]], Dame [[Eileen Atkins]], Dame [[Siân Phillips]], [[Lisa Dwan|Lisa Dawn]] and [[Ben Okri]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/podcast-short-stories-with-ben-okri|title=Podcast: Pin Drop with Ben Okri |website=Royal Academy of Arts |date=12 April 2016 |access-date=2018-05-02|archive-date=25 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200725183857/https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/article/podcast-short-stories-with-ben-okri|url-status=dead }}</ref>

The RA and Pin Drop Short Story Award is an open submission writing prize, held annually along similar principles of the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition. The award ceremony features a live reading of the winning story in its entirety by a special guest. Past winning stories have been read by [[Stephen Fry]], [[Penelope Wilton|Dame Penelope Wilton]], [[Juliet Stevenson]] and [[Gwendoline Christie]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thebookseller.com/news/fuller-wins-royal-academy-pin-drop-short-story-prize-338201|title=Fuller wins Royal Academy & Pin Drop short story prize |website= The Bookseller |date=Jun 27, 2016|first1=Natasha |last1=Onwuemezi |language=en|access-date=7 March 2018|archive-date=30 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181130124146/https://www.thebookseller.com/news/fuller-wins-royal-academy-pin-drop-short-story-prize-338201|url-status=live}}</ref>