Guest opinion:
Stephen Snoddy, director of New Art Gallery, Walsall, argues that regional museums and public galleries must put more resources into building their collections of contemporary art and photography.

Directors in regional museums in Britain need to place the buying of contemporary art at the top of their institutions' agenda. It is as simple and important as that.

Research has shown that a great deal of people in this country would like to buy contemporary art. The public sector has a role to play in developing the kind of self-confidence needed to purchase contemporary art. It is also vital that artists have a growing and dynamic economy to be able to fund and develop their work. And we need collections that are alive and breathing.