1 Pitt Rivers & Natural History Museums Oxford “In a Different Light”
The two museums were thronged with 3,000 people on the evening of Saturday 19 May enjoying music, dancing, films and demonstrations.

2 SS Great Britain “Dream Boats”
Families with young children took part in creative workshops to make their dreamboats and then saw them float alongside the ss Great Britain.

3 The Collection Lincoln “Night at the Museum”
Historical characters came to life at the museum as in the film “Night at the Museum” shown later.

4 Orleans House Gallery “Carnival Arts, What has the Slave Trade to do with us?”
Families worked with carnival artist-in-residence Carl Gabriel and contributed to the design of a collaborative sculptural piece which will be part of the gallery’s Twickenham Carnival parade and will then be exhibited within the 2007 commemoration exhibition, Parallel Views: Black History in Richmond.

5 Tunbridge Wells Museum “All about art”
People of all ages (650 took part) were invited to try a range of different creative activities on the theme of ‘People - Who are we?”, including experimenting with the traditional art of creating a personal silhouette, but with a modern twist, guided by a professional artist, exploring personal identity through face-painting & henna art and the use of mirrors and finding out more about the people behind the Museum’s collections through a detective trail.

6 Bath and North East Somerset Museums “Night at the Museum”
Ten museums in Bath opened between 5.30-10pm on Saturday 12 May, some offering live music played by local students. There were also film screenings of footage relevant to individual collections, arts workshops and torchlit tours. 1, 000 visitors took part, many of whom were doing a 'trail' to see how many museums they could visit.

7 Rugby Art Gallery “Discovery Days”
The Main Theme of “Who are we” was linked to the environment and 100 years of scouting in a series of events with community partners and aimed at young male teenagers who don’t regularly visit museums.

8 National Railway Museum “Northern Trax”
The Northern Trax project launched its website at this MGM event – a live indie rock gig included a DJ and three bands. The Great Hall was transformed as the stage was set in the shadow of Stephenson’s statue to create a dramatic industrial backdrop. Northern Trax is about getting young people off railway lines and into something less dangerous and more fruitful e.g. music.

9 Scottish Fisheries Museums “Spinning Yarn”
This event was linked to an exhibition of traditional ganseys (fishermen’s jumpers). Contemporary knitwear designer Gillian Henny shared her inspiration in a design and knitting workshop. This was followed by an atmospheric fashion show in the museum’s Zulu gallery, with designs modelled by local teenagers to the musical accompaniment of DJ On the Fly.

10 Scarborough Museum and Art Gallery“Family Music Event”
A “noisy” Family Fun Music Session in partnership with SureStart designed to make music inspired by the pictures on display from the Gallery's collection. This was led by Kathy Seabrook, a musician from the Scarborough Spa Orchestra. Twelve families ie 75 people (some very young) took part.

11 Derby Museum and Art Gallery “Prehistoric Days”
Some 600 people came to this event which celebrated the Bronze Age Archaeology of the Derbyshire area by introducing visitors to a range of activities including Flint knapping, Clay beaker pot making, Green Woodworking demonstrations, Warrior jewellery making, Bronze Age object handling and finds identification and the showing Animation film by Sean Harris, introducing the project ‘Linking Landscapes’

CASE STUDIES

1 Pitt Rivers & Natural History Museums Oxford “In a Different Light”

Pitt Rivers Museum and Oxford University Museum of Natural History in association with the Bate Collections
Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PP
Contact: Tel 01865 270927 Kate White kate.white@prm.ox.ac.uk

Title and Date: In a Different Light 2007 - Saturday 19th May
Budget: £2000 (approx)
Theme: As title - lights, music, enchanting atmosphere

Objective: To encourage visitors to re-engage with the collections by changing the context in which they are viewed and to draw in new visitors who may find this approach more to their taste.

Description of Event: A wide choice of activities on offer simultaneously in different areas, allowing visitors to dip in and choose those which appeal - 5 different live music/ performances, 3 films, mask-making activity, handling of insects and minerals, torchlight viewing of the displays. The atmosphere is all important: the combination of the lights, sounds, and many happy people made it a truly memorable occasion.

Evaluation: 3000 visitors over the 3 hours (including 1400+ by timed-ticketed entry to the Pitt Rivers) primarily brought by word of mouth recommendation based on last year's event. Around 15% had not visited previously.

What was different?: The feedback was, on the whole, ecstatic – “Awesome - much better than excellent” was one visitor’s response on the satisfaction survey. Visitors were thrilled by the performances, particularly within these unusual settings: masked dances by Tibetan monks in the Museum of Natural History, Kora and Mbira players in the dark Pitt Rivers, Gamelan orchestra in the new gallery, drummers outside. (Handling the millipede also got very high ratings). Some queued for 45 minutes to get in as numbers quickly reached capacity so inevitably there were a few disappointed visitors who missed specific activities - eg the tickets for the Pitt Rivers ran out very quickly. However, the wide choice and the repeating programme ensured most visitors enjoyed themselves.

Inspiration for the future: The positive feedback has encouraged us to commit to this as an annual event, and to keep learning and working to resolve the minor organisational problems so each year gets better and inspires more visitors to value the collections. Feedback also makes it clear that visitors want more of this kind of event. We are working with Oxford Inspires and other colleagues to trial a bigger City-wide Christmas event.

2 SS Great Britain

The ss Great Britain Trust, Great Western Dockyard, Bristol BS1 6TY Tel. No. 0117 9260680 ext 203
Contact: Helen Horler, Education and Access Officer Email: helenh@ssgreatbritain.org

Name of Event: Dream Boats
Date(s): Dream Boats Workshops - 7th, 26th and 28th May
The Dream Boats launch evening event - 31st May
Budget: £150 for art materials. Volunteers kindly committed their time and expertise.
Theme: People Who Are We?- Families building their ‘Dream Boats’
Objectives: Objectives included MLA’s Generic Learning Outcomes:
· Knowledge and Understanding
· Skills
· Attitudes and Values
· Enjoyment, inspiration and Creativity
· Activity, behaviour and progression
Further objectives:
· To create an open and friendly and safe environment for young people to work individually or collaboratively with their families on a fun activity.
· To provide free ‘drop in’ activities for visiting families, together with a free launch event - open to those involved and the public.
· To broaden educational activity beyond the perimeter of the ss Great Britain site. Creating a unique display within a unique setting.
· Create maximum awareness of the museum and family fun activities, impact and involvement for the local community.

Describe the event/activity (briefly):

Dream Boat workshops:
Art based museum activities where children and their families were engaged with making giant origami boats ‘their own’ by decorating them to express their identities ’who are we?’ and their dreams for the future.

Dream Boats Launch evening: Children and their families who made their boats were encouraged to return to the ss Great Britain at the end of Museums and Galleries month for the chance to watch their boats float in Bristol’s floating harbour, alongside the ss Great Britain. First launch was at 7pm so young children could join in and the night time glow extravaganza at 9pm.

Evaluation of event: All objectives were met and there were many positive outcomes that went further than our expectations. Many parents told me they were coming to the museum especially to get involved in the workshops. Volunteer’s involvement was a huge success. Media interest was high - nearly making it into the Guardian!

The following were observed by volunteers and I:

· Knowledge and Understanding
Participants learnt how to make an origami boat and different decorative techniques. They learnt to identify and understand joining methods for different materials. Working collaboratively, they learnt about each other. Participants could discuss their ideas with volunteers who shared their knowledge of the structure of the ship. They used this knowledge when building their own boats.

· Skills
Thinking critically, making judgements about, their work and that of others. Social skills- meeting others and sharing. Emotional skills- discussing their hopes and dreams and their interests to express themselves. They also responded to the ship and Bristol. Communication skills- speaking to our volunteers and other visitors and listening, debating ideas. Physical- making objects to take away or launch their boats.

· Attitudes and Values
The session may change perceptions of the ship and area around her- look at the area in terms of regeneration and the future. The launch was visually very exciting and inspiring. Participants would have changed opinions of themselves and others- some worked in teams, some worked with new materials and may look to do something similar in the future. Everyone seemed to have a positive attitude in relation to their experiences and wanted to do more!

· Enjoyment, inspiration and Creativity
All participants appeared to have fun and the volunteers and staff gained positive verbal feedback. The workshops were packed to capacity and over 100 people attended the evening launches. Participants they may have been surprised by how successful their boats were. Participants had innovative thoughts and explored and experimented with making and were inspired by what they saw and discussed.
One young child who attended a school workshop saw the boats in the education centre and was absolutely fascinated. I gave him a boat to take home and a leaflet of the event. Weeks later he arrived with his family from Bath with his own boat to launch!

· Action, behaviour and progression
Many families returned to the museum and proudly brought their friends or extended families to watch the launch of their boats. Many parents and children asked when the next museums workshops were taking place so they can come back.
Participants may seek art classes they can join, or find out about more art exhibitions.

What made this event/activity special to the participants, special for the museum or gallery?

· Many participants were very pleased to see their boats float and become part of a bigger event where the boats worked together to create a stunning sight.
· This was the first time the ss Great Britain has had a younger, school-age volunteer involved in delivering family fun activities. She thoroughly enjoyed working with visitors and saw the impressive outcome of all her efforts on the launch night.
· A creative and imaginative event celebrating Museums and Galleries month which also relates to the ss Great Britain and her environment.
· Allowing people to ‘get messy’ in a museum setting could change perceptions of what a museum is about.
· The event brought the historic ship into the present day- interpreted by the public for others to see on the launch evening event.
· The launch event stretched educational activities for children beyond usual opening hours.
· This is the first time the café stayed open in the evening for an educational activity so families could relax and use the facility.

How will this project inspire you for the future? And, how could it inspire others?

· Following this successful workshop we plan to run the same activities next year and to build on the successes of this year’s Museums and Galleries Month.
· Many families who were involved in the Dream Boats workshops came from across the country- next year I would like to provide live web cam footage for children to watch the launches and enjoy them from homes across the country and beyond!
· I am inspired to create a web-based gallery of all the different designs- all 70 boats to inspire future participants next year!
· Dream Boats launch inspires me to source local musicians to create music to play live by the harbour side during the boat launch.
· I strongly believe that it will inspire museum practitioners to design ambitious projects involving water and children and continue planning for health and safety. I am always happy to share our experiences with others.
· I hope that this event asks museum practitioners to think beyond their designated and immediate learning spaces, make links to the past and use other spaces and at different times of the day.

3 The Collection Lincoln “Night at the Museum”

The Collection: Danes Terrace, Lincoln LN2 1LP Tel. No. 01522 550955
Contact: Kim Walshaw Email: Kim.walshaw@lincolnshire.gov.uk
Name of Event: Night at the Museum
Date(s) 19th May 2007
Budget: £750

Theme
We wanted to relate MGM’s theme ‘People – who are we?’ directly to the Night at the Museum event at The Collection. An exciting programme of late night events was planned with screenings of the Hollywood Blockbuster ‘Night at the Museum’ as well as the chance for members of the public to see our very own exhibits come to life. Historical characters from the museum’s very own collection were brought to life as staff members dressed up and adopted their role on the night.

Objectives
We wanted to bring in and engage with as many people as possible to the museum. Our main objective was to inform and excite our visitors about their past and the history of Lincolnshire.

Describe the event/activity
Plans to show the film ‘Night at the Museum’ at 7pm on the Saturday soon had to be revisited. The screening was fully booked within days – so we decided to show the film at 2pm…then 4pm…and even 2pm on the Sunday! Everybody enjoyed the film and the theme of the secret life of a museum after dark was carried through into The Collection. The film was even switched on by our very own Night Watchman – keys and torch in hand!

Hundreds of children and adults came face to face with figures from Lincolnshire’s historic past. The living history group – Lord Burgh’s Retinue – helped shed light on the medieval way of life. There were Knights in full armour, a wise woman and her potions as well as dancers and musicians. Staff members adopted the role of The Collection’s most notorious characters with Gaius Valerius the Standard Bearer of the 9th Legion, Claudia Chrysis a wealthy Roman lady and Thorfast the Viking Smith.

A one-off exhibit proved to be the star attraction of the evening’s event. A living statue gargoyle was positioned outside the Auditorium ready to spook all the children and adults at the end of the film screenings. Many were caught out as the gargoyle reached out to grab them creating lots of shouts and laughter but no tears!

Other events on the night included guided tours by our Archaeological curator, Antony Lee and free face painting! By the end of the night the Museum was filled with Celtic Warriors, Egyptian Ladies, Skulls and Dinosaurs!

Evaluation of event in terms of visitor numbers etc.
The event received lots of positive feedback as well as media coverage on our local radio station and in local newspapers. 650 people came to the museum on 19th May 2007 and 60 people attended the Sunday screening of the film.

What made this event/activity special to the participants, special for the museum or gallery?
The opportunity for visitors to watch the film and then experience The Collection’s very own exhibits come to life proved to be incredibly successful. Visitors enjoyed engaging first hand with historical characters from Lincolnshire’s past. The variety of activities on offer was particularly special – lots of children enjoyed the opportunity to have their faces painted and the T-Rex option was incredibly popular.

How will this project inspire you for the future? And, how could it inspire others?
This project has shown us that we can successfully engage with new audiences and excite them about their own history. This has inspired us to stage similar events in the future. The success of an event incorporating a wide variety of events has also encouraged us to host similar events in the future. I think we have inspired other similar visitor attractions by showing that history can engage new audiences in an exciting way.

4 Orleans House Gallery “Carnival Arts, What has the Slave Trade to do with us?”

Orleans House Gallery: Riverside, Twickenham, TW1 3DJ Tel 0208 831 6000
Contact:Miranda Stearn, Heritage Education Co-ordinator; Email: m.stearn@richmond.gov.uk
Name of event: Parallel Views Carnival Arts: What has the slave trade got to do with us?
Dates: Sunday 20th May (follow-up events 17th June, 1st July)
Budget: One of a programme of three workshops with a total budget of £1,800.
Theme: Identifying with 2007 commemoration of the abolition of the slave trade through carnival arts

Objectives:
· To introduce local families to the creative traditions of carnival, specifically the creation of ‘mas’ costumes, and involve them in an enjoyable practical project to create work within these traditions with an experienced carnival artist.
· To engage families in our forthcoming exhibition through the creation of a collaborative community piece which can be exhibited within ‘Parallel Views: Black History in Richmond’.
· To create a piece which will encourage exhibition visitors to think about the history presented as part of our own local history, not just someone else’s.
· To encourage families from diverse cultural backgrounds who already access our Arts events, especially our Carnival, to begin to access our exhibitions and collections, as well as encouraging others to access our provision for the first time.

Group learning goals for participants
Knowledge and understanding:
· Knowledge and understanding about the creative traditions of carnival specifically the creation of mas costumes and their role in carnival celebration.
· Knowledge and understanding about the historic links between carnival and the history of slavery and its abolition, specifically carnival as a celebration of emancipation in some parts of the Caribbean.
Skills
· Communication skills and social skills from working together on a collaborative piece with other participants and with workshop facilitators.
Attitudes and Values
· Engagement with carnival arts practitioner leading to sense of pride and pleasure at being part of a diverse community.
· Feeling of engagement with Orleans House Gallery ‘Parallel Views: Black History in Richmond’ exhibition and with 2007 commemoration events.
· Perception of gallery as venue for positive, enjoyable activity.
Enjoyment, inspiration, creativity · Having fun learning together.
· Enjoyment of participation in cultural activities from around the world.
Activity, behaviour, progression
· Participation in future activities offered by Arts Service.
· Intention to experience carnival elsewhere as well as other cultural events reflecting diverse cultural traditions.
· Intention to visit Orleans House Gallery ‘Parallel Views: Black History in Richmond’ exhibition.

Describe the event:
Families took part in a free, 2 hour-long workshop led by carnival artist-in-residence Carl Gabriel, with support from gallery staff. Families contributed to the design of a collaborative sculptural piece which will be part of our Twickenham Carnival parade and will then be exhibited within our 2007 commemoration exhibition, Parallel Views: Black History in Richmond.

Carl began by taking families into his temporary ‘studio’ space in our Stables Gallery, where he has been working as artist in residence creating huge wire-based sculptures inspired by the ‘mas’ (masquerade) costume-building practice of Trinidadian carnival. Families saw Carl’s works in progress as well as his tools and his designs, and were able to ask questions about his work.

The workshop took place in our Coach House Education Centre. Carl showed participants the wire structure he had made as the basis for their collaborative piece – a female head and shoulders. He talked about the Parallel Views exhibition theme: thinking about local links to the slave trade, particularly the idea that people living in our area consumed products grown on slave-worked plantations, such as sugar and cocoa. Carl challenged participants to design a headdress and costume to give the sculpture an identity, which would make visitors think about this theme. He also showed participants how to make their own carnival headdresses, masks and collars using templates and stiffened fabric.

During the course of the workshop, parents and children worked together to create designs for the collaborative piece, a well as making their own costume elements to take home. They were provided with a range of art materials including specialist paints, as well as photographs of carnival parades to give them inspiration. Carl and the gallery staff moved around the groups offering support and ideas. Families could choose which order to do the various activities, which were adaptable to a range of ages and abilities.

At the end of the session, everybody shared their designs and Carl talked about how he would incorporate them in the final piece. Many had chosen to include plant forms such as sugar canes in their designs. He invited the families to come back to take part in a second, drop-in workshop at Twickenham Carnival, during which they would have the opportunity to help prepare the piece for the exhibition by making 3D wire ‘crops’ such as cocoa pods. He also invited them to come visit his studio to see the piece progress and to come and see the final piece in the exhibition.

The participants posed for a group photo wearing their own head-dresses and collars and were encouraged to bring these costumes with them to Twickenham Carnival and take part in the parade.

Evaluation of event in terms of numbers:
In order to ensure a high quality experience for all the participants we limited numbers so that all the families would be able to spend time working directly with Carl. The event became fully booked well in advance, with a total of 12 family groups (35 participants over all).

Of these, 34% were from non white-British backgrounds. Within the borough population, these groups make up only 12%, so this figure reflects our success at creating a family learning event which appealed to these audiences.

30% of the adults participating in the activity were male. Fathers and male carers are a target group within our local family learning provision, and have been identified as a priority by Campaign for Learning. Currently only 8% of adults taking part in Family Learning programmes nationwide are male, so the number of fathers learning with their children during this workshop was well above average.

What made this special, to the participants:
Working with a professional artist in an unfamiliar, inspiring art form made the workshop special for the families, who saw working with Carl as a unique opportunity, commenting that ‘Carl the artist helping and showing the arts from carnival’ was the most enjoyable aspect of the workshop. On feedback forms, 100% strongly agreed with the statement ‘we enjoyed the opportunity to learn from a carnival artist’, while 86% felt that they understood more about the creative traditions of the carnival arts.

Contributing to a large-scale collaborative piece to be included in a public exhibition was exciting and the families enjoyed the fact that their ideas were being taken seriously by a professional artist and that they would influence the final sculpture. 86% said that they intended to come and see the final piece in the exhibition.

Being able to make costumes to take home was also important, and several families singled out the mask and collar making as their favourite activity. Taking costumes home allowed the participants to continue enjoying their creative learning, with one father recording that his daughters continued to wear their headdresses all weekend! 86% said taking part in the workshop had encouraged them to come to Twickenham Carnival or another carnival this year.

Working creatively together as a family was a highlight for 100% of families, with several emphasising this as one of the things they found most enjoyable about the workshop in their comments, for example ‘workshop was very fun with the family’, ‘letting all the family together make and see the art’, ‘decorating the collar for the carnival with my daughter’.

Asked what they would change about the workshop, participants commented ‘nothing’ and ‘more often, it’s so good!’, with one family suggesting ‘more time perhaps’.

To the gallery: This year’s MGM event was a departure for us in several ways.
Instead of basing the activities around an existing exhibition or work from the collection, we gave families the opportunity to work with an artist to contribute to a forthcoming exhibition, making them producers rather than consumers. This is part of an emerging area of our curatorial practice, seeking to actively involve our audiences in the creation of all our exhibitions through learning programmes throughout exhibition development.

By making our MGM event the first of a programme of three workshops with Carl, the third of which will focus upon the final piece in situ in the exhibition, we hope to have encouraged families to develop a longer term relationship with the gallery, and to have motivated them to discover our exhibitions programme. The fact that 86% said that they intended to come and see the final piece in the exhibition suggests that we have been successful in this aim.

The piece created will be one of a number of contemporary works in a range of media which will add an important dimension to our major summer exhibition, Parallel Views, which marks the bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade by uncovering local links to slavery, the slave trade and abolition. The collaborative carnival piece and other contemporary works will allow audiences to see creative responses to the issues raised, complementing the historical material elsewhere in the exhibition.

We were particularly pleased that the workshop attracted families from diverse backgrounds (see 12 for details). Through the Renaissance London and MLA London MGM2007 small grants scheme we had received marketing advice from a hub museum (the Horniman) to support our attempts to target these audiences through this project, so we were particularly pleased that our approach had been successful. We hope that the workshop will provide an effective ‘stepping stone’ for these participants to begin accessing our exhibitions programme.

How will this project inspire you for the future? And, how could it inspire others?
This project has been a wonderful opportunity for us to explore the ways in which an artist-in-residence can enhance both our education and exhibitions programming. This is particularly pertinent to us at the moment as our current HLF funded development project will create a permanent artist-in-residence area. The fact that Carl was able to show participants ongoing examples of his own work and his workspace, as well as invite them to drop in and see the final piece taking shape over subsequent weeks, added huge value to the project.

The finished work will act as an inspiration for education programming during the course of the exhibition, with one proposed school session responding to both the media and the theme of the collaborative piece.

The idea of using a high profile MGM event as a starting point for a programme of workshops is one we would definitely use again to maximise impact, both for us and for the participants, as is the idea of planning the activity to contribute to a future exhibition. Other museums and galleries could be inspired to do likewise, ensuring that the activity is planned collaboratively by the education and curatorial teams.

We found using carnival arts added greatly to the excitement of the event as well as providing an unexpected yet relevant way in to tackling challenging themes and issues, historical and current.

5 Tunbridge Wells Museum "All about art”

Tunbridge Wells Museum, Civic Centre, Mount Pleasant, Tunbridge Wells TN1 1JN Tel 01892 554171
Contact: Katrina Burton email: katrina.burton@tunbridgewells.gov.uk
Name of event: All About Art Dates Saturday 19 May
Budget: £850
Theme: ‘People – who are we?’ explored through art

Objectives
· To attract new users to the Museum & Art Gallery, especially teenage audience, through fun, exciting, art-based activities
· To tie in with national Focus on Art & mgm activities
· To extend participation in our mgm community art exhibition, The People Show

Describe the event/activity
A free family fun day giving people of all ages the chance to try a range of different creative activities on the theme of ‘People - Who are we?’. Activities included:
· experimenting with the traditional art of creating a personal silhouette, but with a modern twist, guided by a professional artist
· exploring personal identity through face-painting & henna art and the use of mirrors
· finding out more about the people behind the Museum’s collections through a detective trail
· creating funky pairs of glasses to wear inspired by art work in the exhibition
· discovering family history and heraldry, and the meaning of surnames with an expert from the Library
· adding a personal signature to an outdoor ‘Tunbridge Wells Walk of Fame’

Evaluation of event in terms of visitor numbers etc
614 visitors of all ages came to the event.
17% of those were aged 11-16 years, a typically hard-to-reach group for us.

Prior to the event we set learning outcomes for our visitors. Here are those outcomes and a measure of the extent to which they were met.

Knowledge
to enable people to find out more about family history
Many families talked to our expert from the library, found out the meaning of their surname and made a family shield based on what they had found out.
to encourage people to look at objects in a new way, particularly thinking about the people behind the objects
A number of visitors used our museum detective trail as a prompt for thinking about the people who used the objects on display.

Skills
to give opportunities for everyone to try out new and different creative skills
Silhouette-cutting proved to be a new skill for many – old and young alike!

Enjoyment & creativity
to enable people to have fun and be creative
Every activity fulfilled this role – involving some element of creativity – and a lot of fun! Much of the verbal feedback from the day centred around how much fun the participants had had, and how much they enjoyed the chance to be creative based on the one theme.

Attitudes & Values
to change perceptions of the museum, especially among young people
Many of our teenage visitors thought it was fantastic to have fun things to do in the museum. They were enticed in by activities like the henna painting, and then had a go at some of the other art activities – even phoning friends to encourage them to come in.

Progression
to inspire people to think about their own identity, literally ‘who are we?’ and to take their enjoyment with particular activities a stage further.
Some families said that following the day they wanted to go on to find out more about their family history. We also had several visitors who wanted to go away and experiment more with creating silhouettes.

What made this event/activity special to the participants, special for the museum or gallery?
The event was very popular with visitors. They enjoyed the wide variety of activities, and many stayed for several hours, making sure that they did everything while they were here. The face-painting and henna were particular favourites, as was making the funky glasses.

However it was the silhouette-cutting which really changed perceptions. Many people had never tried it – but with the artist’s guidance, found it easier and much more enjoyable than they originally thought. A good number of adults tried this activity and enjoyed the creative freedom it offered, as well as making the most of the chance to find out about the history of silhouette cutting.

The artist working alongside the visitors said ‘the quality of work throughout the day was fantastic. People discovered that they had this talent. They spent ages creating silhouettes – working with friends and families, building up a board of people. It was so creative and imaginative.’

For the Museum and Art Gallery, the event brought in a good proportion of new users. By providing free, fun activities, like face-painting, many people who would not normally visit the Museum and Art Gallery came in and got involved with the collections and the Art Gallery exhibition. We also saw a higher proportion of teenagers in the Gallery than we would normally see on a Saturday – the ‘Walk of Fame’ outside and the henna artists were real successes in engaging this audience.

How will this project inspire you for the future? And, how could it inspire others?
The success of this event will inspire us, and hopefully others, to:
use art as a way to engage people more fully with museum objects
provide more creative and practical opportunities for adults as well as children
make use of professional artists to add another dimension to activities which
encourage visitors (and staff!) to look at objects in a new light
use fun attractors (eg face painters, henna artists etc) within a themed day to attract hard-to-reach groups
use innovative approaches to put the people back into the displays, giving objects a personal context as well as a historical one, as we did with our museum trail

6 Bath and North East Somerset Museums “Night at the Museum”

Bath & North East Somerset Museums Group, c/o Pump Room, Stall St, Bath BA1 1LZ Tel 01225 477757
Contact: Jill Bennett jill.Bennett@bathness.gov.uk
Title: Night at the Museums - Sat May 12th 2007
Budget: app £4000
Theme: 'People- who are we?'

Objectives: To reach a new audience and show that museums are not just for Bank Holidays

The Event: 10 museums opened between 5.30-10pm, 5 of which had live music played by local students. There were also film screenings of footage relevant to individual collections, arts workshops and torchlit tours.

Evaluation: 1000 visitors during the evening, many of whom were doing a 'trail' to see how many they could visit.

What was special: This had not been done before and was a collaboration with Bath Spa University music dept. Bath residents had never seen their museums by night and the whole atmosphere was very special.

Inspiration for the future: We will definitely want to build on this event for the future and find more new ways to attract people into our museums for 'unusual' activities which showcase the venue's individuality.

7 Rugby Art Gallery “Discovery Days”

Contact: Jessica Hartshorn Jessica.hartshorn@rugby.gov.uk 01788 533211
Name of Event: Discovery days
Dates: Talks- 3rd, 10th, 17th, 23rd, 24th May; Discovery Day Events 19th & 20th May; Exhibition 1st - 31st May
Budget: Total cost of: £4309 - received £4225 funding from MLA
Theme: The Main Theme of Who are we - but also linking to environments and 100 years of scouting.
The celebration activities looked at the scout badges to encourage us to question what do we like to do? The theme of most activities looked at identity. The recycled creation workshop looked at creating self portraits, the social history activity focused on the family tree and investigates where we come from.

Objectives:
1 Teenage males were our main target audiences, as this group were non traditional visitors to Rugby Museum and we hoped the exciting activities will encourage visits and the scout groups will naturally bring in new audiences. The events were successful in dramatically increasing numbers of boys attending.
2 The events naturally crossed over new audiences through the partnership of Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, Library, Scouts, Rugby Collage and other community groups coming together for the celebration event.

The event:
Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, Library and scouts worked together to provide an accessible and exciting 'Museum and Galleries Month' by:
* Exhibiting the Museum Scouting collection of photography uniforms etc to celebrate 100 years of scouting in Rugby Museum - ongoing drop-in activities and quizzes linked to this exhibition (all of May)
* Providing a series of four Art Talks, Family History Talk and literary Talk
* Celebration days - two days of activities, demonstrations and workshops linking to different badges within the scouts: making music workshop, recycled creations, roman's games with our roman soldier, environmental workshops, zoo lab insect activity and a giant tree man
The events were held throughout Rugby Art Gallery Museum and Library building.

Evaluation
The event was really successful with fantastic comments such as 'an interesting and enjoyable experience' 'Brilliant fun!'

The activities were designed to attract boys, such as zoolab with creepy crawlies and scouting activities and this was very successful. We increased numbers being added to our holiday mailing list too.

The total number of visitors attending the events were 3888. This was 2511 more visitors at the than normal. ( i.e compared to average numbers on the same days)

Special
The unusual and high quality activities made the events special to participants and diverse, especially the zoolab activity. Parents were commenting how amazing it was to see a lizard in a museum in RUGBY and that they would not have normally attended. Having something usually in the museum enticed different audiences, who then commented on how interesting the museum was and would come again as a result of the day.

Other comments included how professional, engaging and enthusiastic staff, artists and freelances were and this also enhanced the experience for visitors.

Inspire
The project has already inspired another project with Rugby Art Gallery and Museum, Rugby District Scouts and Warwickshire County Council Library as a result of a strong partnership being built. A sleepover is currently being planned for October to happen in the Library building and will include art activities gallery, and ghost stories in the museum .

It could inspire others develop new partnerships to attract specific audiences.

8 National Railway Museum “Northern Trax”

National Railway Museum, Leeman Road, YORK, YO26 4XJ, Tel. No. 01904 685712
Contact: Claire Oxley Email: claire.oxley@nmsi.ac.uk
Name of Event: Northern Trax – A Night of Live Music in the Museum
Date(s): Saturday 19th May
Budget: In-kind support from NRM learning staff – to be quantified; budget support from NRM Learning marketing budget; funding from Northern (rail company) – approximate total cost £5,000.
Theme: Museums at Night

Objectives:
To encourage young people/teenagers to visit the NRM using music via Northern Trax as the hook; to educate young people about railways and safety issues.

Describe the event/activity:
The Northern Trax project launched its website at the NRM MGM event. The live indie rock gig included a DJ and three bands who have all signed up to the Northern Trax competition. Great Hall was transformed as the stage was set in the shadow of Stephenson’s statue to create a dramatic industrial backdrop.
Northern Trax is about getting young people off railway lines and into something less dangerous and more fruitful e.g. music. Young people are encouraged to set up their own bands, write a song and enter it onto the Northern Trax website where it’s judged. The winner receives an EMI recording contract.

Evaluation of event in terms of visitor numbers etc.
Number of participants: 163, many of them first-time visitors
Age range of participants: 14 – 25
Length of engagement: 3 ¾ hours

How where the GLOs achieved?
Attitudes and Values – at least twenty of the participants when asked, said that they were going to come back at another time to look at the collections. The following Sunday, seven were seen by Explainers who were present on the night. The same twenty were asked if they had been to the museum before, if not why not and how would they see themselves using / visiting a museum. The general reply was that because it was free and now because they felt that they could come in to the museum that they would come back, even if it was only to have a drink with a friend.
Due to the nature of the audience, the evaluation style was an informal chat.
Other comments: We were asked several times if we would be doing this again.

What made this event/activity special to the participants, special for the museum or gallery?
The event provided a professional stage and forum in which to express the participants’ creativity. The event engaged a new audience. It was the first event of its kind at the NRM and it proved to be an inspiring, dramatic event space.

How will this project inspire you for the future? And, how could it inspire others?
Enjoyment, Inspiration and Creativity (this applied to the bands as well as the participants) – when asking the twenty people, and the bands as well, they all said that they enjoyed the event and felt inspired by the space at the museum as it enhanced their inner creativity.
We plan to do a similar event next year as part of the York Live festival, a new partnership.

9 Scottish Fisheries Museums “Spinning Yarns”

Scottish Fisheries Museum: St Ayles, Harbourhead, Anstruther, Fife, KY10 3AB 01333 310628
Contact: Linda Fitzpatrick, Curator linda@scotfishmuseum.org
SPINNING YARNS An event celebrating contemporary knitwear and song inspired by the maritime tradition
Date: 5 May 2007:
10.00am – 4.30pm: knitting workshop with Gillian Henny, Designer for Johnstons of Elgin
7.30m – late: Fashion Show and Live Music with the Fence Collective
Partners: Scottish Fisheries Museum, St Ayles, Harbourhead, Anstruther, Fife, KY10 3AB 01333 310628 www.scotfishmuseum.org
Gillian Henny, Johnstons of Elgin, Newmill, Elgin,Morayshire, IV30 4AF 01343 554000 www.johnstonscashmerecom
Fence Collective, PO Box 14261, Anstruther, Fife KY10 3Y www.fencerecords.com
Sponsors:
Scottish Museums Council
Fife Council
Diageo
Scottish and Newcastle plc
Fisher & Donaldson
Theme: Joining tradition and contemporary design, objects and people to show how museum collections can inspire creativity.
Budget: £1,500

Objectives:
· To build upon the success of previous events which have attracted new visitors and challenged preconceived ideas of the museum and collections
· To use the collections for creative inspiration
· To work with contemporary artists to interpret the collections more imaginatively
· To attract a diverse audience by combining a range of activities designed to appeal to different age-groups and interests
· To involve sections of the community under-represented among our visitors
· To attract visitors from further afield by advertising through the Museums Month and Show Scotland initiatives
· To develop relationships that can be built upon in future

Description:
The event was designed to tie in with our current temporary exhibition which features traditional ganseys (fishermen’s jumpers) from the museum collection alongside contemporary knitwear designs by Gillian Henny. Gillian had visited the museum in the course of researching her knitwear designs and had been inspired by the collections. The workshop allowed her to share this inspiration with the participants who spent the morning sketching around the museum and harbour outside. In the afternoon Gillian showed them how to translate their sketches, firstly into patterns and then into sample designs using knitting machines.

Held in the atmospheric setting of the museum’s Zulu gallery, home to an 80ft fishing boat, the evening began with a fashion show where Gillian’s designs were modelled by local teenagers to the musical accompaniment of DJ On the Fly. The event was rounded off with live music from The Pictish Trail and King Creosote, acclaimed musicians from the Fence Collective.

Both Gillian Henny and the artists from the Fence Collective have used the museum’s collections and maritime themes as direct inspiration for their work. Food and drinks were provided by local businesses and photographs were taken for a proposed display in our Merchant’s Room community gallery later in the year.

Evaluation: Knitting Workshop Leader: Gillian Henny
Of the nine participants (eight of whom also attended the evening event), three had travelled from outside the region to take part. Targeted advertising attracted a range of people from art students to traditional knitters. Each was able to produce an original knitting pattern and a sample of knitted design to take home.

Fashion Show and Evening Entertainment
Fashion: Gillian Henny and nine models (local secondary school and university students): Reception, waiting and bar staff: nine museum staff members Musicians: DJ On the Fly, The Pictish Trail and King Creosote (all Fence Collective)

78 tickets were sold (analysis of the 58 pre-booked tickets shows that 32 people (55%) travelled from outside the region to take part). Again a range of people participated from customers of Johnstons of Elgin to fans of the Fence Collective. National press coverage was achieved with a listing in the Herald and feature in the Scotsman Review, along with listings and adverts in local papers. Feedback was very positive, from all those involved and from all sections of the audience, whether they had come for the fashion or the music.

What Made the Event Special
· The differing range and appeal of the activities created a varied, stimulating and enjoyable experience for people of differing ages, abilities and interests and brought them together.
· The creative atmosphere motivated participants who were able to appreciate how the collections could inspire very different art forms.
· The participants experienced the museum in a new way as a performance space and saw the collections used in a creative way.
· The event increased awareness of creative industries and artists working in the area where the traditional industry (fishing) is in decline, therefore contributing to economic diversity.
· Being based on the traditional industry, the event boosted local morale and civic pride.
· The active involvement of local teenagers has shown them how they can participate in the life of the museum and the planned exhibition (in an area of the museum used by school pupils having lunch) will show how much their input was valued.

Inspiration for the Future
The collaboration with contemporary artists has been a very positive experience and we will seek to find other ways of doing this in future. Both Gillian Henny and the Fence Collective are eager to work with the museum again to organise future events and workshops. We also aim to encourage collaborations with other artists working in a range of fields. This is particularly interesting in an industrial museum where objects are often viewed as working tools – artists can open up our approaches to interpretation to allow other perspectives.

Targeting specific but disparate audiences to a single event worked well and created a very creative atmosphere where everyone could learn from each other and have their impressions of the collections and museum broadened. The structured learning style of the workshop appealed to some while others preferred the more informal fashion show. Others came purely for the music but were interested by the knitwear they saw.

The planned exhibition of photographs will keep the local community’s interest alive, especially among the school pupils who are looking forward to seeing their friends on the catwalk. It is hoped that this will counter the museum’s traditional “stuffy” image and may encourage more participation by younger people. The museum has now staged two Show Scotland social events and it is hoped that people will begin to look out for them in future years.

10 Scarborough Art Gallery “Family Music Event”

Scarborough Art Gallery, Scarborough Borough Council, Town Hall, St Nicholas Street, Scarborough YO11 2HG 01723 374753
Contact: Lara Goodband, Curator of Art. lara.goodband@scarborough.gov.uk
Name of Event: Family Fun Music Session
Date: Saturday 5 May 10am - 11am and 11am - 12 noon
Budget: Partnership with SureStart therefore no cost but gave out free annual passes to participants
Objectives: Make music inspired by the pictures on display from the Gallery's collection. To involve families with young children with Gallery activity. To encourage young children to look at paintings through a participatory activity.

Description of the Event: Kathy Seabrook, a musician from the Scarborough Spa Orchestra and a worker at Sure Start Scarborough, made music inspired by the Gallery's pictures with participating families. The event was suitable for children aged from six months.

Evaluation: Fully booked. Twelve families. 75 people took part. Everyone enjoyed themselves and all made positive comments.

What made this event special: The gallery was a very noisy space for one morning and was filled with cries of delight from children. There was a general warm and exciting atmosphere. All staff fully involved themselves and welcomed participants.

Inspiration for the future: We shall work with Kathy again and will do more 'noisy' events. We should like to encourage other galleries to mix art forms.

11 Derby Museum and Art Gallery “Prehistoric Days”

Derby Museums & Art Gallery, The Strand, Derby, DE1 1BS Tel 01332 716654
Contact: Emma Lance, Community Learning Officer; Emma.lance@derby.gov.uk
Name of event: Prehistoric Derby Day
Date: Saturday 26 May 2007
Budget: £430
Theme: Celebrating the Bronze Age Archaeology of the Derbyshire area, the main concept was to introduce the idea that archaeology links us all.

Objectives:
To offer new experiences at the Museum for both new and repeat visitors
To introduce basic ideas in Archaeology with a particular focus on the Bronze Age in Derby
To build upon the events programme by offering diverse workshops for all ages
To bring new groups of people together, such as community members leading workshops and organising transport to enable groups to attend
To introduce the community project ‘Linking Landscapes’ which explores how looking at landscapes in the present and objects from the past can show how we are all connected.

Describe the event
Participants of all ages and backgrounds were able to engage in the following workshops:
Flint knapping with John and Val Lord
Clay beaker pot making
Green Woodworking demonstrations
Bronze Age object handling and finds identification
Animation film by Sean Harris, introducing the project ‘Linking Landscapes’ Warrior jewellery making

Evaluation of event
Over 400 people attended the event. For the first time at Derby Museums, a multilayered approach was taken in evaluating Museum based events. Using questionnaires, charts and verbal communication, a good cross section of feedback was gained.

What made this event special to the participants, special for the museum?
The overwhelming response we had from visitors is how well all the activities linked to the collections. Because we had a steady flow of visitors all day, people were able to engage well in each activity and discuss how the activities they were involved in were exactly the same as had been used during Bronze Age Britain and in other areas of the Prehistoric World.

Many people commented how they preferred this type of event (and the pace of the event) to an event which was so busy the meaning of the activities was lost.

How will this project inspire you for the future? And, how could it inspire others?
The feedback from participants will help ensure that a right balance is found in researching and preparing future events- to ensure that the meaning behind a project is not lost through too many participants for an event. We will be building on our evaluation process based on this successful pilot.