SHORTLIST
1. Cannon Hall Museum, Barnsley, S Yorks
Museums and Galleries Month Welcome Day, April 30
2. The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
New Light on Ancient Egypt: Special Events Programme for MGM 2006, May 27 - June 2
3. Winner: Letchworth Museum and Art Gallery, Letchworth Garden City, Herts
Discover Norton, April 24 - June 3
4. Runner Up: Orleans House Gallery, Twickenham, London Borough of Richmond
Time Time Time (Making Connections: Past, Present and Future), May 21
5. Paisley Museum & Art Galleries and Coats Observatory, Paisley, Scotland
Show Scotland 2006 – A Spaced Out Weekend! April 28 - May 1
6. Runner Up: Pitzhanger Manor House & Gallery, London Borough of Ealing
Breakers, May 19 - July 2
7. Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, HM Naval Base, Portsmouth
Crossing Oceans & Crossing Continents, May 24 - May 29
8. Runner Up: Rotherham MBC Museums, Galleries and Heritage Service
Museums and Galleries Month Programme (14 linked events) April 29 - June 3
9. The ss Great Britain Trust, Great Western Dockyard, Bristol
Rubbish Sculpture at the ss Great Britain, May 18 2006
10. West Midlands Hub (Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Coventry Arts and Heritage, Ironbridge Gorge Museums, Wolverhampton Arts and Museums, Stoke-on-Trent Museums) and 18 collaborative partners
Footsteps of Giants festival, May 27 - June 4
OTHER ENTRIES
11. Chertsey Museum, Chertsey, Berks
Warriors & Settlers - Viking re-enactment event, May 20
12. Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University Museum of Natural History and Bate Collections of Musical Instruments
In a Different Light 2006 - Museums at Night, May 20
13. Powysland Museum, Welshpool, Powys, Wales
Tommy Steele: Celebrating 50 years in Showbusiness - Jive and Rock ‘n’ Roll demonstrations and lessons, May 15-19
14. Pump House Gallery, Battersea Park, London Borough of Wandsworth
Spring into Spring, April 30
15. Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum, Salisbury
Fabulous Finds Day – Welcome Weekend, April 29
16. Tenterden & District Museum, Tenterden, Kent
Sister Janet – Zulu War Nurse and Heroine, Easter 2006 - June 11
17. The Stained Glass Museum, Ely Cathedral, Ely, Cambs
How did they do that? Words and windows in medieval times May 27-28
18. Bloxham Village Museum, Bloxham, Oxfordshire
Re-opening of Bloxham Village Museum, June 3
19. Llandudno Museum, Llanrwst Almshouse Museum, Sir Henry Jones Museum Llangernyw, Colwyn Bay, Conwy, Wales (joint project)
Past, Present and Future, May 1 - August 5
20. Londonprintstudio, London
I’m A Curator – ‘Created and Curated’, May 10-27
21. Lunt Roman Fort, Baginton, Warwickshire
Invaders in Action, May 28-29
22. The Manchester Museum, University of Manchester
Welcome Weekend - Mad Hatters Tea Party, April 29
Aidan Smith in concert in the Mammals Gallery, May 19
Spooky Tours, May 20
 |  | © Cannon Hall |
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Budget: Nominal costs for production of simple displays; staff time (volunteers donated their time)
Theme: Welcome Weekend - Making Connections: Past, Present and Future
Objectives: To provide an especially welcoming visitor experience with a flavour of behind the scenes work at the museum.
The event: Behind the scenes staff (Museums Manager, Assistant Manager and Access and Lifelong Learning Officer) were on hand in the galleries manning 'stations' presenting different areas of work (school visits using the working Victorian kitchen ranges; handling collections; conservation and environmental monitoring). Volunteers from the museum Friends group were also present to talk about the Friends’ work supporting the site. All staff wore 'here to help' badges with the MGM logo, to increase approachability and promote the event.
The day also launched a family trail which ran throughout May, based on connections between past, present and future. The trail included photographs from the past and present of staff members to match up; and a display case entitled Servants and Stewards focussing on connections between the work of past servants at the Hall and current staff.
Evaluation of event: 2,340 visitors attended on the day; three Friends volunteers participated; sample comment from visitor book mentions "enjoyable visit"; feedback from participating staff was that visitors were interested in chatting about behind the scenes work, especially about conservation, which was a revelation and real surprise to many visitors including children; good coverage received on local radio station Dearne FM.
What made this event/activity special: The event was special for the museum and the participants as it tried a totally new way of making the museum and its work more approachable and accessible. Feedback was that visitors were pleased to be engaged in conversation by approachable staff, and appreciated the opportunity to find out more about the educational and collections care aspects of the museum’s work.
Inspiration for the future: The wearing of 'here to help' badges was an effective way of making attendant staff more approachable (focussing on their visitor services over their security role), which we will introduce at future events.
It was exciting to discover how interested the public are in collections and especially conservation. The interest in conservation has inspired us to consider introducing new collections care based events into our calendar, including short gallery based talks focussing on particular aspects of the collections such as newly conserved objects.
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2. The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge
Contact: Fiona Brown, Marketing & Press Officer fjmb2@cam.ac.uk
New Light on Ancient Egypt: Special Events Programme for MGM 2006: May 27 - June 2
© The Fitzwilliam | |  |
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Budget: £2,400
Theme: Connecting today's visitors with Egypt of the past
Objectives: To attract a wide range of visitors – including first-time visitors – and inspire, encourage and empower them to engage with the history and culture of the ancient Egyptians in an informative and enjoyable way.
The events: A special programme of Ancient Egyptian events for all ages to bring to life many aspects of the newly refurbished Egyptian displays through storytelling, talks, trails, gallery tours, workshops and drop-in sessions.
The ancient crafts of mummy wrapping and cartonnage making were amongst the special activities demonstrated by experts with hands-on opportunities for visitors. They could also get ‘up close and personal’ with artefacts at ‘Meet the Antiquities’ drop-ins led by volunteers from the Museum Friends, and explore the displays in the company of experts at ‘Meet the Curators’ sessions.
Evaluation: 8,657 people visited during the special MGM programme of Egyptian events – a 76% increase in total visitors compared to the same period in 2005. The number of children more than doubled, increasing by 103%, and the number of adults increased by 71%. Over 450 people attended the free talks, with ‘Meet the Curators’ sessions attracting more than 370 visitors and ‘Meet the Antiquities’ around 220 participants. Courses were fully booked with waiting lists.
Visitor feedback was obtained through comments forms, visitors’ books and personal interaction with visitors in the galleries. Comments included:
“Excellent displays & very helpful and informative staff. Perfect balance of info. for adults & children.” (Family group)
“We think the whole display is brilliant. We particularly liked being able to put the glue on the mummy case.” (Comment from two boys at cartonnage making)
“AWESOME!” (two first-time visitors aged 8 and 10)
"I am glad I came because I am going to learn about it in year four, I am in year three and I cannot wait to be in four to learn about Egyptians.”
Media coverage: Media interest resulted in coverage in The Guardian and The Cambridge Evening News and on Anglia Television news. The Cambridgeshire website ‘Local Secrets’ published a glowing review of the galleries and events programme.
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire are featuring a broadcast scheduled for June 12 recorded as an ‘audio diary’ by one of their presenters who attended the mummy wrapping course for adults. The Deputy Editor of Museums Journal attended the press view of the new galleries.
What made this event/activity special: Forming the culmination of a two-year project to conserve, research and re-display the world-class Egyptian collections at The Fitzwilliam Museum, this week-long programme of special events involved and engaged a wide spectrum of visitors of all ages, many on their first visit to the Museum.
The events introduced them to new displays of more than 1,100 objects, many on display for the first time, not only through talks and tours but also by offering hands-on experiences of ancient crafts including mummy wrapping and cartonnage making, and encouraging direct interaction between visitors and experts in ancient technology, curators and conservators.
A marvellous sense of enthusiasm, team spirit and ownership prevailed throughout the Museum staff at all levels as they worked to ensure the success of this ambitious programme of events, which was conceived and delivered to a very high standard. Many are eager to repeat the experience.
Inspiration for the future: Many thought-provoking discussions arose out of encounters with the public, resulting in a rich source of feedback and inspiration which will feed into the development of future public programmes and learning opportunities. The overwhelming, positive response has led Museum staff at all levels to feel more engagement with, and ownership of, outreach into the community, and it is already generating new ideas for projects and activities.
A programme of this kind has numerous positive outcomes for museums. The benefit of public engagement with subject specialists works in both directions. The public have a much better experience, having one-to-one access to detailed and up-to-date information first-hand. For the museum, it provides staff development through affirmation of the value of their work, as well as a chance to improve public speaking. Objects from the collections can be used to provide an immediate connection between visitors and the past, whether in terms of the artefacts themselves or the people who produced or used them.
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 | | © Letchworth Museum and Art Gallery |
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Budget: £2,500
Theme: Making Connections: Past Present and Future
Objectives: Engage with a rural community on this theme, encouraging them to take ownership of the museum and make their local museums more relevant to them.
The event: This was a partnership project with The First Garden City Heritage Museum, Letchworth. Both museums in the town have a responsibility for collecting and representing communities in villages that border the town. We decided to use Museum & Galleries Month to highlight the interesting history of one of these villages, and the vibrant nature of the community who live there. This soon became a whole month of events based on the village of Norton.
The basis of the Discover Norton project was two exhibitions, one at each museum. The First Garden City Heritage Museum produced the exhibition ‘Norton Past’ using objects from both museums’ collections. Letchworth Museum & Art Gallery used their Mezzanine Gallery and turned it into a Norton Community space, exploring ‘Norton Present & Future’.
Staff at Letchworth Museum & Art Gallery made contact with Norton residents to make an oral history film, ‘Norton 2006, a snapshot’. Residents were asked for their opinions about the village in the present and how they think it may change (or not) in the future. Staff also went to the village primary school to work with pupils to record their thoughts about Norton in the present and make 3-D maps of Norton in the future.
The film and the pupils’ work were on display in the gallery alongside contemporary photographs of the village and a comments wall, where visitors could leave a postcard detailing their ideas about Norton in the present and future.
Both museums ran events with other local partners, including walks around the village with a local archaeologist and a talk by a local historian. These events and the MGM spotlight on Norton was used to start recruiting members of the community for a Community Archaeology project in the village, due to start next spring. Staff from both museums will be involved in the project continuing this successful partnership.
Evaluation: This event highlighted the amount of enthusiasm there is in local communities like Norton to be involved in their heritage and culture. The walk around Norton with Paul Palmer had to be repeated to satisfy demand.
Both museums had an increase in visitors during the event; Letchworth Museum & Art Gallery had 400 more visitors than May 2005. Both museums raised their profile in the village resulting in some donations of material for the collections.
It is evident that working in partnership in this way and sharing resources and expertise can yield good results.
What made this event special: Norton residents were very pleased to have the spotlight on their village and receive recognition from the museums that it is a unique place, with a separate identity and history to Letchworth. The dedication of the spaces in the both museums to the village gave residents ownership of the museums, where their village is usually underrepresented.
Museum staff found it rewarding to get out into the community and take time to make themselves known on a one-to-one basis. This included making contact with many people who had never visited the museum before, who have now done so and will visit again in the future.
The museums have also kick-started a process of collecting historical and contemporary material for this area. The museums have very little information about individual people who have lived in the village of Norton in the past and the oral history videos are the start of a process to avoid this being the case in the future.
Inspiration: Both museums are working towards large-scale redevelopment and this project has highlighted the need to get out into local communities. Neither museum has dedicated outreach staff at the moment. This project emphasises the need to have staff working in the community on a more regular basis, which will be a key objective in the future.
The project was carried out completely in-house on standard operational budgets. By pooling resources the project had good marketing and media coverage. ‘Norton 2006, a snapshot’ was made by curatorial staff using a home video camera and editing software. Discover Norton demonstrates that large budgets are not always required to run successful events.
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© Orleans House Gallery | |  |
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Budget: None (staff volunteer time)
Theme: Using Edouard Pingret’s coloured lithograph ‘King Louis Philippe visiting Orleans House in 1844’ as a point of departure for an art/performance/photography workshop, this year’s MGM event explored the theme of Making Connections via an exploration of significant moments within the history of the site, past, present and imagined future.
Objectives:
- To create three inter-related collaborative photographic works which will be accessioned as part of the Richmond upon Thames Borough Art Collection
- To use the permanent collection as a starting point
- To combine costume-making, performance and photography to produce an exciting interactive experience that stimulates the imagination and allows participants to make vivid connections between past, present and future
- To foster and promote intergenerational learning within the family unit and between families
- And others
The event: The Octagon room was prepared with found objects and inexpensive materials to create costumes. Pingret’s lithograph was displayed on a separate table with postcards for participants to work from. Staff were dressed in French inspired/futuristic costume to act as inspiration and also reference the French connections of the site (Orleans House was a former residence of the Duke of Orleans. The Pingret lithograph shows the former duke returning as King Louis Philippe in 1844).
PAST (1844) - Participants looked at the framed lithograph and were given a brief explanation of the picture’s content by the Curator. The Gallery Activities Co-ordinator organised participants into groups corresponding with the figure groupings within the lithograph and gave participants free postcards of the image. Each person was assigned a figure to represent.
Basic costume/prop items were distributed and participants improvised to make reference to their allocated character. Participants were encouraged to get into character. Outside, participants got into groups and adopted appropriate poses to recreate the 1844 image.
PRESENT (2006) - Participants adopted the same groupings in contemporary clothing to represent the visitors of today.
FUTURE (2144) - Inspired by the costumes of the staff, participants were encouraged to experiment with materials to create together the costumes of the future. An accompanying soundtrack (including Dr Who) helped create the ambience, encouraging people to draw on their own memories of past and present science fiction programmes and films. Participants adopted the same groupings outside, wearing futuristic costumes.
POST PRODUCTION - The original Orleans House and link building from the Pingret lithograph were digitally inserted into the PAST photograph (the house and link building were demolished in 1926). The colours of the surrounding landscape were digitally manipulated and the futuristic extension digitally inserted into the FUTURE photograph.
The final triptych will be exhibited in the gallery, accessioned to the Borough Art Collection, and put on the gallery website. Another copy will be displayed at the headquarters of Richmond Council’s new Education and Children’s services to promote family learning.
Evaluation: Based upon feedback forms completed by participating family groups and staff observation during the event – 40% of participating children were over 10 years old, while 55% of the family groups included a father. Both these figures are higher than average for our family events, reflecting the appeal of the theme to these groups. Participants clearly enjoyed the activity, giving it an average rating of 9.4 out of 10. 100% of participants said they would return to the gallery for an activity.
The final triptych successfully made use of digital technology to bring together the various creative media employed during the event (photography, costume-making, performance, drawing) to create a cohesive, collaborative work, which will have a permanent place in the Borough Art Collection.
What made this event special: The link to science fiction was particularly appealing to all the participants, who cited ‘dressing up as space people’ and ‘making things for the future’, as well as ‘the Dr. Who soundtrack’, as things they most enjoyed about the day. The opportunity to dress up and get into character was also received with enthusiasm and a lot of good humour by both adults and children – several cited this as the most enjoyable aspect of the day. On this occasion the participants were the artwork, which made the experience especially direct and exciting for them.
The MGM 2006 ‘Making Connections’ theme provided a great opportunity to develop an event which would allow participants to explore our site past, present and future; something particularly pertinent for us this year as we launch both our Heritage Education Programme and our new state of the art Coach House Education Centre.
The site-specific nature of the activity made it special for us. We were truly making the most of our collection and our site as resources for learning. The final artwork is going to be the first community work accessioned by the gallery taking the integration of the gallery’s education programme with the Borough Art Collection to a new level.
An unforeseen outcome of the event has been the creation of a teaching resource to be used in our new heritage education programme for schools, in that the final images vividly illustrate how the site has changed over time.
Inspiration for the future: We found it very successful to use a theme that people are familiar with, in this case science fiction and time travel, as a vehicle for explaining the practices of uncovering the past and picturing the future, which are central to understanding heritage sites and historic collections. The fact that the older children who took part responded so well to the activity makes it a productive model to build upon when planning projects for hard-to-reach young people.
The project has acted as a pilot for complementary, engaging ways of using our buildings and collections within the various strands of our Heritage Education Programme, not only within Family Learning but also within our formal education provision for schools. While this event focused upon our own site, the idea of using our historic Borough Art Collection to explore the past and future of the wider local landscape will act as a pertinent model in our cross-sector partnership working, in particular with the Thames Landscape Strategy.
Using drawing with digital technology and performance to speculate imaginatively about the future could be adapted in a number of ways: into a creative consultation project for museums/galleries seeking to engage families and young people in future development plans, or as a schools project combining Art and Design, Citizenship, History and Geography to encourage young people to think about ways they might impact upon the future of their local area, in terms of environmental or political impact. Our recently-established Heritage Education Group provides an opportunity to share the outcomes of the event with local heritage education partners.
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 | | © Paisley Museum & Art Galleries |
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Budget: £2,500 (including an SMC grant of £1,500)
Theme: Astronomy, art and aliens
Objectives:
- To promote Renfrewshire Museums Service and increase community involvement; to highlight the links between Paisley Museum and Coats Observatory
- To showcase the collections of and facilities provided by Coats Observatory
- To promote increased public awareness of and interest in astronomy
- To encourage a new audience to engage with the Museums Service
The Event: A special late opening at Coats Observatory on Friday April 28 provided an opportunity for visitors to view the night sky through the telescope, experience the Observatory’s planetarium, engage with the Renfrewshire Astronomical Society and members of a local Dr Who fan club (complete with props and costumes), and be entertained by actors from Mischief La-Bas in character as mad scientists whilst listening to a bagpiper playing on the Observatory balcony.
Daytime events from Saturday April 29 until Monday May 1 included a series of art workshops entitled ‘Saturn-aliens’; a rare opportunity to experience ‘Starlab’, the Museum’s mobile planetarium; a chance to admire the Dr Who memorabilia on display at Coats Observatory; and a Planet Trail around the Museum and Observatory, where children could enter a prize draw if they were able to identify nine mystery objects from the Museum and Observatory’s collections.
May 1 also saw the return of Mischief La-Bas, this time in the guise of a party of aliens visiting Earth – complete with a tour guide who led aliens and visitors alike around both the Museum and Observatory!
Evaluation: Visitor feedback received using SMC evaluation forms indicated that around 90% were ‘happy’ or ‘very happy’ with the event, and a comments book provided at the art workshops received positive feedback from all participants.
What made this event special: The Show Scotland event was particularly successful as it was enormously entertaining for visitors whilst providing them with many opportunities to engage with the Museum and Observatory’s collections. The performances by Mischief La-Bas were especially memorable, and the adult-sized alien created in the ‘Saturn-aliens’ art workshops is now on display in the Observatory.
The objectives of raising awareness of Renfrewshire Museums Service; promoting Coats Observatory as an integral part of the service; and strengthening the links between Paisley Museum, the Observatory and the local community were achieved and, in doing so, a good time was had by all!
Inspiration for the future: Having a theme that linked Paisley Museum with Coats Observatory was beneficial to visitors and staff, highlighting ways in which to strengthen this link, and inspiring staff to continue doing so with future projects; for example, it has recently been agreed that Paisley Museum will host an exhibition entitled ‘Earth from Space’ in 2007.
This project was a fantastic example of the positive public reaction that could be achieved by merging traditional museum activities with exciting art, music and theatrical performances. This is an approach that will be repeated at Paisley Museum in the future and should be welcomed by other museums and galleries as a vibrant way of engaging with the public.
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© Pithanger Manor House & Gallery | |  |
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Budget: £3,500
Theme: Making Connections: Past Present and Future - enabling us to make connections between our historic pottery collection, housed at Pitzhanger Manor, with contemporary ceramics practice.
Objectives: We wished to re-present part of the Martinware Collection of Victorian pottery, literally, within the gallery space, but also within the context of contemporary ceramics, to make connections between the work of leading edge ceramicists from Victorian times and those of today.
Event: The exhibition was curated in-house and brought together a diverse range of works by internationally acclaimed ceramicists such as Richard Slee, Laura Ford and Robert Dawson. Some of the Martinware Collection was then moved to the gallery space and shown with the modern work.
Some of the themes applied by the contemporary artists (the domestic object, nature) are also reflected in the work of the Martin Brothers. The Martin Brothers contributed to the advancement of their chosen medium, with the use of new techniques and the introduction of startling designs, much as the contemporary artists do today.
Evaluation: The exhibition has drawn much positive comment from experts in contemporary ceramics and from the general public alike. The level of skill employed in the work is very obvious and the through-line from the Victorian work to the contemporary is appreciated and understood. This makes a potentially complex exhibition both accessible and user-friendly, helping in another of our aims in our 10th anniversary year, of ‘breaking down the boundaries’ for those who may consider contemporary art ‘not for the likes of them’.
What made this event special: The exhibition provided the platform for activities aimed at a variety of audiences who, uniquely we believe, were brought together by the exhibition.
We held an exhibition tour, led by ceramicist Hans Stofer for European Night at the Museum. The evening brought together audiences for the Martinware Collection and Sir John Soane’s Pitzhanger and a contemporary art audience at the same time, enabling them to learn about and appreciate other realms, which they might not otherwise encounter.
For children we had a series of practical pottery workshops led by professional potter Chris Bramble, who first took the children on a tour of the exhibition where they learned about the historic and contemporary work. They then went on to make ‘Bird Jars’ reflecting on the work of the Martin Brothers and Dawn Youll.
Inspiration for the future: It shows that there are many ways we can connect and promote the historic legacy we have here at Pitzhanger with the new, the dynamic and the contemporary. It can inspire others to be brave enough to work with today’s artists to help examine and reinterpret history from a variety of perspectives. It also proves this is an approach that can work for many audiences and indeed bring them together in a shared experience.
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 | | © Portsmouth Historic Dockyard |
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Budget: £15,000
Theme: Connecting the cultures inspired by an international sporting event for Museum and Galleries Month.
Objectives:
- To capture the excitement of a predominantly water based event to inspire people on land, making connections between continents visited by the Volvo Ocean Race
- To attract a different demographic profile and encourage repeat visits and enhance social inclusion
The event: Portsmouth was the only UK stopover for one of sailing’s fiercest challenges, the Volvo Ocean Race 2005-6 and Crossing Oceans and Crossing Continents reflected this by making connections between the continents visited by the race. It was also a great way to capture the excitement of a predominantly water based event to inspire people on land. Where better to hold this event than Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, home of the Royal Navy for 800 years!
Over 600 school children aged between 7 and 11 years attended the first part of the event, ‘Crossing Oceans’, taking part in a variety of activities to teach pupils about the fascinating cultures of Africa, Australasia and North America. The second part of the event, ‘Crossing Continents’ attracted thousands of general visitors to the Historic Dockyard, allowing people of all ages to participate in these activities.
Evaluation: Although no formal research was undertaken for the event, this combined with the other Museum and Galleries Month activities were very well received. Interestingly, through the BBC Two series ‘The People’s Museum‘, the Enigma machine from the Royal Naval Museum was voted into the virtual museum, while the Mary Rose highlights tours by costumed interpreters had on average 30 people a day taking part throughout the month.
The Crossing Oceans and Crossing Continents event demonstrated the diversity and flexibility of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard’s attractions and environment. We were particularly pleased to welcome an entire school on their first ever visit. The combination of cross curricular workshops and family participation created an atmosphere that was full of fun and enjoyment, attracting a broad range of visitors, one of the aims of the Museum and Galleries Month campaign.
Without formal research it is difficult to demonstrate this, but anecdotally the consensus on site was that we succeeded with this. It also inspired existing visitors, including our season ticket holders, to challenge their perceptions of the Historic Dockyard. There was a very different environment created on site and this was commented on positively.
What made this event special: For one week, the Historic Dockyard was transformed into a multi-cultural event, set against the backdrop of Britain’s maritime cultural heritage. It gave both children and adults an opportunity to explore aspects of everyday life and culture in a hands-on and fun way. It attracted visitors who had not visited the Historic Dockyard and its museums before, such as a new school, by being more accessible through cultural music, foods, dance and arts workshops.
Inspiration for the future: This project will inspire Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and its attractions and museums to continue holding diverse activities and events such as this and develop a regular annual event celebrating the world’s cultures to reflect the travels of the ships that left Portsmouth Historic Dockyard over the last 800 years, for example next year’s anniversary of the abolition of slavery.
Events such as this attract a different demographic profile and encourage repeat visits, an essential strategic aim for the Historic Dockyard, because of its very heavy reliance on visitor income and its conscious effort to enhance social inclusion.
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© Rotherham MBC Museums | |  |
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Budget: £1250 in total for all events, plus sponsorship in kind
Themes: Tea/biscuits/food – specific exhibitions and events designed to get our visitors to share their thoughts, experiences and memories. And, local history – specific exhibitions and events designed to attract new audiences and get them interested in what our service has to offer.
Objectives:
- To deliver a comprehensive programme of activities for Museums and Galleries Month (this is the first time that we have treated this seriously)
- To maximise the opportunities which MGM brings to raise the profile of the Service and bring in more visitors
Events:
- Welcome Weekend (senior managers went ‘back to the floor’)
- Friends of Clifton Park Museum cooking session on our kitchen range
- Local Heritage Fair (all of the local history groups in Borough were present)
- ‘The Insatiable Teapot’ exhibition (history of tea drinking)
- ‘Insatiable Teapot’ Open Evening (featuring some of our staff dressed up as J. Lyons and Co. tea shop ‘nippys’)
- Tea tasting event in our Victorian Kitchen
- ‘Paddle Stories’ exhibition by Steve Pool, our current Artist in Residence (exploring the story behind some of our more unusual objects)
- Friends of Clifton Park Museum luncheon featuring a talk on local history
- Three training sessions for skills for life tutors on using our museums and the Archives and Local Studies Service as family history resources
- Mini-beasts family fun day, with ‘make a bug’ and Clifton Park safari activities
- Nelson the Lion party (celebrating the 60th anniversary of our best-loved exhibit coming to Rotherham, with a themed lion mask-making family fun workshop and cooking on our kitchen range
- Raku pottery firing event, giving families a chance to make their own pottery
Evaluation:
- Numbers of people attending exhibitions and events (the Month has been the busiest single period that the Service has had for some time)
- Visitor comments book (Clifton Park Museum)
- Visitor Comments board (Rotherham Art Gallery)
- Evaluation forms / boards (Friends of Clifton Park Museum events, Local Heritage Fair, skills for life events Mini-beasts family fun day, Nelson the Lion celebration)
- Photographs
What made this event special: This is the first time that the Service has linked so many exhibitions and events together at its two main venues, and aimed them at a range of different audiences. This has enabled participants to both appreciate what the museums are capable of and attend multiple activities on a similar theme rather than the ‘taster sessions’ which we normally offer. The experience has been very satisfying for the Service because we now know what we are capable of as well, and have a template for organising a ‘festival’ of exhibitions and events which we can use again in the future.
Inspiration for the future: We wanted 2006 to be the year that we treated the Month seriously. However, despite our best intentions we were worried about how to tie everything together and our capacity to deliver. Now that the Month is over, we can see that we have achieved something which we are extremely proud of, and it did not take a great deal more effort than we would have ended up expended on exhibitions and events during this period anyway. We would be glad to share this experience with other museums and encourage them to get more involved in the future.
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 | | © ss Great Britain |
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Budget: £30 for protective gloves, was free to visitors.
Theme: Making Connections: Past, Present, Future-inspired sculpture at the ss Great Britain
Objectives: Included MLA’s Generic Learning Outcomes and:
- To create an open and friendly environment to learn about sculpture and artists work
- To provide free ‘drop in’ workshops for visiting schools, especially those who had travelled far and without time for a full workshop
- Barbie to be inspired by people’s responses to her work and to create a piece of lasting art for people to enjoy in the future.
The event: ‘Sculpture with Barbie McClure’ using found objects and ephemera from around the ship and floating harbour. Participants use found, old or discarded materials from the past to create something new and personal. An opportunity for visitors to meet an artist. Visitors were encouraged to look at and touch her work and have a go themselves in a workshop setting.
Evaluation: All objectives were met and there were lots of positive outcomes that even went further than our expectations. The following was observed by the artist and I:
Knowledge and Understanding - Participants learnt how a contemporary artist works. Also, what they and artists can create from ephemera. Know and understand what joining methods for different materials they and the artist can use - literally making connections!
Skills - Thinking critically, making judgements about the artists’ work, their work and that of others. Social skills - meeting others and sharing. Emotional skills - responses to the ship and Bristol- its past, present and future. Communication skills - speaking to the artist and other visitors and listening, debating ideas. Physical - making objects to take away or display.
Attitudes and Values - The session may change perceptions of the ship and area around- look at the area in terms of regeneration and the future. 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 the experience. Many people demonstrated empathy for the artist and her work.
Action, behaviour and progression - Participants may seek art classes they can join, or find out about more art exhibitions.
Enjoyment, inspiration and Creativity - All participants appeared to have fun and the artist and staff gained positive verbal feedback. they may have been surprised by how successful their sculptures were. Participants had innovative thoughts and explored and experimented with making and were inspired by what they saw and discussed.
What made this event special: Creative and imaginative workshop, with the choice for visitors to create an outcome or just explore old and new materials that relate to the ss Great Britain and her environment.<
- To allow people to ‘get messy’ in a museum setting could change perceptions of what a museum is about.
- An ideal event for members of staff to visit and to create their responses to the ship in a ‘safe’ environment.
- The workshop brought the historic ship into the present day - interpreted by the public for others to see on display.
- This was the first visual artist based workshop on the ship.
- Many participants were very proud to have work on display.
Inspiration for the future: Following this successful workshop we plan to run a second one in August aimed at involving families on holiday. This will inspire others to use rubbish to create art on a limited budget. It will also inspire me to further our partnership with Bristol Living Waters to support their environmental work and organise a litter picking/collection. I strongly believe that it will inspire museum practitioners to keep planning for health and safety but allow people ‘get their hands dirty’ with some challenging materials!
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10. West Midlands Hub (Birmingham Museums and Art Gallery, Coventry Arts and Heritage, Ironbridge Gorge Museums, Wolverhampton Arts and Museums, Stoke-on-Trent Museums) and 18 collaborative partners
Contact: Susannah Penn susannah.penn@birmingham.gov.uk
Footsteps of Giants festival May 27 – June 4
© West Midlands Hub | |  |
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Budget: approx. £150,000 (operational/marketing and consultancy budget)
Theme: A festival for the whole family celebrating the giant ideas, individuals and inventions that have helped shape the West Midlands, drawing inspiration from the past, present and future.
Objectives: The festival aimed to encourage people to visit their local museums and art galleries, and promote them as fun places to visit with the family.
Event: A week-long festival with a diverse programme of family friendly events, activities and exhibitions. These included a giant sleepover, discovery trails, archaeological digs, re-enactments, inventors’ workshops, bangra dancing and a Spitfire flypast.
Main events at the festival also included a touring performance produced especially for the festival, Good Intentions and Notorious Tricks (GIANT), and a Guinness World Record attempt. GIANT consisted of an original interactive 30-minute show based on stories collected at local museums. It was performed live at each of the Hub venues by specially commissioned Birmingham-based experimental arts group, HamFisted!
On July 22 at Thinktank, Birmingham, there will be an attempt to smash the Guinness World Record for the longest line of footprints in the world. Footprint workshops are being held at museums and galleries all over the region. Footprint templates can also be downloaded from the website, www.footstepsofgiants.co.uk
Evaluation: Morris Hargreaves McIntyre has been commissioned to conduct an evaluation of the festival; research data is not yet available.
What made this event special: For the first time ever, museums and galleries across the West Midlands, as well as other collaborative partners such as libraries and football clubs, joined forces to work together under one theme, engaging under-represented audiences through a celebration of the region’s rich heritage, past, present and future.
Inspiration for the future: Most museums are keen to engage with their local communities and excluded audiences, consequently we are aware that the eyes of the museum community are on this ground breaking project, with a view of replicating the model in other geographic areas.
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 | | © Chertsey Museum |
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Budget: £300
Theme: Exploring the borough's past - to celebrate the opening of the new local history gallery, the Runnymede room
Objectives: Publicise the museum and the new gallery, to engage all ages and a cross-section of the local community to participate
Event: Using the museum & Chertsey Abbey Field - site of a Viking attack in 871 ad - Viking re-enactors will give demonstrations on making of authentic weapons, talk about life as a Viking and give weaponry displays
Evaluation: Despite heavy rain on and off all day the turn-out was fantastic! Over 500 attended the event many of whom had not been to the museum before. It was planned to co-incide with the national curriculum so many local schools are studying Vikings this term and supported the event by encouraging children and parents to come from schools up to 30 miles away.
What made this event special: It was a fun way to learn, for both children and adults. It publicised the museum to a wider audience
Inspiration for the future: We have already been asked if the event will be repeated next year and are looking for funding for it. We have also established links with the re-enactors who are now coming to the museum to do similar talks (without the fighting!) when school groups visit for a Viking education session.
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© Oxford University Museum of Natural History | |  |
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Budget: £4,800 (some offset by sales, donations, grants). Free event.
Theme: the collections seen in a different light (literally and metaphorically)
Objectives: To raise the Museums' public profile and to draw in new audiences
Event: Building on last year's experience, a similar event offered a variety of entertainments. The Oxford Gamelan Society (a local group which rehearses at the Museum) gave a three and half hour 'promenade' concert, with a shadow puppet performance of an episode from the Mahabharata by acclaimed puppeteer Ben Arps (a free leaflet gave details about the gamelan, story etc)
Films (drop in, unticketed) - 'Gertie the Dinosaur' 1914 animated movie; 'Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea' 1916 (early underwater photography); Honey Hunters' Indian documentary on Karumba tribe.
Making shadow puppets; handling display of shadow puppets; making glowing jelly fish; live glowing bugs + curator; fluorescent minerals + curator.
Exhibition - Treasured Textiles: Cloth and Clothing around the world (opening night);
Pitt Rivers by torchlight (ticketed entry) including installation 'Aerial Wish' by Naoko Miyazaki (opening night); Light show on the dinosaurs; Refreshments.
Evaluation: 2,400 (approximate) visitors to the whole event (around double last year's attendance); 1,000 visitors on timed tickets to the Pitt Rivers (restricted entry).
A wonderfully multicultural event with many Asian visitors, also plenty of children and many student and older adults later in the evening. There was a queue when we opened the doors and visitors were still streaming in at 10.00pm, many adults in quite big groups (6-8) of friends. An extraordinary atmosphere!
There were no accidents, complaints, or troublemakers; 30 staff and 18 volunteers were on duty.
The main negatives (on feedback forms) were having to queue for some activities and failing to get tickets for the Pitt Rivers. Most visitors were local - creating a strong sense of ownership of the museums. Beside the music and the torchlight visit, and the bugs, much appreciated elements were the enthusiasm and helpfulness of the staff, and the variety - something for everyone
What made this event special: This once-a-year evening event cannot be reproduced anywhere else. It is rare to see such a professional performance in this relaxed informal style (more as it would be in Java). Everyone who came could feel they were being treated to something really memorable. Most people heard about the event through word of mouth recommendation (based on 86 feedback forms).
The fact that the numbers doubled from last year shows how popular that event was. The combination of music, the lights and a choice of things to do adds up to an unbeatable mix. The Pitt Rivers by torchlight is the added extra.
The performance was just as novel an experience for the staff and volunteers as for the visitors, and because it was a continuing show everyone got a break to watch a bit of it. Also it is exciting to be part of something big, and to have that many people enjoying the museums gives everyone a shot of pride and satisfaction.
Inspiration for the future: We plan to continue doing a big annual evening event, although the format will gradually evolve just to keep visitors interested. Other music, other films, may be more themed. The most inspiring element is simply knowing we can attract audiences on that scale, competing on a Saturday night with so many other events. If the demand is there then coming up with the programme is a pleasure.
Our conclusions are that this mix of variety, enthusiasm, friendliness, informality coupled with the heightened drama provided by the performance and the lighting effects is very successful combination which others can adapt to suit. Obviously making it a free event is an additional draw.
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13. Powysland Museum, Welshpool, Powys, Wales
Contact: Eva Bredsdorff powysland@powys.gov
'Tommy Steele – Celebrating 50 years in Showbusiness’ - Jive and Rock ‘n’ Roll demonstrations and lessons, May 15-19
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Budget: £2,280
Theme: Rock ‘n’ roll and jive dancing
Objectives:
- To connect exhibition with performance of rock ‘n’ roll dancing
- To introduce children to rock ‘n’ roll/ jive dancing
- To get children and teachers to participate in dancing
- To have fun at the museum
- To combine a traditionally non-museum activity with an exhibition
Event: ‘Swinging Sue’ and her husband George spent a week at the museum demonstrating to local school classes how to rock ‘n’ roll and jive. The children were first shown a jive routine, and were then taught the ‘GI March’ and an easy jive session, thus ensuring that everybody went away feeling that they had achieved a goal.
Evaluation: Amazingly successful – children of all ages enjoyed themselves and even some boys, who were heard saying that they were never going to dance, ended up jiving away. The adults too seemed to have a great time.
What made this event special: It was not an activity normally associated with a museum, yet it fitted in neatly with the theme of the temporary exhibition on Tommy Steele – Britain’s first rock ‘n’ roller.
Inspiration for the future: The success has encouraged us to contemplate other forms of dance activities. I would hope that the activity could inspire other museum staff to think outside the box of what is normally considered museum activities.
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© Pump House Gallery | |  |
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Budget: £500
Theme: Spring
Objectives:
- To raise the profile of the Pump House Gallery
- To increase the number of Visitors to the Pump House Gallery
- To engage local families in contemporary art through artistic activity
- To attract park users to the gallery
Event: A series of workshops set up around the idea of a spring fete/harvest festival. The Gallery and the area around it in the park was transformed with stalls offering hands on workshops and activities targeted for families. Activities included sunflower planting, herb planting, pot painting, lemonade making, and a vegetable portrait workshop.
Evaluation: The event was a great success in terms of attracting large numbers of families to the gallery; Over 300 visitors visited the gallery on the day of the event (compared to 89 on the same day last year with no event).
The majority of visitors participated in more than one of the activities on offer spending significant time at the gallery. Feedback from sources of publicity showed that people learned about the event from a range of sources. Our following workshop was fully booked, and future workshops showed repeat visits from event participants.
What made this event special: The variety of activities on offer ensured that participants remained engaged and explored the gallery. Activities also appealed to a wide age group. The theme of the event gave it a great sense of occasion which helped in attracting an audience. Initiated collaboration with other organisations in Battersea Park (THRIVE Horticultural charity).
Inspiration for the future: Utilise special events to market other and more day to day activities for the gallery. Seek future collaborations with new partners. Open up art exhibitions to new audiences through using a theme to appeal to a non-art audience
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 | | © Salisbury & South Wiltshire Museum |
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Budget: £200
Theme: Making connections with your past by understanding items you may have found in your garden, out walking or metal-detecting.
Objectives: To encourage a different visitor into the Museum, to show that audience that the Museum is not just an academic, old fashioned and dusty building.
The event: We held a Fabulous Finds Day with the Wiltshire Finds Liaison Officer, Katie Hinds. Alongside Katie were two local experts, David Algar and Nick Griffiths. Over a hundred items were brought in for identification including four treasure items.
Also exhibiting on the day were two local metal detecting clubs and the Wiltshire Geology Group. Our Education Officer was also on hand with digging for treasure activities and handling boxes.
Evaluation: This was a very successful day not only in the number of finds brought in but the fact that almost all were of archaeological value. The finders were county wide and some came from neighbouring counties. By having two metal detecting clubs here we felt we were making good connections between Museums and that group of enthusiasts. Our Finds Liaison Officer was pleased to cement good relations with metal dectectorists she had not met before.
What made this event special: The event brought in a different and in the main a younger audience than the Museum usually sees. Usually if we run a special event, we find that adults come along to accompany their children this day was the other way round. Also we ran two free taster tours of the Museum something we have not tried before. These were very well received.
Inspiration for the future: The day had a very good buzz about it, the Museum felt alive and well used. I think we will take inspiration from that and try again to target new audiences with events that will interest them. We hope that an event such as this will break down barriers with this audience and that they will feel comfortable in approaching us in the future.
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© Tenterden & District Museum | |  |
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Budget: £0
Theme: How the actions of people in the past have influenced the present.
Objectives: to introduce the museum as part of a visit to the historic town of Tenterden.
The event: A display based on Victorian nursing at home and overseas with a resident expert/historian/guide. The display consists of artefacts/uniforms/medals/medical equipment.
Evaluation: A great success, which brought many people to the museum who would otherwise not have made a repeat visit.
What made this event special: The enthusiasm of the visitors and staff to handle exhibits and have their many questions answered.
Inspiration for the future: To concentrate on using quality exhibitions and experts – in a local museum – to bring history to people and reduce the necessity to travel, or take whole days out of busy lives, consequently reaching a greater range of people.
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Budget: £2,000
Theme: Words – Illuminated manuscripts; Windows – manufacture in the period
Objectives: To give people an experience of the skills of medieval craftsmen.
The event: Stained glass master craftsmen and manuscript illuminators in costume demonstrated the medieval skills. These were activities for families, printing, calligraphy, candle-dipping etc plus a medieval market and lecture.
Evaluation: Excellent, spoiled to some extent on Saturday by wet weather, but it achieved TV coverage and was very well received by all who came or were involved. Material for further education work.
What made this event special: It involved 20 volunteers on the day. It brought in families and people with disabilities. It contacted with practising stained glass makers who contributed both time and stained glass facsimiles. It involved trustees.
Inspiration for the future: It is an activity that could be repeated and linked to Ely Cathedral where other medieval aspects could be included. Also of benefit to our education work in the future.
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Budget: £9,000
Theme: Reopening gala event
Objectives: To enable the inhabitants of many North Oxfordshire villages and beyond to realise that we are here for them and in particular to welcome adults, children and wheelchair bound visitors to view historical items.
The event: To celebrate the reopening of the museum with guests from the area. The refurbishment included a new Kashmir tiled floor, wiring etc, and enlargement of the display area including modern cases from the Ashmolean Museum.
Evaluation: A highly successful occasion for our 80 guests The museum had been brought into the 21st century while retaining its character of a country village museum contained in the medieval court house.
What made this event special: Very happy event with old friends amazed at the transformation. The special thing was the enormous amount of publicity we have had in local media – also on 24 Hour Museum.
Inspiration for the future: The compliments and praise from visitors has made all the hard work worthwhile and will inspire us to continue to find ways of raising more funds to complete future project. We are a private museum, so every penny has to be found. Luckily we have 100 villagers on the payroll but no one earns anything from the Museum.
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 | | © Llandudno Museum |
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Budget: £5,000
Theme: Art and Local History
Objectives: To encourage the local community to consider their local history in an innovative and creative way.
The event: Artist Eleri Jones will be resident at all three museums giving visitors, community and school groups the opportunity to research their local history through visual art. Eleri has already worked with community groups, visitors and schools and will continue doing so right through to the end of July.
Her work is exhibited at all three venues and the work created during the residency by Eleri and participants is also exhibited to create an organic exhibition that gives an overview of the community’s interest in the history of the locality. At the end of the residency a resource will be created using all the work produced.
Evaluation: So far the event has been very successful with very positive feedback by both artist and participants. In June and July Eleri will also be running master classes for artists and further school and community workshops so evaluation is still on going.
What made this event special: The residency has highlighted the interest amongst the community for their local history. Participants have also had the opportunity to learn new artistic skills and see their work on display. The museums have become creative venues and a hive of activity as well as attracting new visitors.
Inspiration for the future: It has been decided to run a similar project during the winter of 2006/07, for which funding has been secured. The hope is that we will now run two joint projects each year, with the possibility of also working with Conwy’s Libraries Exhibition Spaces. This will give more of the local community an opportunity to have a quality cultural and creative experience.
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© Londonprintstudio | |  |
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Budget: not given
Theme: Exploring curating and seeing how exhibitions are put together.
Objectives: To enable young people to get the opportunity to curate and organise every aspect of an exhibition.
The event: A-level students from Queens Park Community School, worked closely with londonprintstudio’s curator to plan every aspect of putting together an exhibition from selecting artists, developing press and publicity, designing invitations, framing and curating and installing the exhibition and developing an education and events programme to run throughout the exhibition.
The work itself was selected by the ‘curators’ from GCSE student ‘creators’ also from Queens Park and was made during workshops at londonprintstudio. The project has been running since November 2005, but it was planned to culminate during Museums and Galleries Month 2006 in the exhibition itself.
Evaluation of event: Seeing the confidence grow in the students as the project developed was amazing. The exhibition and events where very well received in the gallery and we plan to build on the project and work on similar projects in the future.
“We owned this project – I didn’t think we could pull it off, but we did and we did it all ourselves – it was amazing” (A-Level Curator, from ‘I’m a Curator’)
What made this event special: It was a project that we totally passed onto the students to organise and we as a gallery took a supporting role – in many ways this was a challenge which both we and the students learned from.
Inspiration for the future: It was a real insight having to address how we plan our exhibitions and events programme in order to pass this role onto others – the students had such a fresh approach and it was such an inspiration seeing the students sense of achievement at being given the responsibility for such a big project and the fact it was such a success.
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 | | © Lunt Roman Fort |
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Budget: £8,000
Theme: The invaders of the Ancient world.
Objectives:
- To provide an educational and entertaining panorama of the social and military history of the ancient world, from Egyptians to Vikings, concentrating on those that invaded other countries, especially Britain.
- To make the past exciting and fun, and encourage adults and children to acquire a lifelong interest in history.
The event: ‘Invaders in Action’ was a large multi-period event held on Sunday May 28 and Monday May 29 at the Lunt Roman Fort. The Celts of Brigantia, the Romans of the XIIII Geminae and the Vikings of Middle England each gave four performances over the two days, demonstrating their tactical skills and battle techniques. Social history was represented by each group's camp, giving an accurate insight into civilian life in Ancient times. The Viking re-enactments were based on real battles from England's turbulent history in the early Middle Ages.
There was also a small contingent of Greek Hoplites with a display of their splendid armour; they also took part in the parades of all the re-enactors at the beginning and end of each day.
Guarderobe, who demonstrated two types of Roman funerals and the appropriate accompanying rites, filled the midday slots. They also had a selection of Roman armour for children and adults to try on.
Inside the Granary/Museum there was a fabulous display of replica and genuine Egyptian artefacts and a badge making activity for the children, both of which proved extremely popular. Hot, cold and healthy food was provided by burger and ice cream vans and a jacket potato stand and there was an inexpensive bus service from Coventry city centre to the fort.
Evaluation: Based on evaluation questionnaires conducted with visitor groups exiting the event 75% of our customers felt that, overall, the event was excellent and 25% rated it as good. They were particularly impressed with the quality of the re-enactors and their performances, with a 92% excellent rating.
There were a number of constructive criticisms, the strongest of which was that the re-enactors using the Gyrus arena would have benefited from being able to use a P.A. system to explain their demonstrations. We have also taken on opinions concerning our advertising of the event, the extent of the viewing space around the Gyrus, the availability of vegetarian food and providing more shelter from the short sharp showers that afflicted the site on the Monday. We are pleased to have a focus for improvement as we look forward to creating an even more successful event in 2007.
What made this event special: This was the largest event of its type in the Midlands this year and provided an educational and entertaining day out suitable for all the family. It also helped to set the Roman period firmly in the historical timeline. As the Lunt is in a rural area of Warwickshire, the bus service enabled those people without transport to visit the fort, some of them for the first time ever.
For the re-enactors it was a chance to meet other enthusiasts, compare notes and make new friends for the future. They also enjoyed watching the other displays and no one felt pressured because they were the single focus for two days. Guarderobe fulfilled one gentleman's lifelong ambition to wear a full suit of Roman armour.
The Lunt is a small site, only three-and-a-half acres in size, and has only a staff of three part-time workers. To organise and run an event of this size and complexity without professional outside help was, therefore, quite an achievement. The event days brought a great many helpers from other parts of Coventry's Arts and Heritage service, including office and museum staff and management. In turn they brought family members and friends to swell our helpers so that it was rather like one big tired but happy family by the end of Monday. It was hugely satisfying, despite the unsettled weather, to have so many visitors and re-enactors, all very happy with what they found here and who are willing to come back again.
One particular comment was: "The site was used really well, it was very colourful, the programme was well spaced out - giving plenty of opportunity to visit the Granary and the catering areas. And it was great fun to be a part of too!"
Inspiration for the future: This event has given us great confidence in our ability to provide a high level of entertainment and education and to engage both our audience and participants. In light of this we are planning to hold another event of this size next year, which we hope will have an international or multi-period theme. We are also aiming to develop the bus service to improve access for non-car users.
If people come to associate a day at a historical site and/or museum with "fun", rather than a dry learning experience, we hope that they will be inspired to visit the Lunt again and other sites in the Midlands. We hope that it has encouraged our visitors to learn more about ancient history and in particular, that which pertains to Britain, to celebrate their past and, maybe, their origins too.
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© The Manchester Museum | |  |
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Budget: Not given
Theme: Celebrating the opening of Museums & Galleries Month and the fact that we had a new Director of the Museum, we wanted to give people the opportunity to meet the Director and ask him questions in an atmosphere that was not at all intimidating – so a Mad Hatter’s tea party theme!
Objectives:
- Give visitors a chance to talk to the new director and ask any questions
- Get some great pictures to use to raise the profile of Museums & Galleries month events at The Manchester Museum
- Allow the director to meet with some visitors and find out what they think of the Museum.
Event: We set up a Mad Hatter’s tea party with a full spread, staff (including the Director and Deputy Director) in fancy dress themed around Alice in Wonderland and puppets from award winning theatre company Horse + Bamboo (who were doing free performances of their show ‘Storm in a Tea Cup’ at the Museum the next day as part of Museums & Galleries Month).
We employed a photographer and also local press attended so we had a bit of a photo session, and then children were taken around the galleries playing party games that involved the collections. A goody bag was given to anyone who joined in for a while (around 200 children) which contained a guide and some treats from the Museum, Museums and Galleries month pencils and balloons and leaflets/brochures from local venues taking part in Museums & Galleries Month.
There was then a slightly more ‘grown up version’ for adults, with a free cup of tea and biscuits and a Q&A session with the Director.
Evaluation of event: It was very successful. Many of the parents were so impressed with the children’s activities that they asked if we could do birthday parties at the Museum, the event seemed to encourage people to look around the Museum as many of the gallery trails were used that day, and there were also a good number who turned up the next day to see the puppet shows because they had had such a good time and wanted to do more at the Museum. We also received some nice coverage in the local press.
What made this event special: For the children I think being involved with something fun and silly did make asking the staff questions about what they did at the Museum less intimidating. The party games also led the children to spend more time looking at the collections, and many took trails afterwards as they had found ‘playing’ with the collections so much fun. For the Museum, it was an excellent way to launch MGM and also an interesting way for the new director and other staff to meet visitors during the welcome weekend. Also good press coverage and became a ‘talking point’.
Inspiration for the future: We will continue to seek ways to involve more Museum staff in engaging with, talking to and listening to visitors.
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Budget: £300
Theme: As a way of using the Museum space differently we decided to host a concert by Manchester singer/songwriter Aidan Smith. He has connections to the Museum and has a large following amongst 19-25 year olds, especially students.
Objectives: We saw this as a way of introducing the Museum space to a new audience. We wanted to sell all of the tickets (100 for the Mammals gallery) and attract a high proportion of people in the 19-25 age range who hadn’t visited before. We also wanted to get local press coverage.
The event: “As part of their fantastic celebrations for Museums & Galleries Month, The Manchester Museum are very pleased to announce an exclusive gig – the first ever to be held at the Museum. Manchester singer-songwriter Aidan Smith, who has supported the likes of I Am Kloot and Turin Breaks and attracted the admiration of artists such as Ryan Smith and Badly Drawn Boy, is coming to the Museum on Friday 19th May to play a one-off exclusive gig in the gorgeous, if slightly surreal, surroundings of the Mammal Gallery.”
Supported by Keyboard Rebel, Aidan performed a selection of his prolific catalogue to the birds and beasts of the Museum’s collection, as well as a handful of lucky music lovers. The event was completely sold out and we added extra capacity.
Evaluation: The event was fully booked. Most attenders were new to the Museum. Our evaluation showed that they also looked at the collection while at the concert.
What made this event special: It was the first time we had done this and there was a lot of scepticism. It showed that we can do things differently. The participants saw the Museum, if they were conscious of it at all before, in a new light.
Inspiration for the future: We will continue to seek ways to involve more Museum staff in engaging with, talking to and listening to visitors. We will look for ways to use the space differently to introduce the Museum to new visitors who wouldn’t normally think of visiting a Museum – especially for the 19-25 age range and students.
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24. The Manchester Museum, University of Manchester
Contact: as above
Spooky Tours, May 20
Budget: £300
Theme: The Museum wanted to take part in the European Night of Museums but we knew that due to our location we would need to do something special to bring people out in the evening. We decided to run spooky ghost tours from 6-9pm on the Saturday night but also remained open for general visitors.
Objectives: Demonstrate that Museums are fun and appeal to families and adults. Attract new visitors from priority groups.
Event: We engaged two storytellers that we had worked with before. They came to the Museum and researched stories with staff about ghosts they had seen or spooky encounters. They used these as hooks to lead them into more familiar ghostly stories and folk tales (such as the Curse of the Pharaoh) which they would tell on the night.
Interest was beyond our wildest expectations – with very little marketing hundreds of people turned up for the tours which were all fully booked. Many people were unable to fit on them and so did trails around the Museum instead and the café stayed open late.
Evaluation: We had good press coverage and our data collection showed the majority of those that came were new visitors and from a very wide variety of backgrounds. Our feedback was all extremely positive.
Attendance was very high. We reached both families on the earlier tours and also many young adults who came to do the tour as the starting point for a night out. Visitor feedback very good. It also sparked off letters to the local paper with people sending in their own stories.
What made this event special: It was a hook to encourage people who wouldn’t normally consider going to a museum to give it a try. It was fun but also used the collection and the space to illustrate the stories and gave visitors a brief introduction to the whole museum.
Inspiration for the future: We will definitely do this event again and also think of other ways to be part of Night of Museums next year. Intriguing events such as this appear to be an excellent way to encourage people to give it a try.
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