Renaissanceinvests £290Kin RegionalMuseums

Curating for theFuture Conference

RenaissanceDevelopmentOfficers

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Issue Two – July 2007

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Renaissance Support forCollections DevelopmentIn March 2007, Renaissance North Westlaunched two schemes, making a total of£135,000 available to museums in the region.

The ‘Collections Care for Access – Museum Development

Fund’ and the ‘Unleash the power of your collections!

Collections for the Future Challenge Fund’ offered up to

£5,000 for initiatives by regional museums and galleries.

Proposals by the successful applicants were

experimental, risky and demonstrated imagination and

innovation – they included:

� Volunteers at the Liverpool Scottish Regimental Museum

have found a clever way to provide access to their

collection of volunteer and territorial photographs,

uniforms and badges. The purchase of a digital

projector will enable the museum to get the collections

out to schools, communities and special interest groups.

� Keswick Museum want to take a 14-foot long, 1.5 tonne

xylophone, made of rare ‘Hornfels’ rock taken from the

mountainside of Skiddaw in the 19th century, on tour

and need a customised travelling case.

� 14 Cheshire museums will work in partnership with

West Cheshire College to equip staff with the skills

needed to produce short films about the power of their

collections, which will be available on websites.

� Archaeology students from King George V College are

producing an online catalogue, as well as a printed

version, of the highly significant Goodison Collection of

Egyptology at Sefton Museum & Art Gallery.

� A combination of live video streaming, DVD recording

and audio input through touch-pad technology, will give

visitors to Queens Street Mill Textile Museum a unique

bird’s eye view of its designated collection of

Lancashire looms.

� Stockport Story Museum are to hang for the first time,

five newly conserved paintings at the Local Heritage

Library. They will be used to re-interpret the town’s

history, buildings, events, personalities and costume to

new audiences.

� Previously inaccessible archives will be available to

visitors at The Fusiliers’ Museum in Lancashire after a

team of volunteers complete a project to rehouse

documents, photographs and ephemera.

Lancaster Maritime Museum

“Renaissance North West iscommitted to engaging with the

wider museum communityin the region.

Virginia Tandy, Director,

Manchester City Galleries

The North West is a phase II regional

Hub and as such, from 1 April 2007,

we are in receipt of 60% of what

MLA believed to be the Renaissance

funding needed for a fully operational

hub. Despite this shortfall, we are very

pleased to have been able to achieve

a high level of engagement and

investment in regional museums.

In 2007-08, regional museums are

benefiting from £290,000 that is

supporting collections care and

access, best practice events,

training and skills development.

This means that Renaissance

investment in regional museums is

now at least equivalent to the

investment of the former North West

Area Museums’ Service.

The North West Hub and Museums

Libraries & Archives North West are

embracing the ambitions of the

Museums Association’s Collections for

the Future report, and are working in

innovative ways to make a difference

in regional museums at a practical

and strategic level.

We are looking ahead to the autumn,

when we will learn the outcome of

the Comprehensive Spending Review

in terms of the resources available

for Renaissance in the Regions in

the future.

The Wordsworth Trust

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Profile:Renaissance Development Officers

I came to MLA North West from

Lancashire County Museum Service,

where I worked as Keeper of Helmshore

Mills Textile Museum. The primary focus

of my wide-ranging job is to support

museums across the region, but in

particular to develop and deliver a

regional workforce development

programme.

I have been working closely with

museum staff in the North West to identify priorities for

Catriona WestDevelopment Officer (Renaissance)

Carli DouglasCollections For the Future Development Officer: Roman Heritage

I am based at Manchester Museum, and

use my background in Archaeology and

Museums Studies to engage with and

support curators, museums and

collections in the North West. My focus is

on the development of greater access to,

and engagement with, regional Roman

collections through reinterpretation,

redisplay, touring exhibitions and sector-

wide partnerships.

skills development. It is important for me to ‘tap into’

people’s passion and encourage collaboration between

museums and individuals in the region, to form action-

learning sets and pursue learning as an instrument for

modernisation.

My second priority is to work with the sector to promote

sustainability and investment within their organisations. I

am achieving this through providing museums and

galleries access to, information about, and examples of

good practice related to sustainable business practice.

One of the biggest rewards of my job is discovering more

about unique collections in the region, and ensuring that

these are understood and articulated within the sector and

championed by external stakeholders.

Since starting my post earlier this year, I have worked with

collections and curators at:

� The Salt Museum, Northwich, Cheshire

� The Armitt Trust Museum & Library, Ambleside, Cumbria

� Rossendale Museum, Rawtenstall, Lancashire

� Ribchester Museum of Roman Antiquities, Lancashire

� Saddleworth Museum & Art Gallery, Greater Manchester.

My job is a pilot initiative, and I am using Collections for

the Future as a framework to make the story of the

region’s Roman heritage more widely known and

understood. The aim is to tell the story coherently and

dynamically, increase understanding and awareness of the

Roman material held in museums, and improve access to

museum and heritage sites across the region.

Collections Care Liaison Officer

This post is being recruited and will be based

at St. Mary’s Conservation Studios in Preston.

The post has been created to deliver the regional

vision for Collections for the Future, namely to

improve the relevance, impact, profile and quality of

museum services and collections.

The post holder will increase access, use and

understanding of the region’s collections, by strengthening

curatorial expertise in collections care, increasing access

to knowledge and resources. As a result they will:

� diversify and increase the number of people who enjoy

and learn from the region’s collections

� work in new ways to develop and transform museum

services

� deliver direct benefit and support to the development of

museum staff and volunteers

� increase standards according to the museum

Accreditation scheme.

with over 100 museums and galleries

Renaissance Development officersSince August 2006

have been in contact

www.mlanorthwest.org.uk

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Events and TrainingJuly 11 Documentation for Accreditation FREE

Cheshire Military Museum. Contact Catriona West:

catriona.west@mlanorthwest.org.uk

July 18 Documentation for Accreditation FREE

British Commercial Vehicle Museum, Leyland.

Contact Catriona West: as above

July 23 Museum Security FREE

Nantwich Museum, Cheshire. Contact Catriona West: as above

July 24 Museum Security FREE

Kendal Museum, Cumbria. Contact Catriona West: as above

July 17 Extended Schools FREE

St. Mary’s Conservation Studios, Preston. Contact Jackie Fletcher:

jackie.fletcher@mlanorthwest.org.uk

Sept 12 Procedural Manual workshop,

People’s History Museum. Contact Diane Rushbrook:

diane.rushbrook@mlanorthwest.org.uk

Sept 13 Documentation Planning workshop,

People’s History Museum. Contact Diane Rushbrook: as above

Sept 14 Human Remains Legislation FREE

Manchester Museum. Contact Catriona West: as above

Sept 19 Curating for the Future, FREE

Manchester Museum. Contact Jennie Crawford:

j.crawford@manchester.gov.uk (see overleaf)

Sept 24 Introduction to Audience Development FREE

St. Mary’s Conservation Studios, Preston. Contact Suzanne Spicer:

s.spicer@mosi.org.uk

Oct 5 How to maximise your Museum Shop FREE

Rex Makin Theatre, Liverpool. Contact Catriona West: as above

For more events go to

www.mlanorthwest.org.uk/trainingandevents/events

The Renaissance programme is working towardsdelivering a comprehensive service to schoolsacross the region – through direct work withchildren and young people, as well as strategicwork that aims to change the way teachers usemuseums and galleries.

Julie Howse, a teacher from Birchfields Primary

School in Manchester, is working part time with the

Learning and Interpretation Team at the Whitworth

Art Gallery. The secondment allows Julie to develop

her knowledge of the cultural sector and also offers

an opportunity for the gallery to work with a teacher

in the development of its programmes.

Leading on the development of initial teacher training

work for the North West Hub, Julie has developed

partnerships with key higher education institutions

and is running training days to share best practice.

She aims to increase awareness of the rich resources

available to teachers at museums and galleries.

Contact: julie.howes@manchester.ac.uk

ONCE UPON A TIMEW

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Emma Anderson, North West Hub Manager0161 235 8822 e.anderson@manchester.gov.uk

Myna Trustram, North West Hub Research Manager0161 235 8849 m.trustram@manchester.gov.uk

Jennie Crawford, North West Hub Communications &Events Officer01228 534781 j.crawford@manchester.gov.uk

Jane Fletcher, North West Hub Education DevelopmentManager07854 921522 janef@carlisle.gov.uk

Alex Saint & Andrew Palmer, North West Hub StrategicAudience Development Consultantsalex@alexsaint.com / andrew@palmersquared.co.uk

Catriona West, Development Officer (Renaissance)01925 625056 catriona.west@mlanorthwest.org.uk

Paul Webb, Development Officer (Standards)01925 625054 paulfraser.webb@mlanorthwest.org.uk

Carli Douglas, Collections for the Future DevelopmentOfficer: Roman Heritage 0161 306 1772 / 07867528370 carli.douglas@manchester.ac.uk

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INITIAL TEACHER TRAININGRenaissance is funding the Once Upon a Timeprogramme that is being developed by museum-ledlearning networks across Cumbria from Barrowto Maryport.

Eight museums are working in partnership with the

Lakeland Museums Education Network and Cumbria

Coastal Learning Network to deliver a project for school-

age children that explores how information is passed on

through stories, tales, myths and beliefs.

The Ruskin Museum, The Quaker Tapestry at Kendal,

Senhouse Roman Museum, Penrith Museum, The Beacon,

Haig Colliery Mining Museum, Helena Thompson Museum

and The Dock Museum are developing locally-focussed

resources, services, events and activities that will feature

in an exhibition and a series of events to be launched at

Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery in the autumn.

Contact: Julie Wooding, Education Manager at Tullie

House, JulieWo@carlisle-city.gov.uk

AFTERNOON: Thematic workshops

1. Disposals: How can disposal be carried out ethically and responsibly?

2. Dynamic collecting: How can acquisitions be dynamic and relevant?

3. Strategic documentation: How can documentation deliver the needs of audiences and stakeholders?

4. Developing tomorrow’s workforce: What kinds of training and skills development are required by curators?

5. Access v. collections and curatorial expertise: How can curators balance the development of their subject

specialism alongside delivering access to collections?

Nick Merriman,

Director, Manchester Museum

A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FORCOLLECTIONS?

Recent research has shown that

museums seem to be inherently

unsustainable institutions, in that

their collections continue to grow

without commensurate growth in

the resources available to look

after them. Nick Merriman will

examine how we might conceive a

sustainable approach to collections

development, drawing on literature

from environmental sustainability,

and the anthropology of memory

and forgetting.

Curating for the Future: a conference exploringthe curatorial role in the 21st century19 September 2007, Manchester Museum, The University of Manchester, 10:00 – 17:00

What is the role of the museum curator in the 21st century? This is your opportunity to bechallenged and inspired, and take part in the debate about one of the hot topics in museumsand galleries today.

ProgrammeMORNING: Keynote Speakers

Jane Glaister,

Strategic Director, Culture,Tourism & Sport,Bradford City Council

TRANSFORMATIONALCOLLECTING V.TRANSACTIONAL CURATORS?

If museums are to continue to

flourish, have relevance to all our

communities, be financially efficient

and be seen to have significant

value by stakeholders, then the way

we acquire, exploit and manage

collections must be transformed.

But ‘transformational collecting’

requires transformational curators,

and Jane Glaister will argue that

the current professional culture

and training mitigates against this

– valuing transactional rather than

transformational processes

and skills.

Mark O’Neill,

Head of Arts and Museums,Culture & Sport Glasgow

CURATORSHIP: BY WHATAUTHORITY?

Museums make decisions about

what the public sees, and what they

are told about the meaning and

importance of what they see. The

authority to make these decisions is

based on a dual authority. One

authority is derived from the expertise

of staff – traditionally that of

curators, but also now of educators,

designers and management. The

other authority derives from the role

of museums as agents of civil

society, in a democratic public

sphere. Mark O’Neill will show how

these forms of authority can interact

creatively, with practical examples

from the experience of Glasgow

Museums, and in particular from the

redisplay of Kelvingrove.

Curating for the Future is organised by Renaissance

North West in partnership with the University of

Manchester and the North West Federation of Museums

and Galleries, as part of the regional programme to

deliver the Collections for the Future framework.

This conference is an opportunity for regional museums

and gallery staff to debate the future of curatorship.

Funded by Renaissance North West, places are FREE

but limited to 100 delegates.

Curating for the Future: a conference exploring the curatorialrole in the 21st century19 September 2007, Manchester Museum 10:00 – 17:00

Delegate Application Form

Name:

Job title:

Organisation:

Address:

Tel:

Email:

Please indicate your top three choices for the thematic workshops (1-5):

There are 100 places for regional delegates at this conference. To apply to attend this FREE event, please

describe why do you want to participate in Curating for the Future, and what you hope to take away for yourself

personally and for your organisation? (max 150 words or go to www.mlanorthwest.org.uk/trainingandevents/events

for an electronic version of this form.)

Please send your application to:Jennie Crawford, North West Hub Communications & Events Officer, Renaissance North West, Manchester Art Gallery

Mosley Street, Manchester M2 3JL.

j.crawford@manchester.gov.uk

Applications must be received by 20 July 2007. We will let you know if you have secured a place by 27 July 2007.