Gaye Kirby,
Creative Programmes and Partnership Manager and J.R Bowes, Museums General Manager
will provide the panel with a service overview.
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed Gaye
Kirby, Creative Programmes and Partnership Manager and J.R Bowes, Museums
General Manager to the meeting to provide a service overview of museums.
The Museums General Manager advised that he has commenced
his role in March 2021 and that the Creative Partnership Manager had taken up
her post in February 2022.
To begin with the General Manager provided some context
surrounding the museums advising that Middlesbrough own two museums- the Dorman
and Captain Cook birthplace.
The
Dorman Museum: Established in 1904 with large collections of
natural history, archaeology, and ethnography, the museum has developed a remit
that reflects the life and interests of the town and its people.
The museum had
extensive redeveloped in 2002, and currently houses eight galleries covering
social history of the town, the natural world, decorative arts, and world
cultures.
Captain Cook Birthplace museum: In 1978 on the
250th anniversary of Cook’s birth the museum opened. It is housed in a
purpose-built museum close to the site of Cook’s birthplace cottage in Stewart
Park.
The museum tells
the story of Cook, his 3 voyages and the cultures he encountered through themed
displays and artefacts.
The Manager advised that there were 13 members of
staff covering the two museums, however currently there was only 1 learning and
engagement officer in post due to long term sickness.
The service worked with a number of partners
including:
• Tees Valley
Museums Group NPO
• Arts Council
England
• Teesside
Archives
• British Museum
• National
Portrait Gallery
• Schools
• Museum
Development Network NE
• Captain Cook
Trust
• Friends of
Dorman Museum
• Middlesbrough Mela
• Taste of Africa
• Curious Arts
• Barefoot Kitchen
• South Tees Arts
& Health
• Whippet Up
The ambition of the service
was as follows:
Attracting and
retaining audiences through the creation of fresh and dynamic programming,
expanded museum promotion and deepening our connection to the community and
beyond.
This would be achieved by the following steps:
1. Connect with
communities
2. Relevant and
transformative museum
3. Think
differently and create unique and distinctive experiences
4. Playful museum
5. Added value to
the visit
In terms of the
Dorman museum, the Manager outlined that it currently housed over 300,000
objects, however some were on loan. Structurally, the museum was fit for
purpose, however there has always been challenges with the roof and the museum
sadly suffers with guttering and leaks when there is strong wind and rain. The majority of the budget goes on
maintenance, however in the future, a new roof would perhaps be the only option
to protect the collections.
In terms of the
ambition, the museum had also outlined a transformation plan, which was as
follows:
Changing Lives
• Socially
purposeful and engaged
• Enhance lives
• Breaking down
barriers
• Active community
participation
• Engaging with
diverse communities
• Sharing
collections and knowledge
Wellbeing
• Increase a sense
of wellbeing
• Help us feel
proud of where we have come from
• Inspire,
challenge and stimulate us
Create better
place
• Sense of
belonging
• Value and
understand where we live
• Encourage active
public participation in decision-making
• Use collections and
buildings to generate understanding between communities
• Create spaces
that are open and accessible to all
Economic Value
• Create new
opportunities for residents
• Raise
aspirations
• Encourage and
attract visitors to the town
• Stimulate
further investment.
One main objective
is to start celebrating our communities, and looking at how the museums can
celebration Middlesbrough’s diverse communities.
The Manager
provided some examples of how the museums have been building towards their
ambition, which included a number of videos which has been created in
conjunction with partners:
1. Connect with communities- The Dorman
museum is free to the public and the panel were advised visitors normally stay
between 1- 2 hours. The museum holds number of collections, some fixed and some
temporary.
In terms of
connection with communities, for the last 6 months the Learning and Engagement
officer has been concentrating
wholly on schools,
re-establishing our school loan boxes and delivering our Egyptian and Captain
Cook workshops which are very popular.
Whilst the Captain
Cook Museum, is not open all year round, it sits within the beautiful setting
of Stewart Park, which attracts thousands of visitors per year. The park itself
has lost of artefacts and last year the museum service introduced the Stewart
Park Island Discovery Trail (which allows children and adults to follow the
trail around the park and collect rubbings along the way). There is a small
cost for the trail but it has proven popular.
Other work has
included Celebrating connections , which worked with
young people aged 12-16 in LINX , where the museum displayed their art
work. The service also worked with
Middlesbrough Mela and Barefoot Kitchen to develop a
‘Taste from home’, a community cookbook.
Other community
work has linked with the Captain Cook Museum, where local school children had a
unique opportunity to meet with rugby team from the Cook Islands. Volunteers
and community groups worked tirelessly to produce a quit ,
during their rubgy world cup game against Tonga.
Postcards have been produced and school children are now corresponding with
children in the Cook Islands.
2. Relevant and transformative museum- In 2022,
the Dorman Museum was fortunate to borrow an Egyptian exhibition, free of
charge from the British Museum. The exhibition links with the following 3
ambitions in that this has allowed the Dorman to think differently and create a
distinctive experience, adding value to visits and being creative with space,
by bringing play, amongst culture and learning.
The British
Museum, alongside the Dorman Museum worked with local school children, holding
workshops and developing Egyptian themed work to have on display. The children were able to speak to curators
from the British Museum via zoom to gain a better understanding of Egyptian
culture.
Alongside this,
the museum wished to bring something for younger children and with thanks to Covid recovery budget were able to install an Egyptian play
area next to the collection. This has proved very successful and loved by
families.
The project still
continues and in the New Year 300 children will be traveling by train to London
to visit to British museum. Something many children have not had the experience
to do. It is hoped that this will develop a long-term relationship with the
regions.
3.
Think differently and create unique and
distinctive experiences-
as well as the Egyptians, the service worked with Curious Arts,
to develop, a curious night in the museum. Curious Arts is a Newcastle
Gateshead based charity championing and developing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual + arts, artists and audiences across the
North East of England and beyond. Producers of award-winning
Curious Festival – a celebration of LGBTQIA+ culture, Curious Arts co-ordinate
queer arts network Queer Arts North and develop community-focused arts projects
and events throughout the year, in partnership with cultural and community
organisations from across the region.
Curious
Arts took over the museum, questioned social constructs, vogue dancing, sharing
memories, developed art and celebrated LGBTQIA+ culture.
The
Dorman also hosted the Bottled ocean- an
exhibition exploring your own relationships with plastic. The artist worked
with thousands of children and community groups to reuse plastic to create an
under the water themed exhibition.
4. Playful museum- The Dorman offers the
following to attract families, including the Egyptian playarea,
pop up theatre, Dinosaur days, yoga
sessions and music sessions. There is a small cost from the activities (except
for the Egyptian playarea)
5. Added value to the visit- The Dorman
museum is a welcome place and celebrates all communities. In 2022, the museum
purchased a Virtual reality ride, which changes theme depending on the time of
year. The ride is currently open on weekends and during school holiday and has
proven to be a welcome addition to the museum. The ride also generates a small
income, as it is currently priced at £3.50 per person, or £14 per family. The
ride lasts 5 minutes and since its instalment has generated £17k. It was hoped that this type of
activity would evolve.
In terms of
looking forward, the officers explained they wished to concentrate on the
following:
•
Democratising our collections and displays- the museums need to
be strategic about the collections on show and what they store. Whilst
disposing of artefacts may sound easy, there is a long process in place, which
is often costly.
•
Improving our physical access- looking at the
Dorman and Captain cooks birthplace access to ensure it is open to all
•
Strengthening relationships and opportunities with
communities- the service wish to embrace and celebrate our communities, by
telling true stories and bring new stories to life.
•
Enhancing programming and offer- working with
partners/ local communities and schools.
•
TVCA heritage framework- working together to
celebrate our heritage.
•
Capital redevelopments
•
Building on partnerships- and as well building new
ones.
This however was
against challenges:
• Staffing and
capacity
• Workforce skills
and training
• Budgets
• Buildings and
Maintenance
• Investment &
council priorities
• External funding
• Strategic understanding
of the power of museums
• Growing
community needs
• Storage and
contemporary collecting
The officers were thanked for their informative
presentation.
As this was the first meeting, the Democratic Services
Officer would work with the panel and develop detailed terms of reference for
the review.
Following the order of business, a number of the panel
members were shown round the museum.
AGREED:
That the information be noted.