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Welcome
Ten Scottish Collections gain National Recognition
And the Recognised Collections are �
Revisiting Collections
Collections Research Bursary Scheme
Hands On Takes Off!
An Introduction to Glow
Joined up Thinking
Focus on Family Learning
Learning with the National Trust for Scotland
Art Cart
A Life of Learning
Making the Link
Getting to Grips with Heritage
Walk the Walk / Talk the Talk
A Cut Above
SMC Members Grow and Develop
Shetland Plays Host to two Sets of Royalty
Hunterian Museum Reopens after Refurbishment
Gordon Highlanders Museum Opens New Armoury
Show Scotland 07. Another Great Success!
�A welcoming museums and galleries sector that opens doors and celebrates collections, inspiring creativity, learning and enjoyment for all.�
Hello and welcome to the latest edition of MG:Q, the first following the change in government at the Scottish Executive. For those readers who are not yet familiar with SMC, we are the lead strategic agency and the member organisation for over 340 museums and galleries across Scotland. We provide support to the sector and are the main channel of fundraising from the Scottish Executive.
So far 2007 has been an exciting and busy year. In June the first ten Recognised Collections of National Significance were announced and we would like to thank the custodians of the collections, SMC staff and the Recognition Committee for making this possible.
We are tremendously proud of our newest publication, Hands On � Learning from Objects and Paintings: A Teachers Guide and the associated workshops proved very popular. We successfully laid the foundations for a Scottish Migration Museum using our presence at Tartan Week last April as the perfect platform to develop strong relationships with parties in the US and Scotland. Show Scotland, the annual museums and galleries big events weekend, was another great achievement for members who took part and it was gratifying to see a 21% increase in the number of performances and timed activities organised this year.
We have much to celebrate and also much to look forward to.Working with the new government to further our commitment to achieve our vision for the sector, outlined above, will be an exciting period.
We are pleased that we both place a lot of emphasis on the importance of learning and education. Hence, this MG:Q looks at museums learning in the broadest sense.
We wanted to give an insight into the many creative projects being undertaken by our members using their rich and diverse collections to inspire learning and to engage with people all across Scotland, from pre-school to post-retirement.
I hope you enjoy the articles, contributions and case studies on these pages that reveal the enormous strides being made to achieve our vision.
Joanne Orr
CEO, Scottish Museums Council
The new Recognition Scheme celebrates, promotes and invests in nationally significant collections held outside the nationally run museums and galleries across Scotland.
The newly refurbished Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery in Glasgow made a very appropriate setting for an announcement which held such magnitude for Scotland�s museums and galleries.
The national importance of ten collections cared for by museums and galleries across Scotland was recognised, for the first time, in an announcement of the first round of the Recognition Scheme made by Minister for Europe, External Affairs and Culture, Linda Fabiani.
Guests from the museums which care for the Recognised Collections of National Significance gathered to hear the announcement and were joined by representatives from SMC, Douglas Connell, Chair of the Recognition Committee, and members of the press.
The new Recognition Scheme celebrates, promotes and invests in nationally significant collections held outside the nationally run museums and galleries across Scotland. Funded by the Scottish Executive and managed by the SMC, the Recognition Scheme will help to make sure that these important collections are identified, cared for, protected and promoted to a wider audience.
The first ten Recognised Collections are located across Scotland, and are held by local authorities, universities and independent trusts from Orkney to Dumfries and from Irvine to Anstruther. They cover a range of themes on what makes Scotland great, from medicine, art and science to industrial heritage and our literary heroes.
Holders of the Recognised Collections received specially designed plaques and certificates to display at their venues and they will have the opportunity to bid for a share of �1 million earmarked for the Recognition Scheme. This funding will go to support the sector and fund aspirations to undertake projects such as increasing accessibility to their collections and improving how they are cared for.
Dates have been set for two subsequent rounds in the Recognition Scheme. Round Two is now open and Round Three will open in December 2007.
The Collection of Historic Musical Instruments cared for by the University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh
Edinburgh University Collection of Historic Musical Instruments ranks among the world's most important collections of musical heritage. All the main types of musical sound-making device spanning over 500 years are represented, and are presented to the public in two museums, St Cecilia�s Hall Museum of Instruments and Reid Concert Hall Museum of Instruments.
The Entire Collection cared for by the Burns Monument Trust, Ayr, Ayrshire
This is the largest museum collection in the world of artefacts relating to Robert Burns and his family and contains manuscripts, rare books, artefacts and art. They hold the most complete set of the poet�s published work known to exist and an extraordinary collection of �Burnsiana� which chronicles the world�s evolving interest in the poet.
The Entire Collection cared for by the Scottish Maritime Museum, Irvine, Ayrshire
The collection contains over 44,000 objects ranging from vessels to archival records and includes the Linthouse Engine Shed and the Denny Experimental Ship Model test tank. Shipbuilding and boatbuilding equipment are included along with marine
engines and engineering, full sized vessels plus scientific and technical equipment and records.
The Core Collection cared for by the Scottish Railway Preservation Society, Bo�ness, Falkirk
The SRPS operates the Bo'ness & Kinneil Railway, developed since 1979 on the south shore of the Firth of Forth. The collections are seen by visitors through the picturesque railway and the Scottish Railway Exhibition. The collection spans the dawn of the railway age to the present day.
The Archaeology Collection cared for by Dumfries and Galloway Museum Service, Dumfries
The Dumfries and Galloway Museum Service�s archaeology collection is one of the largest collections in Scotland. It is a comprehensive collection of the region�s material culture over an 8,000 year period and is the primary source of information for understanding the pre-history and history of the area.
The Entire Collection cared for by Pier Arts Centre Stromness, Orkney
Established in 1979 to provide a home for an important collection of British fine art donated to �be held in trust for Orkney� by the author, peace activist and philanthropist Margaret Gardiner. The collection has grown steadily and now contains works spanning 1929 to the present day.
The Entire Collection cared for by the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire
From the simple hand-made model ships crafted by individual light keepers, to the huge glass and brass lenses of the 19th century, the museum is the only institution in the UK that tells the story of lighthouse technology and people that lived and worked in a hostile coastal environment.
The Entire Collection cared for by the Surgeons� Hall Museum, Edinburgh
Scotland is renowned for its contribution to the development of modern medicine and, for most of the 19th century, Edinburgh was one of the most important centres for medical teaching in the world. The museum is the most significant single repository of medical collections in Scotland and covers surgical, anatomical and pathological developments throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
The Entire Collection cared for by the Hunterian Museum and Art Gallery, Glasgow
Opened to the public in 1807 � the Hunterian is currently celebrating their bi-entenary. The collections, which are comprised of William Hunters founding bequest of 1783, are of intrinsic significance through their age, origin and completeness. They represent a tangible and internationally important legacy of the Scottish Enlightenment.
The Entire Collection cared for by the Scottish Fisheries Museum, Anstruther, Fife
The SFM collects, preserves and interprets the history of the Scottish fishing industry from early times to the present. The collection is a comprehensive record of the technological development, equipment, related industries and community and domestic life associated with the fishing industry.
SMC is working with the Museum Documentation Association (MDA) on a project aimed at extending the amount and type of information a museum holds about its collections.
Revisiting Collections encourages museums to record and use the recollections, responses and views of visitors, the local community, staff and the owners of collections. This information will add to the existing collections records, which are traditionally more factual.
Museums will be encouraged to interview visitors, hold focus groups and record as much information as possible from the owners of donated objects. In this way, emotional reactions can be recorded, as well as cultural, social and community connections.
By involving the public and broader audiences in interpretation of collections, it is hoped that the answers to previously unanswered questions can be recorded.
These might be such things as� Is the object rare? Is it culturally significant? Does the wear and tear on the object give a clue to the impact it may have had on its user? Are there any living memories of people using this object?
MDA is working to change the standard documentation software currently used by museums to incorporate the new information being gathered. This should ensure records like these are included as a matter of course in the future.
It is hoped that this new data will enable museums to fill gaps or add value to their existing records and foster pride and ownership in them by those who visit. It should also move the documentation of objects from being simply a tool for management to being a major step forwards towards opening up access to collections and finding relevance for a wide variety of users.
SMC�s A National Collections Development Strategy for Scotland�s Museums, published in October 2006, recognises that the ways in which museums enhance, communicate and value the knowledge they hold is crucial to successful collections use.
In order to progress this within its member museums, SMC has introduced a bursary scheme which will invite applications from individuals working or volunteering in a member museum and will provide 75% project funding (and up to 100% costs in exceptional circumstances) to allow in-house research into one poorly-documented/researched Registered/Accredited collection.
Specifically, the bursary could be used to support travel costs to attend relevant conferences and events, to enable shadowing or coaching sessions to take place with collections specialists or in production of findings for dissemination within the sector.
Applicants will be required to provide evidence of:
Applications for these bursaries should be received by 31 August and will be awarded during October. The bursary should be spent by the end February 2008.
For further information regarding these bursaries, please contact Gillian Findlay, SMC�s Collections Development Manager, on 0131 550 4126 or [email protected]
The previous issue of MG:Q featured the recent SMC publication Hands On � Learning from Objects and Paintings: A Teacher�s Guide. Since then a version of the guide went online and now a reprint is on the cards. However we are not surprised at its popularity as we always knew we had something special on our hands!
The rich and diverse collections in Scotland�s museums and galleries offer a unique and easily accessible resource for teachers and children. They range from everyday objects to the obscure or rare including household items, instruments of scientific discovery and technical invention, cars and buses, paintings by famous painters and new artists. These objects can unlock the stories of the nation�s past and present; they fire the imagination and stimulate children�s desire to learn.
Produced by SMC in collaboration with Glasgow Museums, Hands On is a step-by-step guide aimed at helping early years and primary school educators to working with everyday and museum objects and paintings to promote enjoyment and develop learning skills in young people.
Links are made throughout between object-based learning activities and the Curriculum for Excellence. Hands On encourages educators to forge links with museums and to make the most of Scotland�s fascinating heritage within the context of the new curriculum.
The positive feedback about the publication so far has been overwhelming and demand for copies has been high. To ensure the guide is available as widely as possible, SMC developed two online versions that offer enhanced features including zoom facilities and book-marking, and are ideal for use with overhead projectors or electronic white boards.
Once the initial copies of Hands On were distributed in May, SMC funded a series of four workshops entitled �Teach the Teachers how to get their Hands On Museum Objects�. The sessions were designed by the guide�s authors Anne Wallace and Janice Lane of Glasgow Museums and took place through May and June in various venues around the country. The training was so popular that each session was over-subscribed. The training sessions provided very practical training for museum employees and Cultural Co-ordinators on developing CPD sessions for teachers, enthusing them about the learning potential of using museum objects and paintings.
At each venue a local teaching representative gave pointers on how to make the appropriate connections with local schools and hints on how to support CPD sessions with teachers. The delegates then took part in exercises designed to support teachers to feel confident using museum objects and to understand the connection between object based learning and A Curriculum for Excellence.
The popularity of the attractive and easy to use guide has snowballed and the good news for those who would like to get their hands on a hard copy is that a reprint is set to take place this autumn and will be available to buy from Glasgow Museums.
For information on getting hard copies of or online access to Hands On, please contact Kath Dunn on 0131 550 4112 or [email protected]
Imagine a Scottish education system where every educator and pupil is linked through a secure national schools intranet, allowing them to teach and learn in today�s digital environment. What seems like a far off dream will soon be a reality and SMC invited Communications Officer, Lorna Kerr, to tell us more.
Learning and Teaching Scotland (LT Scotland), funded by the Scottish Executive, is working in partnership with consultants to make this ideal scenario happen. These services are called Glow; a national schools intranet, digitally linking Scotland's
800,000 educators and pupils and designed with one aim � to support educational development.
This powerful set of integrated online tools will start to be rolled out in September of this year. It provides the unique opportunity to equip educators and learners to enable them to work together safely and securely at any location or time. Some of these tools vary from discussion forums and virtual learning environments, to allowing virtual meetings between education officers and curators.
As well as an excellent resource for teachers, Glow can be utilised in so many more ways by other cultural bodies to provide access to a rich pool of educational resources. Logistically, certain Scottish museums will only have limited success in getting school visits from further afield. What Glow can offer is the ability to get many more virtual visitors.
Take for example a museum in Orkney or Shetland: schools from the mainland may not have the opportunity to visit. However, by establishing a virtual presence in Glow, the museum can bring its existing resources immediately to the attention of many young people and teachers without leaving the classroom.
By taking advantage of the Glow infrastructure, Scottish museums can begin to develop a different kind of resource which brings things to life in new ways.
Glow allows the learner and teacher to share resources and experiences of what they have learned, benefiting other schools along the way. These online communities will provide opportunities to engage with pupils from other schools and groups using the full range of Glow tools, whilst supporting individualised learning.
By using Glow, Scottish museums will have another channel to deliver enormous resources of knowledge into the hands of young people and educators alike.
In today�s learning society, as a result of the technology revolution, fundamental changes have taken place, opening up a whole new opportunity for the way education is provided. Glow recognises this technological change and acts as a platform to allow pupils and teachers to build on their knowledge and bring things alive.
Using Glow allows practitioners to build on the traditional resources within teaching, enhancing the overall education experience for learners.
Museums have traditionally had a very powerful role in transmitting the accumulated knowledge and lessons of the past through their collections. With Glow, this role will never change: in fact it will become more important to teach young people to question the source, authenticity and merits of information.
Glow is just one of the many changes taking place in Scottish education. Working with others, Glow is one of the ways in which LT Scotland is planning to build capacity, deliver A Curriculum for Excellence and ensure first-class education for Scotland.
LT Scotland is looking forward to working with the Scottish Museums Council to play an increasingly important role creating learning content for delivery via Glow to classrooms around Scotland.
For more information on Glow, visit their programme website at www.glowscotland.org.uk
Emma Halford-MacLeod and Andrea Hallam of the Tayside Museums Learning & Access Partnership (TMLAP), an RDCF funded project, tell us how learning in museums and galleries means more than just fun days and school visits.
Funded by the Scottish Executive and administered by SMC, the Regional Development Challenge Fund (RDCF) was established in 2003 and has encouraged exciting new partnerships across local authorities, museums and related agencies.
In 2005, TMLAP was established with the purpose of developing a new regional partnership between Dundee City Council, Perth & Kinross Council and Angus Council. Based on collaborative working and shared best practice, the project aims to increase the provision of learning and access to collections for current and potential users. This is being achieved using many different techniques and resources:
Professional Qualifications
Staff across the three local authorities will receive formal professional qualifications. Front of House staff are working towards SVQ Level 2 in Heritage Care and Visitor Services as well as SVQ Level 3 in Cultural Heritage Operations. Professional staff have been given the opportunity to work towards an MA in Museum Studies through distance learning.
Collections Audit
Taking best practice from a local authority within the partnership, the project has rolled out a collections audit to most museums in the partnership. This has given museums a manageable way to carry out retrospective documentation, clear accessioning backlogs and record the locations of all objects in their collections. This has led on to the rollout of Adlib, a collections management database, and best practice for inputting and maintaining records.
Schools Learning Resources
New resources are being developed to encourage schools to visit the museums within the partnership. Sustainability is the key to success after the lifetime of the project, and all resources are being developed with this in mind.
The resources are three-fold:
The resources are on topics common to all three local authority curriculums:
Family Learning Resources
A range of activities are being developed to encourage family groups to interact with museums throughout the partnership. Resources will include trails, quizzes and colouring-in sheets, as well as simple �find and tick� activities. The result of audience research within the partnership has shown a need for the development of family learning resources.
Focus on Glenesk Folk Museum
The project will roll out best practice from local authority museums to develop Family and School Learning resources at the Glenesk Folk Museum. Family Learning will include the development of activity sheets for young visitors to the museum. School Learning will involve the development of school visits, focusing on the Victorians.
Following a Strategic Change Fund (SCF) Adult Learning Coordinator project, funded by the Scottish Executive and managed by SMC, Perth & Kinross Council successfully applied for additional SCF funding to develop learning projects through a Family Learning Coordinator post. The initial SCF project had shown that one of the best ways to engage with adults was through families. Here Margaret Forbes shares her experiences of the 18 month post at Perth Museum and Art Gallery.
I interpreted �family learning� in the widest possible sense � encompassing senior citizens to pre-school groups. If adults are interested in museum events then they are more likely to bring their children or grandchildren. Young adults are the next generation of parents and providing activities relevant to them establishes a pattern of attendance for future generations.
We implemented a packed timetable of activities and workshops for the duration of the post. These included nine bi-monthly Family Activity Times linked to national and local events, achievements, exhibitions and collections. The scope was widened by involving internal and external partners including the Scottish Mining Museum for a Fossils Day and the Beano and Robert Smail�s Printing Works for the Paper, Ink & Printer�s Devils Day.
A competition entitled �Perth - Past, Present & Future� was run in response to requests from the public to display their own work in the galleries. The competition invited families and individuals to depict in words and pictures what they valued in Perth and Kinross. Free creative writing and illustration workshops were offered to help with entries and people of all ages worked together to learn new skills.
We aimed to be inclusive; all entries received a prize and were displayed in the gallery. Everybody who took part was invited to the prize giving �Celebration�.
The project increased public awareness of the collections and forged new partnerships. The museum benefited from 4557 extra visitors and the activities encouraged longer, more involved family visits. As one visitor commented, �Absolutely brilliant. I never thought my four year old would be happily entertained for three hours in a museum.�
SMC members range from the very small to the very large. With eight Fully Registered museums and many historic sites housing varied collections the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) is one of our largest members. Here, Debbie Jackson, Education Officer (West) for NTS, tells us about their education initiatives and structure.
NTS is Scotland�s largest conservation charity � it consists of 127 diverse places spread across the whole country � hills and islands, worker�s cottages and businesses, townhouses and country houses, castles and battle-sites, parks and gardens. And, of course, museums!
Managing the education work for so many different places is a challenge but life is never dull. We are lucky to have a large education department with trained education officers who concentrate on lifelong learning and social justice.
In the West region, we have three Registered museums amongst the properties we manage:
We are also currently working with the Burns Cottage Museum in Ayrshire.
Schools are an important part of our work and a few of our sites have dedicated education officers � Pollok House and DLC among them.
At the moment the officers at these sites are working on �This Is Our Story�, a project to commemorate the bicentenary of the abolition of the UK slave trade. The project has collected the thoughts and feelings of a wide cross-section of the community on the issue, extending beyond children to refugees, asylum seekers and young people at risk. We intend on maintaining our connection with these groups for future projects.
The Trust�s education staff often work in partnership with other specialists to increase learning opportunities. For example, this year pupils at Broughton House undertook a photography project with a local artist as part of the Kirkcudbright Arts Festival and elsewhere schools have enjoyed sculpture, collections care and archaeology workshops.
In addition, year round and throughout our sites, there are many opportunities for informal learning � art workshops, nature walks and even murder mysteries � made possible with Trust staff dedicated to creating and running our events.
Want more information? Check out the NTS websites www.nts.org.uk and www.ntseducation.org.uk
SMC�s member museums achieve a great deal with the funding offered through our small grants scheme. Edinburgh�s City Art Centre, recently embarked on a project which cost relatively little but has resulted in a fantastic and versatile resource which has met their needs. Maeve Toal, Assistant Curator explains...
In 2006, the City Art Centre identified a need to extend and develop its audiences, in particular families, schools and visitors wishing to be �hands on�. In order to do this, we decided to commission the production of an Art Cart, with the help of funding from an SMC grant, which would facilitate enjoyment and provide interpretation of our collection displays.
Commissions for the production of the cart were invited from craft and furniture makers across Scotland. The commission was finally offered to Ross Purves from the Workshop of Tim Stead. Ross�s proposal and presentation was incredibly clear, incorporating all requirements as well as additional suggestions on how to improve the cart.
The result of Ross�s enthusiasm for the project and skill as a furniture maker is a beautifully handcrafted Art Cart, made entirely of native hardwoods such as burr elm, ash and walnut, and packed with activities, literature and an array of art materials.
Two of the additions to the cart suggested by the Workshop include a puzzle made entirely from one piece of wood, and a selection of miniature books made from all the woods used in the cart, enabling adults and children alike to learn more about and have fun exploring which native woods have been incorporated.
The cart will enable us to create a portable activity/education area without using much space and which can be easily moved or closed. It will only need limited attention by staff, and will ensure that exhibitions on very low budgets can have an activity area, despite the constraints on finances.
It has been incredibly satisfying to support a young local maker who has worked incredibly hard and shown enthusiasm for the project. We believe that this project could be used as a case study for other Council venues that have very limited space and wish to create an education area.
For more information, please contact Margaret Findlay, Learning & Access Officer, Edinburgh City Council on 0131 529 3963.
Two volunteers at the Scottish Fisheries Museum, one of SMC�s Independent Member Museums, could be said to personify the phrase �lifelong learning�. Here Jennifer Gordon, Acting Curator, talks about their valuable contribution to the museum.
Over 50% of those who work in Scotland�s museums are volunteers. At the Scottish Fisheries Museum in Anstruther, two such volunteers show just how invaluable this part of the museum�s workforce is to the success of the sector and how much volunteers offer in skills and time.
Two volunteers at the Scottish Fisheries Museum could be said to personify the phrase �lifelong learning�. Both ex-teachers, Kay Kydland and Marjorie Morrison have been quietly working away on the museum�s behalf for over ten years.
Their main role is to look after the museum�s reference library, cataloguing new additions and indexing the vast array of photographs, articles and books thus making them accessible to visitors and researchers.
Often researchers� first point of contact is the library where Kay and Marjorie will happily spend time assisting them to find the information they need.
Another major role they perform is in answering enquiries from the public. The museum has major holdings relating to Scottish fishing boats. We receive enquiries from around the world from people (for example) trying to trace the history of their grandfather�s boat or of a vessel they own. The recent upsurge in interest in family history also keeps them busy. Kay and Marjorie spend many hours trying to track down information from gravestones, census records or other related material.
This has led them to explore new avenues in their own learning and development. Kay developed her computing skills and finds the internet a great source of information, while Marjorie must be familiar with every local history society, library and archive in the area, as well as relying on her network of friends to help tie up loose ends.
The results of all their efforts are a well organised library holding collections of books and photographs which are easily accessible to the public, and an efficient and thorough enquiry service reaching around the globe. In her �spare� time Kay also acts as a museum guide specialising in tours to school groups and French-speakers.
Kay and Marjorie are just two among the many volunteers who give of their time and skills to the museum � skills including restoring and crewing boats, cataloguing archives and collections, and customer care in both the shop and tearoom. We couldn�t exist without them.
SMC, through the small grants scheme, can provide funds to help Cultural Coordinators and Creative Links Officers get fine projects off the ground and ensure connections between member museums and museums and schools are made and maintained.
We are featuring three such SMC funded projects that are using very different techniques and ideas, with much success, to get young people involved with and enthused by their history and heritage.
In this excerpt, Lorna Dey, Cultural Coordinator (Museums, Galleries and Heritage), Aberdeen City Council tells us about working with Aberdeen Museum and Art Gallery, an SMC Local Authority Member Museum.
As a former teacher, I am very aware that our city museums have amazing items perfect for enhancing all kinds of lessons but that accessing them is not always simple. On becoming a Cultural Coordinator with the Arts Education Team, I set about creating Aberdeen�s Getting to Grips with Heritage project which aims to help young people explore their heritage while tackling social, intellectual and physical barriers that often exist between them and museums. It also aims to maximise arts and heritage activity for young people of school age (3-18 years) and to support and develop an interest in arts and heritage amongst teachers and other staff.
The ultimate goal of the project is to develop a sense of wider sharing of our heritage throughout the city and beyond. It is often the case that exhibitions reflecting the lives of ordinary people have wide appeal and increase visitor numbers. With this in mind we aim to make objects easily accessible and relevant to the lives of participants.
There are two parts to Getting to Grips with Heritage:
Interactive workshops
Class visits to the City�s museum stores followed by a related craft workshop. Visits, developed on a particular theme, make for a tighter focus for participating staff.
Interactive educational website using the City�s museum collections
www.aberdeenquest.com incorporates new technology into the curriculum as a teaching tool and medium for creative play. Learning is at the heart of the project with opportunities for children to improve literacy and numeracy skills as well as providing a medium rich with Aberdeen�s local heritage and culture.
Museum collections have much to offer to enhance learning and this project directly addresses the issue of access to arts and heritage. Aberdeen Art Gallery and Museums accept that there are large numbers of people within the city who feel excluded from museums and who never or rarely visit them, yet the collections reflect their history and our shared culture. Familiarity with aspects of our past helps cultivate positive perceptions of ourselves as citizens and fosters our sense of belonging to a community.
It is essential that engagement with the cultural heritage of our area is not confined to a narrow, self-selected group within the city and north east, but that citizens from across all social classes benefit equally. Getting to Grips with Heritage will bring aspects of our cultural heritage directly to children and young people irrespective of social and educational circumstance.
Here David Mann, Marketing Manager, Clydebuilt, Scottish Maritime Museum, an SMC Independent Member located at Braehead, tells us about the two-week project which focused on Renfrewshire�s shipbuilding history.
Walk the Walk/Talk the Talk involved Renfrewshire Cultural Coordinators, Paisley Museums Service, Renfrew Museum, Paisley Arts Group, Scottish Maritime Museum, Clydebuilt Museum and Gerry Durkin, a local storyteller.
This project took nine P6/P7 school classes from Renfrewshire and introduced them to life in the 50�s at Renfrew Museum before walking them along the banks of the River Clyde, accompanied by a storyteller, to Clydebuilt Maritime Museum where they were given a guided tour. The 1950s is a significant period for the area as it was the point when shipbuilding along the Clyde had reached its peak and was beginning to decline.
At Renfrew Museum, the classes were met by a very strict 1950�s schoolmistress who took them back in time. Assisted by a 15-year old school girl called Claire (played by an actress), the classes were given a fantastic insight into life and education of that time and also made some 1950s toys (the banger was particularly popular!).
The pupils were taken for a walk along the banks of the River Clyde where Gerry Durkin interjected the walk at various points telling amusing anecdotal and true stories about shipbuilding and the life of a shipyard worker.
The walk ended at Clydebuilt where the classes had lunch and were given a guided tour of the museum. This incorporated information about shipbuilding and the history of the river and complemented the stories they had heard on the walk.
All the pupils thoroughly enjoyed the day, with each highlighting a different part as their favourite. The teacher�s feedback confirmed that the activities linked well to the social studies curriculum in particular, and gave constructive feedback.
The greatest achievement from Clydebuilt's point of view was that Renfrew Museum/Paisley Museum and Clydebuilt worked together � something that has not happened in the seven years Clydebuilt has been open. We hope this will lead to greater collaboration in the future.
Lesley Dunlop, Creative Links Officer, Education Services at Glasgow City Council tells us about working with The Burrell Collection and Kelvingrove Museum and Art Gallery, two SMC Local Authority members.
Recently in Glasgow we undertook a project, with the help of an SMC small grant, based around textiles. It involved pupils from S3 and S6 from Lourdes Secondary and S3 from St Thomas Aquinas Secondary.
To kick off the project, we arranged visits to The Burrell Collection. Here pupils met Rebecca Quinton, Textile Curator for Glasgow Museums. She showed them a range of hats and bags not normally on display to the public.
Using the objects, Rebecca gave a talk and a guided tour of some of the textiles in the Burrell Collection during which the pupils were encouraged to ask questions.
Each of the three classes then had the opportunity to work with a textile artist and/or fashion designer to create a modern accessory using the museum collections as their inspiration.
S6 pupils at Lourdes Secondary had selected a vintage or second hand garment prior to their museum visit. With fashion designer, Rowan Joy, helping them to develop their ideas, they worked on creating a hat or bag using their chosen garment. S3 also worked with Rowan who encouraged them to use what they had seen at the Burrell Collection as inspiration for the creation of a hat.
At St Thomas Aquinas textile artist, Serena Partridge, instructed the class in the art of felting and also with Rowan's help the pupils created bags and purses as part of their design element in Art. Later the Art and Business Studies departments worked together to create an enterprise project selling bags to raise funds.
At the end of the project, we were very lucky to secure the community exhibition space in Kelvingrove for a month, during which time the students' work was on display.
Overall the pupils really enjoyed the project, with many visiting the Burrell Collection for the first time. As a legacy of the project, we hope to extend the access to the collections to schools and teachers.
Recently, three SMC members unveiled major redevelopments to their premises and facilities. The following articles show how the museums and galleries sector is constantly striving to develop their collections while continuing to surpass visitor expectations.
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On 31 May this year, Shetland welcomed the arrival of members of two royal families to officially open the long awaited new Shetland Museum and Archives facility � the centrepiece of a restoration of the historic Hay�s Dock in Lerwick, the islands� capital.
The new �11.6m state-of-the-art facility, which was recently held as an architectural example of best practice by the Scottish Executive, comprises of unique ollaborations with local and international artists whose work was specially commissioned for inside and outside the building. Examples include sculptures which whisper you stories, to paving slabs featuring mysterious nautical terms and symbols.
The striking building houses a remarkable collection of over 3,000 artefacts from a working lighthouse optic to delicate Fair Isle knitting and Shetland lace, and treasures of archaeology from the Picts, Vikings and all those who have inhabited the island over the centuries.
Also included is a striking three-storey high sail-shaped Boat Hall containing five traditional boats suspended in mid-air and a superb caf�/restaurant serving the finest local produce and offering panoramic views of the harbour.
The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, who are known as The Duke and Duchess of Rothesay in Scotland, were present to open the facility. As Shetland is actually located closer to Bergen in Norway than it is to Edinburgh, Queen Sonja of Norway joined their Royal Highnesses for the opening.
The Royal party were greeted by musicians playing traditional Shetland music and a crowd of well-wishers and met dignitaries including politicians and civic leaders before being shown around the new facility.
In his speech, Prince Charles said, �It is a special joy that The Queen of Norway has been with us for this occasion as we reflect upon the stories of the shifting influences on Shetland and its people, Norwegian, Danish and Scots.�
By being present to open the facility, the Prince was honouring a promise he made on a visit seven years previously when he was asked to return to open the completed building once finished.
Praising the new centre, Queen Sonja said in her speech, �The new Shetland Museum and Archives demonstrates that you give priority to taking care of your historical and cultural heritage, to the benefit of the islands and the whole of your immediate neighbourhood.�
�Thank you for being such a good neighbour. We are looking forward to sharing the next thousand years with you up here in the north east corner of the Atlantic.�
Their Royal Highnesses and Queen Sonja then officially opened the museum by unveiling a bronze plaque.
The official opening was followed by a weekend of special events on 2 and 3 June when the facility was open to the public.
For further information about the new facility, please visit www.shetland-museum.org.uk
Scotland�s oldest public museum is celebrating its bicentenary this year and undertook a refurbishment and re-display in time for celebrations.
The Hunterian museum reopened its doors on 23 May � birthday of the founder Dr William Hunter � following its extensive revamp. The museum has undergone a number of changes aimed at heightening the experience of its visitors and ensuring Dr Hunter and the origins of the museum are not forgotten!
Many of the visitors to the museum are apparently unsure as to why it got its name, so a new permanent exhibition housed in the Entrance Hall and the two rooms on either side has been set up as a tribute to Dr Hunter himself.This space is also now home to star objects from the collections such as a full elephant skeleton and even Robert the Bruce�s toe bone!
Also new to the Entrance Hall is an exhibition called �Weird and Wonderful� showcasing objects from the Hunterian collections which tell fascinating stories, are historically significant and a few which are simply puzzling or bizarre.
The displays in the museum are based around a new set of themes, which has allowed not only the old favourites to remain but also many objects from the collections to be displayed for the first time.
The themes the museum has introduced are:
In addition, the �spine� of the museum main hall has been dedicated to displays honouring the collectors who have contributed to the museum�s collections through donations and bequests over the years.
To ensure visitors get the most from the new layout and displays, a new visitor orientation system called iVis has been introduced, developed by the Hunterian and part-funded by a grant from SMC. The system provides interactive maps and floor plans of the museum and enables visitors to access information about current and forthcoming attractions and events and details of objects not to be missed!
For further information about the museum, visit www.hunterian.gla.ac.uk
The Gordon Highlanders Museum launched The Armoury � a new public access weapons store in April this year.
Designed and built specifically for the museum�s weapons collection, the �50,000 conservation-grade store is one of the museum�s most ambitious projects to date, and is part of the museum�s ongoing commitment to improve the care of, and access to, its collections.
Featuring the museum�s entire firearms and edged weapons collection, the new facility is furnished with floor-to-ceiling armoured glass cases and motion-activated lighting designed to preserve and secure the collection, whilst making it accessible to visitors. The armoury is thought to be first of its kind in the UK.
The facility, funded by Dominion Technology Gases, makes available a major part of the museum�s collection that has hitherto remained unseen. It is hoped this will both enhance the visitor experience and public understanding of British Empire history.
Housed in the new Armoury are hundreds of examples of British Army, allied and enemy weapons used throughout the Regiment�s 200-year history. In addition, the store is also home to several thousand medals and decorations awarded to men of the Regiment.
To support the function and use of the new store by museum visitors and researchers, a computer and workstation with access to the museum�s digital catalogue of objects and archival papers has been installed.
In conjunction with the launch of the facility, the museum hosted a training workshop led by Leeds Royal Armouries. Entitled Fire Power, the workshop explored the development of weaponry and how to care for it, and was aimed at museum professionals, local collectors and members of the public with an interest in the project.
Further collections care events are planned for the future. For more information, please contact Debbie Perry, Collection Care Officer, on [email protected]
For more information about the museum, visit www.gordonhighlanders.com
Show Scotland took place over the May bank holiday and, by all accounts, the second year of the Museums and Galleries Big Events Weekend was a resounding success. With sell-out shows and jam-packed events taking place right across Scotland, the feedback from museum staff and visitors has been overwhelmingly positive.
Show Scotland is a creative cultural events weekend celebrating Scotland�s museums and galleries. It is designed to offer visitors from Scotland, the UK and overseas a fun and exciting programme of events to entertain, amuse and inspire. With late night openings with entertainment on the Friday and Saturday evenings to a wide variety of creative workshops, there were events for all to enjoy.
147 different performances and timed activities took place over the Show Scotland 07 weekend which was a 21% increase on 2006.
A significantly higher number of families attended Show Scotland 07 � 43% compared with 28% in 2006.
76% of visitors to a Show Scotland 07 event believe that they are more likely to visit museums in the future as a result and 75% want to know about Show Scotland 08.
�Not only did the visitors enjoy the events we put on but they stayed at the museum for longer than visitors usually do.�
Gillian Rankin, Marketing Officer, Scottish Mining Museum, Midlothian
�It was very amusing � unusually it was accessible to everybody in our party (aged 3 � 50). It was interactive. It got me to come into a gallery, which I have known about and passed over the past 25 years but never entered.�
Show Scotland 07 visitor
Visitors to the �Mad Hatters Tea Party� at Pollock House donned fabulous hats to partake in afternoon tea in the grand Edwardian dining room, joined by costumed members of the household, while younger visitors searched for cakes hidden around the house.
The Scottish Fisheries Museum celebrated Show Scotland with 'Spinning Yarns' � an event combining fashion and music inspired by the maritime tradition. For one night only, the museum cast off the smell of herring to transform itself into a glamorous venue for a fantastic knitting workshop, fashion show and later music from King Creosote and the Fence Collective.
Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum kept its doors open late to the public, for the first time ever, with a mesmerising performance. �A Scottish Night in the Museum� was an ambitious event using Scottish music, dance and drama to create a rich atmosphere of surprise and delight for visitors. A staggering 2,800 people attended the 3 hour event!
The sizzle of sausages and the perfume of plump puddings filled the air at the Almond Valley Heritage Centre. 431 visitors went along to the 'Grand Almond Valley Sausage Exposition' � a light-hearted family event celebrating all forms of sausage, pudding and haggis.
