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Our final Trainee, Jasmin's final blog post!

It’s the end of an amazing 6 months. It’s baffling to me that it has flown by so fast, but I can’t imagine for a more picturesque send off than Orleans House Gallery in this wonderful sunshine! I wanted to do my final blog as a reflection on what I have experienced, achieved and learned from this wonderful traineeship, and to tell you about what I have planned for my journey going forward. 

This second half of my traineeship has been packed with so much activity and exciting opportunities to get involved with, from event planning and volunteer training, to art design and workshop delivering. At Fulham Palace I recently helped organise and run their ‘Tremendous Tudors’ family activity day for over 250 people. I planned various craft activities such as homemade Tudor bath bombs and Tudor rose badges – the kids all loved it! We had a costumed storyteller who took everyone on a tour of Palace in character and we ran some object handling stalls as well. At Orleans House Gallery I have been developing my skills in planning and delivery of art sessions through leading my own art clubs. For the first session I tried to embed Science into Art by planning a session around creating a galaxy night sky picture. We used printing to decorate a moon, marbling to decorate planets and then created our own star sign constellations with construction sticks and foil. In the end of course, we covered our night sky in glitter for a really sparkly piece of art!

I have also had the chance to attend some incredibly interesting trainings and conferences over the past couple of months. A particular highlight was getting to attend the first ever ‘Culture of Lates’ conference that focused on developing more innovative, interactive 'Lates' in museums and galleries, and how they can generate income for the sector – it was a really enlightening conference to be a part of. Another excellent workshop was the V & A’s ‘Informing Change: Engaging LGBTQ Audiences’ session, which was a really inspiring lesson on how to better include and represent queer history in collections. I found it especially important to learn about the importance of language; of cataloguing and categorising collections to include other audiences. Having the opportunity to  on interesting and inspiring trainings like these was another of the highlights of my traineeship overall. It gave me the chance to learn something new and connect with a variety of professionals in the sector as well.

Going forward, I have been very lucky to have been offered the position of Volunteer Development Officer (career break cover), at Fulham Palace until December. I am extremely excited to take on this challenging and very busy role, not only to utilise the plethora of skills I have developed over the past 6 months, but to develop my skillset further in working with the amazing team of over 250 volunteers!

Everything I have learned, and all the experience I have gained has given me an amazing foundation to take forward with me in my future role, and for that I will be incredibly grateful to first and foremost my mentor Heather Whitt, as well as the incredibly supportive Education Teams of both Orleans House Gallery and Fulham Palace. I wish the apprentices Rosie, Ben and Carys all the luck and success in the world in finishing off their own placements and going onto what I’m sure will be amazing careers.

Thank you HLF Skills for the Future programme for offering me such a priceless opportunity to begin my career!

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Heritage Education Apprentice visits the Design Museum

  Recently, I got to visit the European Museum of the Year 2018: the Design Museum. I was fortunate enough to spend time with the Education and Volunteer departments, seeing all the great work that contributed to the Museum taking the number one spot.

The visit came about as I was lucky enough to meet Claire— the Volunteering and Community Manager at the Design Museum— at a LHVMN (London Heritage Volunteer Management Network) meeting back in November. Orleans House Gallery are members of the group that promote peer support and awareness of best practice in volunteer management amongst the managers of heritage sector volunteer programmes within the London region. Claire’s been a great support and I’ve kept contact and been back twice now to see the great work the Design Museum have been doing.

The first part of the day was spent shadowing the Education department where I got to help with the filming of an education resource, shadow a Designers, Makers, Users school session and get a 1:1 interview with Learning Producer, David, who shared many pearls of museum education wisdom.

Before filming started, I was briefed on the short film’s audience, and the thought process behind it, including how the questioning was specifically tailored to the National Curriculum. I even got to try my hand at adjusting light levels and now see a bright future as a Lighting Technician: I’m ready for my close up, Mr. DeMille.

Designers, Makers, Users was a fun and engaging session with a lovely freelancer who was welcoming and really inspired the kids to not only think like, but become young designers. The students had a chance to explore and interact with real examples of contemporary design and then work in teams to design their own trainers to counteract a crippling outbreak of laziness plaguing the nation. As an ex-Teacher, I enjoyed seeing parallels and differences between the style of delivery for a workshop vs classroom teaching.

To end my time with the Education department, David set aside a long period of time to let me know about upcoming and past educational projects at the museum and allowed me time to ask any pressing questions. I walked away with a better understanding on creating take-away learning resources, knowledge about his experience of using digital and video resources and some advice that I’ll be able to implement when creating learning resources as part of the Activity Plan—thanks David!

My time spent with Claire was just as great and inspiring. I had the opportunity to shadow a Welcomers’ volunteer briefing, talk to some volunteers and have a long chat with Claire about volunteer management, recruitment and best practice.

The briefing was succinct and informative and, having had the opportunity to lead some volunteer briefings at Orleans House Gallery, it was great to see so many similarities between the briefings at both museums. Staff were friendly and volunteers were made to feel at home and were clearly highly valued at the museum.

My chat with Claire really helped me to get a more in depth understanding of volunteer coordination and I came away with a tonne of handouts and some creative and practical ideas on how to induct and schedule volunteers. It was interesting to return to Orleans House Gallery and discuss the similarities and differences of our two volunteer programmes.

I walked away with a wealth of knowledge about volunteering in the museum industry but there were three key pieces of advice that resonated more deeply: always plan ahead; set and manage expectations from the very start; deal with problems as they occur—don’t leave or ignore them!

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No Single Pathway: Trainee Jasmin’s reflection on starting a career in the Arts and Heritage industry

The sunshine is finally here! I have never more appreciated the beginning of summer as I do this year, working in the gorgeous grounds of Orleans House Gallery. I thought I would do this blog post on a topic I have been thinking more and more about lately; that there is no single route into having a career in the arts and heritage industry, and this reality makes for a potentially confusing, frustrating, but also exciting journey when starting out post-university.

It can be difficult, comparing yourself to friends who are seeking corporate careers and have a clear-cut, grad scheme route ahead of them. Since my very first experience working in a museum, I have made a point to ask the museum professionals I meet how they got to where they are now, and it has been astounding to me that every one of those stories has been starkly different. This was an important and validating lesson for me to learn after struggling with confusion over how to start my own career. The fundamental problem I found was that there are not enough opportunities for young people to be given an entry path into arts and heritage, and unpaid placements are simply not an option for many. The undoubtable challenges and uncertainties faced when searching for opportunities are increasingly turning bright and passionate individuals to look to other careers, the repercussions of which can only mean losing out on young, creative talent. At a time when inclusivity and diversity should be a priority in order to enrich the value and purpose of everything we do, change is not being made fast enough, or widely enough to ensure there is truly fair representation in the sector. This reality makes me feel extremely grateful to have been given the opportunity of a paid traineeship which focuses on diversifying the sector and offering a leg-up to individuals starting out.

All of this has been on the forefront of my mind because I recently had the opportunity to be a part of two presentations aimed at young people wanting to start out in this sector: Museum of London’s Student Volunteering evening, and a Creative Careers event at Orleans House Gallery. Preparing what I was going to say in both talks really sparked a conversation in my head over the difficulties of finding your way into a career that seems incredibly competitive, and what that might mean for the future museum workforce. But instead of focusing on the negatives, I sought to offer a positive glimpse of the exciting opportunities on offer for those seeking a heritage role. For my talks I did my best to offer constructive advice to help those thinking about engaging in the sector, and to try and offer a template of what just one ‘route’ into having a heritage career might look like. In particular, I stressed the importance of volunteering (both casually, and also short-term placements) to gain the relevant experience and skills to help you go on to apply for an entry-level role. I also drew attention to the traineeships and apprenticeships out there for those with and without a degree that pop up every now and again.

I decided to create and distribute a list of all the resources I use to find museum jobs, trainings, and opportunities to network in the industry, to circulate at the Creative Careers event as I thought that would definitely have been something I would have found useful when starting out. It was whilst doing so that I realised that the industry can also be an incredibly supportive and inspiring one to work in. The HLF Skills for the Future Project has offered me a traineeship that enables me to develop essential skills and experience to start my career. The project has been committed to equality and diversity, and particularly encouraged those from underrepresented BAME backgrounds to apply. Although I am the last Trainee of Orleans House Gallery’s 4 year Skills for the Future project, the third round of Skills For the Future projects has just been approved, and the list of upcoming opportunities can be found here: https://www.hlf.org.uk/community/skills-future-forum/skills-future-cohort-3-projects-announced. So, despite this blog starting incredibly sceptically about the current and future state of the museum world, I want to stress that I ended this very long thought process more committed to having a successful career in this sector, and more hopeful for a workforce that looks to offer a helping hand to those at the beginning.

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Heritage Education Apprentice, Ben, attends Museums and Schools Literacy Conference.

Museum professionals are ushered into the theatre and awkwardly take their seats.

A still image of an old, cracked stopwatch is projected onto the screen. Sam Jinks, Learning Officer at Norfolk Museums, informs us that it belonged to a passenger aboard the RMS Titanic. He explains that the watch is frozen in time—frozen at the very moment its owner plunged into the icy waters of the North Atlantic Ocean, 15th April 1912. “The watch hasn’t worked since”, Sam says. Then there’s a ticking. The ticking is followed by spasming hands struggling to break free from their icy cages. Sam, panicked, calls desperately for someone to check on the watch and, upon hearing no response, rushes out of the room. The lights dim.

“All aboard the RMS Titanic”, the Captain shouts. “Get your tickets ready!” The adult audience glance down at their pieces of paper and then look excitedly about the room. 

The Museums and Schools Literacy Conference happened over a month ago and I still have this scene from the conference etched vividly in my mind. Immersive theatre is a powerful tool and it was all made possible with a single image from the museum’s collection: the pocket watch. The object acted as a gateway, transporting us into a past world. We were not only seeing history, we were living and breathing it.

We were presented with a fact at the start of the conference: a school trip to a museum could help raise the reading the age of a pupil by 9 months. Nine. As I’m a former teacher, this statistic really struck a chord: one trip could do what I struggled to do in a year. Of course, making a child re-take their reading test the following day won’t magically improve their score. It’s the legacy that the trip leaves behind that counts. A trip to a museum can arm children with new knowledge, new words, and—most importantly— new possibilities. Although, a museum must inspire children in the right way: a different way.

One key message from the conference resonated with me throughout the day, and it was clearly embedded into every activity: a museum should do what a classroom cannot. In other words, a museum shouldn’t replicate the style of classroom teaching. A museum is a richly unique and special educational space for everyone and it’s important that it is utilised to its full potential. With a diverse collection at your disposal, you can provide a dynamic and immersive experience that teachers are unable to provide in their concrete classrooms. Through games, play, and imaginative exploration, museums can not only bring history to life, but inspire children to create their own narratives and stories.

The day equipped me with lots of activities and ideas to use in my own practice and I can’t wait to bring the magic of immersive theatre and play into my work at Orleans House.

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Lessons I’m learning as a Trainee: a week in Jasmin’s Traineeship

It has been two months since starting my traineeship and I still can’t believe how fast it’s all going! I thought I would do my second blog post about something I’ve been thinking about this week: the importance of taking as many opportunities as I can, and saying ‘yes’ more when those opportunities come knocking. I spent last week challenging myself to go to a different heritage or art event every day after work, and ended up having a really fabulous week!

I started off the week attending an all-day Bronze and Silver Arts award training at The Lyric, Hammersmith. I especially wanted to do this training because at Fulham Palace I am supporting their Silver Arts Award sessions, and wanted to be better prepared to help run these creative workshops. The training did not disappoint with lots of interactive and quirky exercises, and I came away with a lot of inspiration and confidence in my own ability to run Arts Award sessions in the future. I will be keeping you posted about how I plan to use my training at Fulham Palace!

On Tuesday I ended up having a wonderful afternoon with our past trainee, Lisa, when we visited the Museum of London to experience and reflect over their Suffragette display that marks the centenary of the 1918 Act that gave some women the right to vote for the first time. It was inspiring to learn more about the Suffragettes and their incredible bravery and trailblazing struggle to win us the rights we have now, especially in this current climate where it has become clear that this fight for equality is not yet over. It was also interesting for Lisa and I to see the impact this traineeship has had on encouraging us to develop an analytical approach when visiting and evaluating heritage exhibitions and considering their interpretations for their audiences.

On Wednesday evening I attended a museum late exhibition; Rhythm & Reaction: The Age of Jazz in Britain, at Two Temple Place with my colleagues from Fulham Palace. The exhibition marks and celebrates 100 years of jazz in the UK, and explores the impact that jazz had on Britons from 1918. I found it particularly interesting to learn about the intersectionality of the histories of jazz and race in Britain, and I really enjoyed the experience of a museum ‘late’ evening, with live Jazz music, cocktails and a wonderful exhibition.

By Thursday I was already totally inspired by all things heritage, and decided to attend the ‘Brick by Brick; careers in museums’ conference, that aimed to highlight and explore current issues and challenges facing the museums workforce. I thought it was an extremely interesting event to attend, as someone who is very aware that I am at the very beginning of my career, and the speakers Tamsin Russell from Museums Association and Shaz Hussain from Museum Detox, were particular highlights in inspiring me to be more bold and proactive in my work. The Museum Detox is a fantastic network for BAME professionals, who work hard to raise awareness for cultural diversity in the museum industry, and promote activism in the sector.

To be honest by Friday I was pretty exhausted, but also incredibly inspired by the events I had attended during the week, and saw its effect in encouraging me to approach my day in a far more positive and energetic way. At the Orleans House Gallery, I assisted with their under 5’s SeeSaw drop-in workshop in the morning, and helped run an afterschool Art Club session in the afternoon, and ended my week feeling a great deal of accomplishment. Taking every opportunity that came my way this week helped give me an important personal lesson, and definitely enhanced my work life as well. I will be sure to keep you posted about more lessons I’m learning throughout the rest of this traineeship!

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Five Months at Orleans House

It seems impossible that I have been working for Orleans House Gallery for an entire five months and yet I have!

So far my apprenticeship here has been a whirlwind of new experience and learning starting with the Richmond Literature Festival way back in October and more recently helping to organise Music and Drama Festival. I also loved the experience of coordinating the acts, stage managing and general organising at the (sold out!!) annual RichDance showcase which has given me confidence in my own ability to manage different groups in a high speed environment.

For the last few weeks I have begun to work more closely with the Education Team assisting with their workshop sessions and helping with research and marketing. One of the best parts of my apprenticeship here is the broad spectrum of activities I can be involved in and how helpful my co-workers are. There is always somebody around to answer my questions and pass on much needed advice.

Another great aspect of the apprenticeship is the numerous training opportunities I have been offered. From learning to create live streams at the Museum of London to in depth Google Analytics training I already feel far better equipped to begin my career in the arts and I still have another seven months to learn new skills and meet new peers!  

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A catch up with Jasmin: a month into her Traineeship!

I can’t believe it’s been a month already… the time has just flown by! Even in such a short space of time, I have learned so much already, and met so many lovely people who have been incredibly generous in helping me settle in so quickly! Since starting my traineeship, my time has been spent split between the education departments of both the Orleans House Gallery and Fulham Palace, giving me a unique opportunity to become involved in two brilliant and beautiful heritage houses side by side.

What I have loved the most about my experience so far has been the variety of things I have been able to become involved with, leading me to discover all the different parts of how a heritage organisation is run. When applying for this traineeship, one of my main goals was to gain more experience with working in museum education, and so I have really enjoyed supporting the weekly art sessions run by OHG. Each week, I support the art class ‘Transitions’ for adults with SEN and an afterschool club at Kew for children in KS1. I already feel that I have developed my skills in planning and running sessions, and hope to deliver one in the future! I also had a great time helping out with the art sessions run at during the half-term break, where the aquatic themed crafts tied in perfectly with the wonderful temporary exhibition, ‘Water, Water, Everywhere’.

At Fulham Palace, I have also been given a fantastic opportunity to get stuck in in any way I’m needed during this very busy time in their Activity Plan! Fulham Palace is now in its third restoration phase, where the rebuilding of their historic Tudor archway in the main courtyard with hand-fired, historically accurate ‘Tudor style’ bricks, is underway! I recently had the opportunity to become involved in their half term activity day that was themed in all things brickwork, where I planned and prepared various craft activities themed on the brickwork and architecture of the palace, which I then ran on the day to around 150 children! My favourite activity that I designed was a pop-up card of the clock tower at Fulham Palace.

Fulham Palace has now officially launched their ‘Sponsor a Brick campaign to raise money for their restoration, so stay tuned for more brick themed projects by me! If you’re interested in sponsoring a brick and having your name forever on a part of a Grade I historic site, click here: http://www.fulhampalace.org/support-us/make-a-donation/sponsor-a-brick/

I have also been busy working on designing and creating seasonal garden trail maps for Fulham Palace, and have just completed the Autumn/Winter trail! The process of designing these trails has meant working very closely with the gardeners and garden volunteers, and spending some lovely walks in the beautiful walled garden accompanied by the Palace cat ‘Edmund’, who loves napping in the greenhouse. I have also had the opportunity to support and facilitate a Silver Arts Award programme, led by the fantastic illustrator Millie Nice, where a group of 15 young people are setting out to design a pop-up palace to be exhibited in different heritage organisations during the year. I hope to do an official Arts Award training course in the next month or so, which I think will help me a lot too!

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And we’re in!

Orleans House Gallery is now officially open to the public!

Interpretation Apprentice, Rosie gives us a behind the scenes sneak-peak at the magnificent Queen Caroline returning home!

Delicately unloading her from the van, Queen C had been in specilist storeage for over a year.

Working out where she’ll go…and how we’ll get her up there!

Prepping the wall…! Due to the size and weight of Queen C we need to use four mirror plates and two load baring brackets.

Taking off the protective cover!

Adjusting the lighting to show her off her best side!

And…. Da dahhh! She is in her rightful spot, centre stage!

Come and see her and much more of our permanent collection!  You can also look at our collection online!

https://www.orleanshousegallery.org/

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Lisa’s final week at Orleans House has come - seriously where has the time gone?

As you can see from the picture above, working as a trainee at Orleans House has been such a fun experience. Not to sound cliché, but working with a range of audiences has meant no two days are the same at Orleans House or Strawberry Hill. As well as this, my focus on training has also meant coming across amazing museum and gallery spaces which has facilitated interesting conversations with fellow museum professionals. 

But within that fun, I have had so many opportunities to learn about different areas within the heritage sector. For instance, I was able to support the exhibitions deinstallation in the Riverside Gallery space, as well as installing Queen Caroline in the newly renovated Octagon Room - which is now open to the public! 

In addition to this, I have delivered and co-delivered sessions throughout my time, from the 5-8 art club (my regulars), to half term (as seen above!).

Whilst my focus at Strawberry Hill was based around collections management (environmental monitoring and loan agreements, in particular), I had the chance to be involved with the running school sessions with pupils from primary school to sixth form, which also entailed working with teacher training students. 

Speaking of training, it was great to discover the amount of CPD opportunities available within the sector, particularly from the Museum of London.

By the time this blog has been posted I would have attended my last training session (Museums and Schools Literacy Conference) at Royal Museums Greenwich with the 3 current Orleans House Gallery apprentices. :( 

Biggest achievement: 

I would say my biggest achievement has been coordinating and leading the ‘My Richmond - Family workshops' - a local history course, which encourages families to be History Explorers, investigating the rich heritage of Richmond via arts based activities. Delivering this course, combined my passion for history, and connecting people to history. To do this we used objects and activities to encourage a discussion about history and its relevance to contemporary society.

Ultimately, this traineeship has offered me the chance to learn from different people and different areas within the sector and prepared me on how to navigate through the heritage sector, post traineeship.

I would like to say a huge thank you to the staff at Orleans House Gallery and Strawberry Hill House for allowing me to begin my career in the heritage sector.

It is so strange to think that 6 months have flown by – but I am also looking forward to what the future holds.

I also wish our new trainee Jasmin, the best of luck!

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Heritage Education Apprentice, Ben Venus, attends Moving on Up: Building a Dynamic Museum Career conference.

Since leaving the teaching profession and entering the heritage sector, I haven’t looked back. Every day of the apprenticeship has brought new skills and opportunities, the most recent being the chance to attend the Moving on Up: Building a Dynamic Museum Career conference. I already felt that I belonged mere days into the apprenticeship: being surrounded by art and old things was comforting (confession: after seeing the Georgian Octagon Room, my instinct was not to gawp at the gilded ceiling, but to set up camp, bolt the door shut and make it my own personal retreat). Attending the conference only amplified my fondness for everything heritage, my passion turning to hunger. Being around other peers starting out in the sector awoke an insatiable desire to seize every moment, network like a crazy man and own my career. I felt empowered; I left convinced that I had the means to shape my professional future.

So, what exactly was so great about this conference?

Firstly, the conference provided a great platform to network. As museum professionals, it’s all too easy to lock ourselves away and never leave the safe walls of our museums. At the conference, there were no glass cases or gorilla-sized paintings to hide behind. Even if you tried to find a quiet corner to quaff tea in peace, someone would find you. That’s what I loved. You didn’t have time to stress about inventing ice breakers or retreat to your comfort zone; conversation was constant and people seamlessly flowed around the room, soaking up every opportunity to talk with like-minded peers. Networking went from being a tedious prospect to a piece of cake.  

There was also a great session on survival. Now, this wasn’t a Bear Grylls top tips on surviving the wild. This was a specialised session where a panel of experts were at hand to answer all our questions. You had to be brave enough to speak out, but the session made for interesting discussion. My three favourite top tips for surviving the museum world included:

Don’t fret over qualifications; on the job experience is more valuable.

Speak up if you’re struggling. Whether it’s workload, social problems or issues with mental health, don’t suffer in silence.

Gain all the experience you can. If you’re struggling to get experience in the sector, look elsewhere. Transferable skills are an asset. If you can find another organisation that links to the museum industry, even better.

Oops, I did it again.

Reflective practice was also covered in an interactive talk about ‘Museum Oops’. Museum Oops is an online sharing space that was created by Katherine McAlpine, a former museum professional. People can share their museum faux pas and consequent pearls of museum wisdom. The idea was spawned after its creator noticed that in nearly all the conferences she attended there was a big focus on sector achievements, although very little content about the problems museums faced along the way.

The reality is, nothing is plain sailing. In response to this concept, Museum Oops was founded to open dialogues and openly share professional failures and the lessons learnt from these shortcomings. J. K. Rowling once said “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” Failure is imperative. To make progress, we need to be daring. In daring to try new things, mistakes are made and lessons are learnt. It is these mistakes that will help us to survive and shape the future for the sector. As part of the apprenticeship, I’m encouraged to be a reflective practitioner, and this talk strongly embedded its importance. However, the talk also challenged me to look beyond my own failures. Together, as museum professionals, we can share and learn from each other.

Diversity was also a key part of the day. Nikesh Shukla—author and Guardian columnist—spoke about his career and experiences campaigning for better equality in the publishing sector. He spoke passionately about the under representation of BME authors and how, still in 2018, racism is still prominent. Nikesh highlighted how skin colour was—and is—seen as a marketing trend, stressing how dehumanizing it can be. It was a captivating talk that left the word diversity pulsating through my core. I couldn’t shake the feelings and experiences Nikesh faced and I didn’t want to.

This discussion on diversity aligned well the recent cinematic release of Black Panther. The film incorporates a scene in a museum that touches upon some antiquated practices in the sector that directly or indirectly discriminate against oppressed groups—particularly those of colour. Someone wrote a fantastic article about it that’s well worth a read: https://jhuexhibitionist.com/2018/02/22/why-museum-professionals-need-to-talk-about-black-panther/.

Nikesh’s speech was real food for thought: diversity is a sensitive topic but one that we must continue to discuss and act on.   

“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Ben Venus

Heritage Education Apprentice

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Ben, Heritage Education Apprentice, runs 'a Local History Teachers' CPD Session'.

It’s Wednesday. I return from lunch expecting to see the calming orderliness of my desk; however, I’m not greeted by neat piles of paper and colour-coordinated files. My desk is littered with dried-up glue sticks, a stiff pair of scissors and shreds of coloured paper. The smell of burning plastic lingers, reminding me of the laminating still to do.

No, I’ve not gone arts and crafts mad. All this arty paraphernalia is there for a purpose: to create activities and games to be used at the teachers’ CPD session I’m organising. As a gallery, Orleans House has primarily offered art-based sessions and activities to schools. Following the Transforming Orleans House project, a greater focus has been placed on Orleans as an historic site and cultural hub in west London and the local community. Subsequently, we intend to expand on the learning that already takes place here, also offering to support history studies and cross-curricular learning in schools—alongside the life-long learning that we readily promote. The CPD session aims to illuminate this new schools offer and show off our new Study Gallery and lavish, newly renovated Octagon Room.

So, what exactly has organising a teachers’ training session involved? Well, hold on to your socks readers as I’m about to tell you.

I’ve been lucky enough to have the opportunity to plan the session from scratch. After consulting with my line manager, Heritage Hub Coordinator Natalie, I had the opportunity  to create activities and design a mini tour of the site. After writing a thorough session plan, I had to seek permission to use certain spaces onsite and source the materials needed to run the session. For the session to run successfully I worked together with some inhouse experts—Clare (Volunteer Coordinator) and Rosie (Heritage Interpretation Apprentice and expert on everything Study Gallery related). I organised meetings to fill them in on the activities I'd planned and discuss how we could work together on the night to make sure the session ran smoothly. We also got to have a run through of the activities so I could get some feedback to tweak them in time for the real thing. Since then, I’ve been editing the resources and promoting the event, liaising with schools via post and email.

It’s been a jampacked few weeks since Christmas, but I’m excited to see all the hard work pay off. The session is tomorrow and I’ve still got bits to finish off so I must dash.

Ben

Heritage Education Apprentice

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Interactive Story Telling Course: Heritage Education Apprentice Ben attends a course on Interactive Story Telling.

Last month I jetted off to Saint-Tropez central London to do my first training course on Interactive Story Making. The session introduced us to a new online tool: Twine. We also got to check out London Museum’s gift shop. It was a win: win.

So, what exactly did the Interactive Story Making workshop entail?

Our great instructor, Alec Ward, talked us through the concept of interactive stories. We briefly discussed existing models of interactive story telling. We discussed how it could be a learning or engagement activity used in your gallery, or even a game. We also discussed the meaning of interactive stories. Delving into semantics really helped me to build a strong picture of what an interactive story is and why they are such an important feature in museums. Some of the key points I took away from the meeting were how interactive stories allow audiences to explore collections in a unique way and how they can be used as tools to engage younger and adult audiences.

After consolidating the use—and importance of—interactive story telling, the session focused on one interactive storytelling platform: Twine. We saw some working examples and built an understanding of how we could utilise this online platform in our museums and galleries; a platform that is, at present, underused in our sector.

We got to generate our own interactive stories on Twine, learning to create multiple story pathways. The purpose of generating multiple pathways was to deviate from a linear narrative. If you read a book, the story has one fixed course and ending. However, with Twine there is the opportunity to branch off from the main narrative and explore different narrative pathways. It’s like if a book gave you the choice to decide what a character did next. Every choice has a different outcome: if you decide Derick, for instance, left work and took the H37 bus home to Richmond at 7pm, the story ends with him having a glass of wine and watching telly in bed; however, if you decide Derick goes for after work drinks, his narrative ends in him clubbing on a Monday night and waking up with half his face stuck to takeaway pizza. In short, Twine allows users to follow different variations of the same story line and, potentially, finish their narratives with different endings. Pretty cool, right?  

Along with the other apprentices at Orleans House Gallery, we decided to create an interactive story about the previous owner of Orleans House, Nellie Lonides (the woman who bequeathed the Orleans buildings and a substantial art collection to the Richmond Upon Thames Borough). In this story, Nellie is on the hunt for the stolen Panini painting that used to reside in the Octagon Room many years ago. In each room there is a previous owner or individual that was important to Orleans House. Depending on which room Nellie enters, she is presented with two choices. For instance, in the Main Gallery Nellie discovers King George I stuffing something into his backpack. Nellie can either confront King George or run outside. Each choice has its own consequences.

After completing our mini interactive story, we had the opportunity to try other groups’ creations. A useful sharing and feedback session allowed us to see weaknesses and strengths in our interactive game and learn from the successes and mistakes of others: lessons that we can take forwards into our future interactive story endeavours.

As well as coming away with a shiny new keyring from the gift shop, I’ve developed a strong, basic understanding of Twine and better understanding of interactive story telling’s importance and how it can be utilised in museum/galleries.

Ben Venus

Heritage Education Apprentice.    

[skillsforthefutureohg]

A reflection on what our trainee Lisa has been up to, as she approaches her final term at Orleans House.

Since it’s the new year, I thought I would reflect on what I got up to before the Christmas break.

At the end of my last blog post, I mentioned that I would be planning a session for Dad Day and an Art Adventurers Children’s Art Club for 5-8 year olds at Orleans House. For Dad Day, this was the last session before Christmas which meant a festive theme was in order! A week prior to the session, I thought about what activities we could do, bearing in mind children who attend this session range between the age of infants to 10 year olds. Once I had looked at the materials I would need, I decided that we would make Christmas decorations (paper plate baubles and paper plate wreaths); create Santa’s workshop of helpers (Reindeer paper ball, snowman paper plate and Olaf from frozen) and craft a letter box for Christmas cards. Leading this session was really relaxing and inspiring as some of the children and their dads took the Christmas activities to a new level, such as introducing multiple eyed reindeers!

For the Art Club, I decided to lead a session on still life drawing about food, using drawing materials such as graphite, oil pastels and crayons. The children were split onto three tables where they drew the still life from their perspective under timed conditions and collaged their drawings together on A3 paper.

The final activity was inspired by Queen Caroline’s menu from her banquet in the Octogen Room, where we created our own banquet - which incorporated some heritage learning content into this session! The children then designed their own menus, which varied between a menu and seating arrangement like Queen Caroline’s and a gluten free menu!

At strawberry Hill, I have become more involved with collections management from reviewing the accuracy of the environmental monitoring system, to updating the collections care policy in line with the SPECTRUM standard. Being able to go on training courses such as ‘collections review and rationalisation’ at the Museum of London, allowed for an introduction to industry specialists who offered guidance on this area of collections management which I found really useful.

I’m looking forward to seeing what my third and final term has in store for me!

[skillsforthefutureohg]

Three months into Lisa’s traineeship!

The months have flown by since I started in September at Orleans House gallery. Three months into my traineeship – what have I been up to?

I’ve had the opportunity to support a variety of workshops during term time and half term, which allowed me to experience the different ways in which the education department approaches art activities for a wide range of age groups. The sessions I support on a weekly basis are Transitions (for 18+ with SEN) and Adventurers Art Club (for 5-8 year olds). The theme for Art Explorers this term was the many elements of painting (such as creating our own paintbrushes and experimenting with watercolours) inspired by artwork from Turner and ‘The Contemporary British Painting Prize’ our Stables gallery exhibition at the time.

During half term I supported two fun holiday activities. The first activity, was the ‘mini animation’ workshop for 6 year olds and above who created their own spooky Halloween flipbooks as practice.  Inspired by the famous characters who make the story of Orleans House, the children then created their own flipbook of these characters or characters from their own imagination. The second holiday activity involved creating an ‘enchanted map’ for children 5 years and up, who were given a grounding on the importance of maps by looking at the river Thames from central London all the way to the riverside just outside the gallery. From this, the children then imagined and created their own fantasy world using ink drop drawing and modelling clay!

As well as co-ordinating the volunteer placement schedule on a weekly basis, the main project I am currently working on is ‘My Richmond for our Community Learning funded family projects. Part of my title focuses on increasing participation from marginalised groups to engage with the arts services available at and provided by Orleans House such as ‘Sunday Afternoon Art’, ‘Dad Day’ and ‘My Richmond’. Part of my role on this project has been monitoring and issuing ‘family passes’ to eligible families. This includes those who are unemployed, single parents, caring for a child with a disability or receiving benefits - reinforcing art is for everyone.

At Strawberry Hill House I hit the ground running with the marketing and education department over these past few months. There have been a lot of events such as the ‘Woodland Walk’ lead by Alan Titchmarsh, and the ‘Garden walk’ workshop for over 55s. I am now involved with the environmental monitoring of the building, checking the humidity and temperature on a weekly basis following a recalibration of the sensors and compiling a report for the director, to gauge the current levels of relative humidity and temperature and if any adjustments are required.

In addition to tasks within the office, I have also been fortunate to attend multiple training courses such as ‘Teaching in the Gallery - Questioning Style and Object’, ‘Equipping Museums for the new General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR)’ and ‘What's happening in Black British History? VII Workshop’. From these training sessions, I have been able to speak to teachers and educators within galleries and museums to discuss our thoughts about the creative industries and our roles within it for the future.

In the mean time, I will begin planning an Art Club session and a Dad Day session, both of which I will be delivering in December, so watch this space!

[skillsforthefutureohg]

Ben and Rosie visit Dorich House Museum!

Read all about Ben’s experience at Dorich House Museum below!

Recently, I got the opportunity to visit Dorich House Museum —one of 10 West London museums, art galleries, and historic houses that Orleans House Gallery are working with on the ACE Partnership for Excellence: Audience Development project, generously supported by the Arts Council England Museum Resilience Fund. As a result of the project, the separate organisations have developed a joint, brand identity: West London Wonders. West London Wonders is a unique collaboration designed to showcase the hidden secrets and history enveloping these museums, bringing West London history to life in innovative ways to attract new audiences.

 In visiting the house, I hoped to gain a deeper understanding of one of our partners and to get a feel for their collection. By interacting with the exhibit and seeing their collection first-hand, I could better understand Dorich House’s mission and outreach, all of which has aided me to honestly represent and showcase the museum in the social media work I’ve been planning for the West London Wonders group. The visit also doubled up as the perfect learning opportunity for my apprenticeship. I got to see some exemplary models of interpretation and I was also lucky enough to ask lots of questions about educational programmes and how else this historic space is utilised. The Museum Coordinator Sian was lovely and quickly directed Rosie (the Heritage Interpretation Apprentice at Orleans House Gallery) and I to tea and coffee before our outstanding Volunteer Tour Guide, Ian, showed us around.

The exhibit was rather special. On entering, I knew little about Dora Gordine or her London residence, Dorich House. However, after leaving, I felt that I really got to know Gordine’s works, a sense of her character and the place she called home. Dorich House left an impression on me and below I have outlined my thoughts and interpretation of the collection, highlighting my most memorable parts. Enjoy!    

Dorich House seems strikingly like a diary that has been effaced over the years. Its walls harbour fascinating stories of—and works by—Dora Gordine, immaculately told and exhibited in what is her former studio home. As time has elapsed, it’s clear to see that Dora’s presence doesn’t pervade the house as strongly as it once did.  Yet, despite the house’s orderly facade, Gordine’s peculiarities still seep through the walls of the house and its collections.

As you step through the porch and into the hallway, you are greeted by pairs of eccentric slippers lined neatly against the wall: a ghostly reminder of Gordine’s desire to protect the gleaming floors. Whereas only three pairs exist today, dozens of slippers would have previously besieged the hallway, bullying guests into submission. However, to immediately assume Gordine was solely fastidious in nature is to paint a two dimensional picture of a multifaceted woman and artist; a fact that is cemented as you delve deeper into her house, life, and career.

Her restored studio home is an amalgamation of complex interplays between culture, art, and identity: a reflection of the artist herself. Having lived and grown up in different countries, Gordine embodied a fluid identity, influenced by the countries she lived in and the people she met. Her transnational identity is mirrored in the house’s design from the beautiful Chinese-influenced moon doors separating the dining and living areas, to the Spanish tiles framing one room’s fireplace. The studio rooms also tell interlocking narratives of the creative process and her relationship with innovative design. The name of the house is itself a binary: a union of her own name and that of her beloved husband, Richard. The playful matrimony of cultures and identities manifests itself throughout the house, compelling you to read every nook and cranny of this living diary.

 The recurring theme of fluidity pours through into her works which are poignantly placed throughout the house. Her sculpted torsos are sensually curvaceous, her busts are distinctive and characterful—one, as my knowledgeable tour guide volunteer Ian divulged, evidently conveyed Gordine’s disdain for the woman sitting: in this particular piece the head of the child strains away from the mother’s. The child’s seeming attempt at escape was, allegedly, Gordine’s reaction to the woman’s unbearable narcissism: she wasn’t the first ever woman to give birth.

This idea of fluidity is not only constrained to Gordine’s sculptures. Her sketches also exude fluidity in the smooth and lucid style of her pencil strokes. Her strong use of shade and lines liberate the drawings from the page, her works assuming a real presence, filling the large, sometimes vacuous, rooms—an emptiness that all too strongly alludes to the hole left in Gordine’s life following Richard’s sudden death. The different personalities evoked from each piece engender powerfully pungent atmospheres throughout the house, forming a connection between both art and artist.

As you trace the rooms of Dorich House, you build a real sense of Gordine’s work and the woman behind the art. You not only leave with a strong, vivid image of Gordine, but her more naked identity as Dora: loving wife, polyglot, and lover of art and culture. It’s for this reason that Dorich House asserts itself as a true West London Wonder.  

If you too feel compelled to visit Dorich House, click here to find out when they’re open. Keep an eye out for the Chinese Moon Doors and Dora’s slippers—my two favourite things from the house! If you’re feeling super adventurous, why not join the Free Activity Trail for families and indulge in several West London Wonders? The Free Activity Trail for families is available from Dorich House Museum and to download. 

 Ben Venus 

Heritage Education Apprentice  

[skillsforthefutureohg]

Hello from the New Heritage Interpretation Apprentice!

Eh’up me duckies (as they say in Derbyshire, where I have spent the last nine years)!

I am Rosie, the new Heritage Interpretation Apprentice!

I studied Photography at Derby University specialising in black and white darkroom printing. After that I entered the world of marketing with a big high street retailer. I analysed the market place, studied trends and developed new products (a favourite development would be a neon yellow ab gel!) .

I have been a volunteer at several heritage venues where I have supported on a variety projects, including the development of visual interpretation guides, exhibition installations and some curation. Most recently I supported an exhibition by the artist Liam Sharp who draws for Marvel and DC comics and is the primary artist of Wonder Woman!

I am delighted to be the new Heritage Interpretation Apprentice and am very excited to be in such a creative and stimulating environment. My primary role will be supporting the Transformation of Orleans House Gallery which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. As the Interpretation Apprentice I will be helping the public access the Richmond Art Collection (which contains over 4000 art works!) in a variety of ways, including live interpretation sessions, specially curated spaces both off line and online and lots of other exciting things! 

A photo of me supporting the return of our collection into the new refurbished building!

[skillsforthefutureohg]

Getting to know Orleans: welcome from new Heritage Education Apprentice Ben Venus.

I once ate 50 chicken nuggets in a 30 minute sitting.

 With all chicken related confessions aside, we can get on to real introductions. I’m Ben Venus and I’m the new Heritage Education Apprentice, one of the two new apprentice roles which have been created to support the Heritage Lottery Funded Transforming Orleans House project. I’ve been in the new role for just over two weeks and am already getting to grips with a couple of exciting projects. Before I divulge more about the things I’m working on, I thought you might want to know a little more about me.

Born a country lad, I grew up pretending to be a wizard in the grounds of neighbouring National Trust properties. At 18, I accepted that I was never going to receive my Hogwarts acceptance letter. So, I took the Hogwarts National Express to Cardiff where, after 3 years, I graduated with a degree in English Literature. I then went on to teach for four years: 2 years in British secondary schools and 2 years abroad in Northern Italy. I moved back to England in August 2017 and started volunteering at The Keep Military Museum in Dorchester—the home of Hitler’s desk and a piece of 100-year-old Victoria sponge. It took a piece of old, mouldy sponge to cement my desire to begin a career in the Heritage sector. Now, here I am: one of the new apprentices at Orleans House Gallery.

Back to the projects at Orleans House Gallery.

 After an intense first week of inductions and forgetting names, I got the opportunity to take minutes for an Arts Council England (ACE) Museum Resilience funded partnership meeting. Orleans House Gallery has been working with ten other West London museums, art galleries and historic houses to create a new, joint brand identity and Free Activity Trail for families.

 I’m currently writing content for the West London Wonders social media channels. This has involved sourcing content, looking at some digitalised collections, and finding events to plug. You can keep up-to-date with the brilliant buildings and spectacular spaces that West London has to offer on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram (@WestLdnWonders).

 But the fun doesn’t stop there. I’ve also been helping to create a Key Stage 2 Georgian learning resource, generously supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund. When you throw in a few training meetings, museum visits, and museum reviews on top, you can understand that I’ve been pretty busy!

 I’ve got to go but I can’t wait to update you guys on more training and work tales soon.

 Ben

Heritage Education Wizard Apprentice.