In December 2019, two groups of young people from primary schools across Cambridgeshire made a very special behind-the-scenes visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum. The visit gave them a taster of what goes into making an exhibition, and the opportunity to install their very own artworks in the INSPIRE exhibition. The groups selected were young artists who had their artworks selected for…
Play and exploration are central to children’s learning. How can museum spaces facilitate this best? Here, we present three case studies we can all learn from. Sara Steele and Kate Howlett, both based in the University of Cambridge Museum of Zoology, ventured up to Birmingham for a museum-based expedition and a Kids in Museums workshop. Here, they share what they…
In December 2019, two groups of young people from primary schools across Cambridgeshire made a very special behind-the-scenes visit to the Fitzwilliam Museum. The visit gave them a taster of what goes into making an exhibition, and the opportunity to install their very own artworks in the INSPIRE exhibition. The groups selected were young artists who had their artworks selected for…
Play and exploration are central to children’s learning. How can museum spaces facilitate this best? Here, we present three case studies we can all learn from. Sara Steele and Kate Howlett, both based in the University of Cambridge Museum of Zoology, ventured up to Birmingham for a museum-based expedition and a Kids in Museums workshop. Here, they share what they…
In May and June, the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology and the Fitzwilliam Museum worked with Year 8 students from Cromwell Community College on a Bronze Arts Award project. The students explored stories of climate change through poetry and creative writing. Thanks to a National Lottery Heritage Fund grant, during 2018 and 2019 the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (MAA)…
The beauty of producing Facebook Live videos across a consortium of museums and a Botanic Garden is that you get to visit intriguing spaces and share them online. This month we headed to the Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences‘ brand new Collections Research Centre, the Colin Forbes Building, which includes sparkling new study, archive and store facilities and will make…
Read on for a selection of autumn highlights from across the University of Cambridge Museums… Exhibitions Happy Birthday Whipple Museum! 75 years ago Robert Whipple donated his extraordinary collection of scientific instruments to the University of Cambridge, and the Whipple Museum of the History of Science was born. The Whipple is celebrating in style with an exhibition of the founding…
The fourth and final week of the UCM Work Experience programme saw students from Bottisham Village College, Trumpington Community College, Arden Academy and Cambourne Village College carrying out placements at the Fitzwilliam Museum, Kettle’s Yard and the Museum of Classical Archaeology. Why did you want to do work experience with the University of Cambridge Museums? I had already attended a…
Sometimes we find objects in our store that have little or no known documentation – the object has in effect become ‘lost’. Sometimes, however, museum staff are lucky enough to have an old label or mark on the object. But how can we build an object biography from old labels? During the autumn term – Michaelmas Term here in Cambridge…
Read on for a selection of autumn highlights from across the University of Cambridge Museums… Exhibitions Happy Birthday Whipple Museum! 75 years ago Robert Whipple donated his extraordinary collection of scientific instruments to the University of Cambridge, and the Whipple Museum of the History of Science was born. The Whipple is celebrating in style with an exhibition of the founding…
