Audience research provides us with essential information about our audiences; for several years the University of Cambridge Museums (UCM) have been collecting demographic and travel information for our visitors. This is important and informs a lot of what we do and how we market it. But to add balance to the picture of our audiences, we have also been recording…
The Fitzwilliam Museum’s knight on horseback is sporting a dashing new look. But how do you go about commissioning bright red and white barding and then installing it on a Victorian horse mannequin? Vicky Avery, Keeper of Applied Arts, shares her behind-the-scenes photos. The mounted knight is the iconic and well-loved centrepiece of the Fitzwilliam’s Armoury. The armour itself is…
Twelve teenage Museum Ambassadors; three galleries in the Fitzwilliam Museum, 45 teachers and family members. Recipe for disaster right? Wrong! Our Museum Ambassadors from North Cambridge Academy set themselves the aim of creating an event that showed that ‘museums are fun and for everyone’. “Thank you for giving us this opportunity, you are going to be part of my favourite…
At the Fitzwilliam Museum we are passionate about sharing great art with our audiences from their earliest years. Working alongside the Academy of Ancient Music meant that we could introduce great music too! We were approached by the Academy of Ancient Music, who are the orchestra-in-residence at the University of Cambridge, to investigate the possibility of bringing art and music…
The University of Cambridge Museums’ Digital Maker Residency aims to inspire staff, teachers, parents and young people to become digital makers and to explore ways to integrate digital making into the museum experience. The programme investigates how digital technologies can come together with traditional processes to create new ideas and experiences and how we can support and empower young people…
Last week on the blog, we discussed the development of our live adventure game Cambridge Codebreakers: The Last Secret. Now it’s time to hear from the game developers who helped make it happen. Elizabeth Simoens is an immersive game designer with London-based company Fire Hazard Games. She developed the game with us and managed the run. Fire Hazard Games are…
Most of us don’t realise the extent to which we rely on wayfinding systems to navigate around urban spaces. At its most effective, orientation signage is something we take for granted – we depend upon it to get us to where we want to go, but rarely give it much thought. However, the new Museum of Zoology, hidden behind the…
Audience research provides us with essential information about our audiences; for several years the University of Cambridge Museums (UCM) have been collecting demographic and travel information for our visitors. This is important and informs a lot of what we do and how we market it. But to add balance to the picture of our audiences, we have also been recording…
The Fitzwilliam Museum’s knight on horseback is sporting a dashing new look. But how do you go about commissioning bright red and white barding and then installing it on a Victorian horse mannequin? Vicky Avery, Keeper of Applied Arts, shares her behind-the-scenes photos. The mounted knight is the iconic and well-loved centrepiece of the Fitzwilliam’s Armoury. The armour itself is…
The Her Story series, exploring the stories of fascinating women in the University of Cambridge collections, begins at the Whipple Museum of the History of Science. Rosanna Evans reveals the secrets of a very special Victorian scrapbook… Eliza Brightwen is not the most obvious female scientist to showcase as a part of Her Story – she is not the most renowned…
