Community & Learning Intern Blog – Ella’s Grand Opening day

9 August 2015

The work day started at a bright and early 8am, because the Community and Learning team were responsible for a lot of the events occurring today. All of my complaining was quickly abated by the huge breakfast being offered to those helping out, as well as much-needed coffee! After we had donned our sleek, fashionable and extremely becoming Stowe House polo shirts, we set up the Fantastical Furniture around the House. We even managed to snag people who were walking by to help us out, such as Jenna and other University of Oxford interns from other departments! The rest of our intensive morning workout involved lots of cleaning, stocking and stacking, and essentially completing any bits and bobs we didn’t get a chance to do on Friday. The 10am briefing for the House staff and volunteers felt more like a work break than the beginning of the day! Natalie briefed the Community and Learning volunteers on what was happening throughout the House, and we had a chance to quickly learn what everyone else outside of the team were doing. I was set to work in the morning at the ‘Cameraless Photography’ event, held in the marquee outside the House. In the afternoon I would take Meghan’s place and steward the Blue Room for Terrie, the storyteller for the event.

The official start to the morning was spent quite oddly, as we sellotaped flower petals along the entrance. That way we could draw visitors’ eyes in with colourful flowers while also give a subtle warning for the step which led into the marquee! Our ‘Cameraless Photography’ team then helped our artist Molly set up the pieces needed around the crafting stations. The process itself is actually called ‘cyanotype’. We provided kids with specially dyed paper, and they could decorate it with bits of collage material, such as plants, beads, fabric, and prints of the House. They would then place perspex plastic on top to secure it in place, and then leave it in the sun for the dye to react with the light. When the paper turned grey, they would then dip it in water (at our sophisticatedly put-together water bucket station!) and the collage would emerge blue! We were lucky it was such a warm day, as the paper dried on the washing line relatively quickly.  Younger children could join in and make their collage as their parents helped with the water-dipping, and older children had a chance to be really artistic without their parents’ help! Molly was amazing to work with: she was not only really easy-going and friendly to work with, she also was willing to take on board any suggestions we had throughout the morning to make things easier! This was especially valuable as we got increasingly hectic into the afternoon. By this point, I had to leave for my lunch break. This meant that I unfortunately missed the group collage activity they held at 2pm, but I managed to have a look at them at the end of the day, and even indulge in some cameraless photography of my own!

After my quick lunch break, I continued the blue colour scheme (I seemed to have adopted it by accident) and moved over to the Blue Room, where the storytelling event was held. Meghan gave me a thorough debrief on what I had to do, but unlike her role in the morning I was not responsible for the puzzles in the State Rooms. Instead, I stewarded the Blue Room for Terrie alongside Craig, one of our fellow University of Oxford interns, whose project partner is Jenny. I would encourage people to have a go and join in before Terre started, and during the event I would make sure there was a steady flow from visitors who were just passing through between State Rooms. Craig would travel between State Rooms and help children who were stuck on the puzzles, which included riddles, codes and even volcanoes!  

Terrie’s story drew everyone in, regardless of age. Her infusion of Greek myths with the story of Stowe House and its owners enriched the interpretation of the House’s history. All of the children were keen to be ‘heroes’ who would save the House from ruin, and parents seemed to really appreciate a family-friendly guide to the House’s past, especially when her story complemented its neo-classical architecture. Even when I heard her tell it multiple times, it was though I was hearing it for the first time! She always made sure to have a rapport with each audience she had, and wasn’t afraid to throw in a little variety and spontaneity with each performance.

All good things must come to an end, and today’s launch was no exception. When the last storytelling session finished at 4:30pm, we packed and cleaned away the storytelling materials around the State Rooms. I then went to the marquee to help clear up the ‘Cameraless Photography’ event, as a lot of the Learning Space material needed to be packed and stored back into the cupboards. Despite our universal exhaustion, everyone was still lively and full of energy. The busy day really enthused the volunteers and staff across all of the departments, and the warm weather throughout had improved everyone’s mood – it was a constant worry during the week and we were all immensely relieved the weather had pulled through! After we had tidied things up (or, to put it another way, stuffed everything into a cupboard) we all had enough time for a quick chat about the day in the comfy seating of the Cellar exhibition space.  We all concluded that the day was a huge success, and that the poor ache in our feet was definitely worth it!