Community & Learning Intern Blog – Artistic human beans

27 July 2015

So this week started by preparing for our ‘Selfies at Stowe’ event. We spent some time researching the elements which make a good trail which will be put to use creating a portrait trail to accompany this event. To find out the details behind what happened, check out next week’s entry! We also had chance to meet our lovely photographer for this event, Asia. Together we took a walk around the House to find the perfect location for the photographs before rummaging through the costumes box to see what we have for our visitors to dress up in.

We had the opportunity to meet Molly, who is the photographer and artist who has set up the ‘Cameraless Photography event’ for the Grand Launch. She came to visit to take photographs of the House to use for the event. She seemed really enthusiastic about the House so we hope she had a wonderful day, and took some real inspiration from it. We can’t wait to see how the pieces turn out next Sunday!

As an addition to our research on trails, we also looked at the kind of work which is being done to include under 2s in heritage, museums and fun learning. The research and work being carried out is fascinating. The reports suggest that this is a worthwhile programme which has successfully engaged babies and their families when they attend these institutions. The use of songs, rhymes and sensory experiences helped babies to engage with exhibits and themes whilst giving parents the confidence to take their young children to such sites. All of this work is positive and very encouraging to read. It also coincided with the delivery of some baby treasure baskets which have been included in the Fantastical Furniture. Hopefully we’ll see families with babies making full use of these resources very soon!

This week also saw two key installations in the House. As previously mentioned in Ella’s post, Luke Brooks has been working with the Banbury Young Homeless Project on an avant-garde fashion project inspired by the House, ‘From Where I Stand’. Luke has been in the House this week setting up the exhibition in situ, placing mannequins and models and making the finishing touches. We’re definitely excited to see how visitors will find the exhibition during the Grand Launch.

We welcomed back Katie, the winner of the ‘Take a Seat’ competition, to finally fit her finished seat in the Welcome Centre. It was fantastic to see her and Dom (head technician) at work fixing each of the hand-crafted pieces together. The finished seat is simply stunning and will be well tested out at the start of next week with the soft opening of the new Welcome Centre. Our time spent in this space also presented us with the opportunity to sneak into the Cellar, our new exhibition space, with Jenna to see the Talking Portraits. They’re already looking great and it’ll be even better when the space is opened to the public for the first time.

This week also saw the first family event on the summer activities programme calendar. ‘Lost and Found Treasures at Stowe’ was enjoyed by six family groups who took part in a treasure hunt around the House followed by making treasure maps and treasure boxes in the Learning Space. There was lots of colour and jewels and interesting traps on treasure maps and (most importantly!) everyone had lots of fun.

We managed to escape Stowe for a day this week as well, as we took a trip to the Roald Dahl Museum! This was great fun: it’s a really happy, lively place which you can’t help but smile at. It was also really vibrant with colourful and interactive exhibits and lots of other activities going on. 

We were very grateful for the opportunity to meet with Isy, the Learning Manager at the museum, to talk about what they had on offer and how they continued to engage families with the site. She was able to pass on insightful information about the learning programme at the Roald Dahl Museum, and in which directions she wanted to take it in the future, such as engaging teenagers in various projects such as the upcoming Dahl Day in September. She gave us a real insight into what it was like working in arts and heritage, including her own personal experiences and career path. She offered us valuable ways to improve our knowledge and skills, not just to enter into this profession, but also in entering anything related to the cultural sector. She even invited us to see her give a talk in one of the museum spaces about Roald Dahl’s life, which was free when normal admission applied. So not only was it an enjoyable day out (in which we got to relive our childhood) it was also really enlightening! 

By the end of the week we had chosen our individual projects. Meghan was really interested in developing the ‘Take One’ model for Stowe, based on the scheme created by the National Gallery, and adapting it for primary schools. Ella decided on planning how best to compile online learning features directed at secondary school students. Between researching and writing up our ideas we also had to draft a short trail for the ‘Selfies at Stowe’ activity! To round off our week we attended the special Private View of the Welcome Centre and Discovery Centre for House volunteers and volunteers from the National Trust Gardens. It was lots of fun because not only did we get a sneak peek at the exhibits, it was great interacting with different volunteers (the prosecco may have helped things along a little bit too)!