Our Happy Museum project is concerned with trialling and evaluating different object handling methods and looking at how we can create more meaningful conversations with our visitors around them. During a rather cold and snowy February we trialled our six object handling models. They consisted of group work, quirky experiments and tweaked versions of regular […]
Read More →In the first of a series of blogs from our recent Symposium – Tony Butler, Happy Museum Director, talks about what we’ve learnt so far…. The Happy Museum was designed as a creative enquiry. Beginning with the Happy Museum- A Tale of How it Might Turn Out Alright it offered a proposition that museums had […]
Read More →A personal perspective from Ailsa Strachan of Manchester Museum This year’s symposium felt different to last year’s. Last year, I was part of a new commission. Everything was new and uncertain and I didn’t really know what to expect. I went to the symposium thinking sustainability wasn’t really related to our project: happiness and wellbeing, […]
Read More →Between 6-8th February, 45 attendees made their way to the beautiful Trafford Hall in Chester for the second Happy Museum symposium. Commissioned projects, speakers, and guests from across the museum, culture and environment sectors came together to discuss issues including related to how museums can foster individual wellbeing, resilience, stronger communities and environmental sustainability. Here, […]
Read More →The word I used when asked to sum up the Happy Museum Symposium on Friday was ‘proud’. However reflecting on it a few days later on a miserable wintry evening, one word seems woefully insufficient. The ideas of active citizenship, resilience and coproduction explored at the symposium are fresh on my lips. I can ‘be […]
Read More →Clive Ardagh of Onward Productions has put together this great compilation of symposium footage – we hope it gives you a flavour of the event. Happy Museum Symposium 2013 Watch out for Clive’s short film of the Happy Museum Project coming out shortly!
Read More →How confident are we in making the link between well-being and environmental sustainability? Catherine Langabeer, Operations Director at Julie’s Bicycle attended the recent Happy Museum Symposium where she posed the following provocation….. My provocation picks up on Tony Butler’s introductory paper’s observation that: “Linking well-being to environmental sustainability is more difficult than it looks….well-being in isolation […]
Read More →There is very positive indication that the Happy Museum project will be the starting point of a process of deepening dialogue with the communities with both the Oxford Road and Dee Park Community Regeneration initiatives keen now to include a heritage strand within future projects. Hidden history is being revealed and there have been a […]
Read More →The Story Museum is one of 35 organisations to receive a Small Capital Grant in the current round of Arts Council England awards, announced in January. Our grant is worth £465,000, and designed to improve the sustainability of arts and cultural organisations across England. The funding will take us a step closer to the realisation […]
Read More →Like all museums and arts venues, The Story Museum would not be able to function without its team of enthusiastic and dedicated volunteers. They have kept our exhibitions and events running smoothly, and many have also been able to put their unique talents to specific tasks: from creating signage for the building to mapping our […]
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