Relationships with objects are primary to human growth, development and mental health: they are a core element of our psychological metabolism. In therapy, as in museums, as in life, objects are companions in experience; witnesses to the past and present; connectors to people, places and experiences; devices for communion; for holding on and for letting […]
Read More →Much has been written about the Referendum and the cultural sector – including this by Happy Museum founder Tony Butler . In it he identified a role for museums in ‘bridging the cultural gap’ and concludes that museums (and other cultural organisations) ‘offer people a reflective opportunity to consider their own place in the world.’ How we might frame […]
Read More →In this great short film, Happy Museum Founder, Tony Butler talks about the thinking behind the Happy Museum Project and the innovative work of his team at Derby Museums.
Read More →Proving the Cultural Value of the Arts for Health Methods & Analysis Report for the Happy Museum: Cultural Value & Making, Authors C.White, A.Oddey, H.Sowter 2014, University of Derby. Proving-Cultural-Value-of-the-Arts-for-Health
Read More →Derby Museums, ‘Re:make the Museum’- 2013- present ‘Re:make the Museum’ at Derby Museums is a ground-breaking approach to developing museums. This project engaged Derby’s communities (including staff, partners and volunteers), in co-designing and ‘fitting-out’ the ground floor of the Silk Mill – a former industrial museum that was mothballed in 2011 as a result of […]
Read More →This case study is about how Derby Museums put community participation and co-production at the heart of its project to refurbish and re-open The Silk Mill. Innovative forms of evaluation were used to demonstrate the positive impact of making on the participants involved. Download (pdf): Case Study – Derby Silk Mill, participation, making and wellbeing
Read More →