There isn’t enough space to cover all of the brilliant work that has happened over the past twelve months but some highlights include: Middlesborough museum service have continued to promote oracy in schools by designing a new literacy loan based on a World War two field telephone from their collection and with the help of TVMG, were able to work with an animator, Robin Webb, to further enhance the offer.
Hopetown Darlington have opened their brand-new site and working with Heather Minto, TVMG’s CYP officer, hosted the first ever five-star families event, taking feedback from a diverse range of people about how we can collectively improve our offer and embed play within our museums.
With help from the Community Curators, Hartlepool Art Gallery collected local people’s stories about life in Hartlepool in the 1960’s in response to the incredibly successful exhibition of John Bulmer’s photography.
Kirkleatham museum received widespread recognition for both its exhibition documenting the changes to nursing in the Tees Valley over the last fifty years and its powerful role in giving women with experience of domestic violence a chance to be empowered through performance and traditional dress, linked to its 100 years of fashion exhibition, both supported by TVMG. Kirkleatham have also worked closely with Tees Valley Museums to display Recycling the River Tees: an engaging and important exhibition, working with college students, the Prince’s Trust, families and school children to promote vital messages about how to respect and safeguard for our local river, for future generations. In a true demonstration of partnership working this exhibition will move on to Preston Park Museum & Grounds in the spring.
A final highlight of the year was the launch of the ‘Free To Be Me’ exhibition at Preston Park, a culmination of months of work with different groups from LGBT+ communities.
Sam Hallwood, collections assistant, worked with our Community Curators on the Pioneers of Pride campaign, where over fourteen new items were added to Preston Park collection, meaning this community is better represented in the museum’s collection and the diversity of the local community is better reflected in its the future exhibitions.
