The Real Hustle

The Real Hustle

‘Getting into the museum sector can be tough, but small museums offer fantastic opportunities for early career professionals’, suggests Dale Copley, Museum Officer at The Fusilier Museum London.

‘LMG gets lots of enquiries from people wanting to know how they can get into the museum sector, and as I'm in the early stages of my career I've been asked to share my professional journey in the hope it will help others.

My current job at The Fusilier Museum was created three years ago as part of a Heritage Lottery Fund redevelopment project.

Picture of The Fusilier Museum London, Tower of London (c) with permission Mike Daines Photography

My role is very varied.  Now the new galleries are open, my responsibility is primarily to deliver a diverse range of outreach activities associated with the project.  These include a community curated temporary exhibition programme, an ongoing documentation and collection care improvement project and developing and managing a volunteer body. 

I’ve also had the opportunity to work on our first Accreditation bid, write numerous funding applications, oversee a collection move, answer research enquiries, give tours and write and implement a lot of policies.  Working for a small museum gives you a broad skill set and lets you develop strategic skills much earlier in your career than you would be allowed to elsewhere.  

I had realised quite early on that I might want to work in museums and this really helped. I had already done a lot of work experience whilst studying for a history degree in Cardiff.  On my first day volunteering at the National Museum of Wales, they gave me a car vac and sent me to vacuum a life size model of a woolly mammoth in the natural history gallery.  Admittedly, at the time I didn’t realise there were bonifide pest management reasons for doing it, but the reaction of the visiting public had me hooked. 

Like many people who work in museums, I believe that museums are a force for good in society.  I didn’t want a job which made the rich richer and the poor poorer.  I love history and so having the chance to use my undergraduate degree, and to get my hands on the stuff, really appealed. 

I also loved that the people at National Museum of Wales came from a variety of academic backgrounds – and I have continued to be drawn to jobs which put me in contact with people I wouldn’t otherwise meet.  I am the only person in my organisation who isn’t a Fusilier.  As the LMG Share scheme testifies museums are full of fantastically supportive people. They will help you get into the sector if they can. In my third year at University I wrote to 7 people in the sector asking how I could get a job like theirs.  All 7 wrote back.  

On their advice, I enrolled on the MA in Art Gallery and Museum Studies at The University of Manchester.  As I write this, the sector is evaluating the value of the Museum Studies MA and I understand that as tuition fees increase students will have to think very hard about undertaking a further degree, but I believe there is a lot of value to an MA in Museum Studies and I don't think I would be working in a museum if I hadn't done it.

Of course, my MA introduced me to core museum skills. It also made me look at museums critically and underpin my opinions with theory, but it was the practical stuff that has been the most useful in terms of getting work.  Two of my favourite bits of advice; ‘the best way to improve your own practice is to visit other people’s museums’ and ‘if you want to stay employed, you’re going to have to be prepared to move’.  I met some great contacts, but probably more importantly I made some great friends.

An important part of my MA year was the compulsory work placement which we undertook for course credit.  I did my work placement at a Contemporary Arts Centre in Manchester called Cornerhouse.  I didn’t know anything about contemporary art but I could see the placement they were offering was exciting.  I led a project with a visiting Indian artist on a commission, interviewing local women about their experiences of street harassment (Eve teasing) and then creating an installation for the café/bar area of the Arts Centre.  It was a concrete project I could put on my CV.  When it comes to any sort of work experience, I think you get further if you worry less about the organisation offering the placement and more about the placement they are actually offering.   

As so often happens, the success of my placement meant Cornerhouse offered me some hours in the office. It was a foot in the door and I was soon working there full time as the Exhibitions Assistant.  Cornerhouse is a dynamic organisation with an 8 week changing exhibition programme, so in my 18 months there I saw six exhibitions from start to finish and it was a brilliant grounding in the basics of exhibition practice.

I left Cornerhouse when the organisation restructured and the equivalent job became more administrative.  I went to a HLF funded start-up at a medieval art centre in Norwich.  I had never been to Norwich, but following that advice about 'being prepared to move' I went for the interview and a month later I moved there.

This was my first experience of being the only 'museum' employee.  I worked directly for a body of Trustees and with a range of external stakeholders including Norwich Cathedral.  It was a huge learning curve.  The centre had very little money and no secure revenue.  At Cornerhouse I had been used to begging and borrowing equipment and expertise to get exhibitions delivered, but it was much harder without the name of an established gallery behind me.  Slowly, the centre became known locally, some events started to work, more people started to visit but as it got closer to the end of my contract it was clear there was not funding to continue the position. 

I never thought I would work in a Regimental museum, but when the Fusilier museum job was advertised I could see that I had relevant experience and there was a chance to expand some of the skills I had been developing.  I was so glad I was broad minded about it.  I certainly hadn’t thought about it before I got the job, but Regimental collections are, at their heart, social history collections.  Only a generation ago everyone knew someone who had served in the army in the World Wars or through National Service, which makes Regimental collections relevant to a lot of people. 

A veteran from the Korean war takes in the new museum galleries following the 2010 redevelopment (c) The Fusilier Museum London

After three years, I probably know more than most about the Fusiliers and their history -a documentation project will do that to you - but what I am most convinced about is the unique and important role that small museums play and what an asset they can be to the sector. So, young museum professionals, small museums need you! And they can offer you so much in return.’

Author, Dale Copley.

NB: This blog was written by Dale Copley as the Museum Officer at the Fusilier Museum.  Dale is now the Collections Manager at the Waterways Museum.  The Museum Officer at the Fusilier Museum is now Stephanie Killingbrook.

Make A Little Go A Long Way

The People’s Record Project - Westminster

Westminster City Archives

Conservator Georgia Vossou shares her story | how to open up access to collections with a limited budget.

I strongly believe that archives play a significant role in local history and for the past seven years I have been the Paper Conservator at Westminster City Archives [see image below] working on projects encouraging community engagement and dispelling the notion that archives are dusty papers stored in a sterile conglomerate of depressive looking buildings. A qualification in Museum Management from Greenwich University and training at MOMA in New York have helped me to see how to use collections as working tools and increase accessibility by developing innovative in–house and outreach projects, exhibitions and workshops.  Face to face interaction with user groups in the community is important in increasing access to the archives so I actively interact with Westminster’s diverse residents encouraging community cohesion.  I’d like to share with you a story of a project that had limited funds but was organised with passion and commitment; The People’s Record Project - Westminster. Various interactive activities brought Westminster’s residents aged 4 to adults together opening up new connections and relationships within the community and engagement with the archives.

Exterior of Westminster City Archives

Opening up access

Three years ago I noticed an open application call for the The People's Record Project, a national scheme funded by Arts Council England but initiated by the now abolished Museums, Libraries and Archives Council.  It was created to showcase and sustain community projects of museums, libraries and archives as part of a comprehensive record of the 2012 Games. The fact that I am Greek was, in my mind, more than sufficient for me to develop a project with a theme such as the Olympic Games based on my country’s cultural heritage and this is how The People’s Record Project - Westminster was born. So, with the enthusiasm of a five-year-old I applied for funding, successfully received a small grant and started a survey asking residents about their opinions of the 2012 Games and their memories of the Olympics in 1948. There were mixed feelings about London hosting the 2012 Games but residents’ memories of the previous Olympics were positive and gave a unique insight into Westminster’s community at the time. These memories and much more are hosted on the People’s Record project website. http://peoplesrecord.org.uk/items/show/3090. 

Alongside developing the project I was searching the archives for Olympic material and, to my excitement, I discovered hidden gems (the official report of the British Olympic Association and the programmes for the Opening and closing ceremonies of the 1948 Games) that could be used as hands-on objects for community activities [see picture].  Clouds briefly overcast my sunny mood as I realised I would need additional resources to deliver the project, but the clouds vanished as I was successful in getting grants totaling £4,000 from MLA, NADFAS  Westminster and the A G Leventis Foundation.

St Barnabas School Activity

Developing relationships

There were many aims of the project: to open accessibility of our Olympic archives to local communities and inspire learning for all: to increase awareness of the history and values of the Olympic Games encouraging participation in sports: to enhance the profile of the archives, promote our services, and explain to residents how they can learn about their past by visiting us: to foster collaborations and encourage sustainability with new community partners. So, how was I going to deliver projects to hit all of these aims?  I started by identifying the target audiences and planned how to effectively reach them. I made contact with relevant local groups such as primary schools, Youth Clubs, Open Age, Age Concern, Day Centres for older people and Community Centres and arranged consultation sessions to develop the programme according to their needs. The start was rather challenging because in Central London community groups are spoilt for choice but with zeal, commitment and the sacrifice of personal time, I arranged one to one meetings with the different groups, which proved highly successful. New relationships developed and each groups’ commitment to the project was there from the very beginning. As I plunged into delivering the project more community groups and schools became interested and, by word of mouth, new collaborations started.  I’d now like to share with you examples of how, even with a small amount of funding, this project enabled Westminster City Archives to develop new community relationships, intergenerational activities volunteer opportunities, new loans partnerships and my professional skills. The project also created an oral history archive.

New collaborations | new skills

New collaborations involved working with NHS Westminster, Community Access Westminster [see picture], SCOPE and Pursuing Independent Paths (PIP) to deliver different activities: drawing and T-shirt workshops, sports days and teaching photography skills to several disability groups. The objective was to raise aspirations and promote the achievements of the Paralympics.  For me professionally, this has been an amazing and very rewarding experience and I have gained many new skills working on activities designed specifically for people’s individual needs.

Working with groups with people with special needs from Community Access Westminster 

Intergenerational work

A series of intergenerational workshops between elderly residents who attended the 1948 Games and pupils from a local school proved to be of significant importance. The residents shared unique memories with children, inspiring them to create a series of fascinating artwork [see picture]. In addition, after-school families’ workshops were organised and these proved equally successful.

Working in collaboration with Burdett-Coutts primary school
and the kind contribution of the Clarke family

Community outreach

Having built an important network with previous and new partners, I started delivering presentations about the ‘History of the Games’ and assembling art workshops to engage hard-to-reach groups. This included working with Bangladeshi, Arab and Chinese communities [see image] and elderly groups such as Open Age, Age Concern and Day Centres. To maximise the benefits of community cohesion I worked with the Cardinal Hume Centre for Homeless People and with Westminster Arts delivering workshops for older people with mental health issues including dementia.

Delivering an Olympic presentation for the Chinese Community Centre  

Oral history archive

Oral history was the seed of this project and the creation of a new oral history archive was one of its main successes.  I recorded the reminiscences of athletes and viewers at the 1948 Olympic Games and both proved to be a big hit. I contacted the athletes with the help of the British Olympic Association and I managed to contact locals who had watched the 1948 games through advertisements in the Council’s official magazines. A selection of their recollections can be accessed on Westminster Council’s website:

 http://www.westminster.gov.uk/services/leisureandculture/olympic-memories/

Volunteers | skill sharing and peer learning

From the beginning of this challenging but rewarding journey I had on my side a number of unique individuals who go under the generic term of ’volunteers‘.  This term is far from describing the enthusiasm, skills and experience that these people share. Their behind-the-scenes contribution, working hundreds of hours, helped me to conserve original Olympic material and prepare for the schools workshops [see image]. Without their passion this project would not have been able to progress. I value volunteering as a mutually beneficial activity.  In return for their time and enthusiasm they gained new and interesting skills; learned from each other, enhanced their communication abilities (especially the young volunteers) and built their teamwork confidence, all attractive attributes for a future employer.  As one of our young student volunteers from the United States says: ‘My experience at the Westminster Archives Centre was life changing. I came here at a cross roads in my life and career and found a new direction. I really enjoyed working with Georgia. Her patience and skills are inspirational. My voluntary work at the archives has taught me many invaluable skills that will no doubt be beneficial to me in my future endeavours.’

Volunteers conserving Olympic material

Loans | new partners

To ‘spice up’ the education sessions, two Olympic torches were loaned and used as hands-on objects in conjunction with our archival materials (1948 Olympic Games stamps, the illustrated London News from the 1908 Olympics, etc). The torches loaned were the iconic 1948 Games Olympic Torch loaned from the Lloyds Banking Group Archives [see picture] and the 2004 Greek Olympic torch belonging to the Greek Olympian Emilia Tsoulfa. 

The iconic 1948 Olympic torch was a loan from Lloyds Banking Group Archives.
Photo features Cllr Steve Summers and 1948 Olympian Jack Rowling (football team) 

Dissemination 

The whole project has been such a serendipitous journey. Even in its early stages the project was awarded the ‘Inspire Mark’ from the LOCOG Committee [see image] as an exceptional education project. The project was also selected by ‘Inspire Mark’ as one of the top 10 out of 400 in London in an exhibition in May at the City Hall (GLA).  In addition I have been selected by Inspire Mark as the project leader who has 'gone the extra mile'.

Georgia Vossou holding an Olympic torch

Further dissemination of the project includes monthly reports to Councilors and several Council Committees.  I recently gave a talk at the Collections Trust conference (26 June) and I had very positive feedback from delegates who attended.  They found the project story inspirational and a good case study for their services.  

Tips and Hints | how to make a little go a long way

· Think outside the box: My working experience has taught me flexibility and adaptability. I have always found creative ways to deal with challenges and obstacles and discover funding opportunities.

·    Time: Time was on my side.  The project spanned two years, thus allowing me to reach a high number of participants and focus on their individual needs.   I was able to be flexible and adapt along the way resulting in me being able to offer a high quality learning experience.

·  Overcome barriers: What can you possibly do with £4,000? Well, the answer is, plenty! It just takes initiative, efficiency, good time management and a dash of passion. The project involved 15 invaluable volunteers, 3250 pupils, 1750 adults, and 240 disabled people. It is obvious that by discovering hidden opportunities in funding there are ways of making a little go a very long way.

·  Collaborations: During these hard financial times, encouraging sustainability with new partners takes a lot of confidence, perseverance and dedication, but it is absolutely essential. Be patient - it does actually pay off.  Skill sharing and collaborations does keep interest alive. I am presently planning a number of future projects, to work with already existing partners.  

·    Passion: You have to have a good deal of energy and personal commitment to carry on. What I find most exciting is the possibility of learning new things. There is an incredible amount of knowledge to gain through these projects. When I look back at what we have accomplished I am amazed. I feel I have made a lot of progress, both personally and professionally, in the past two years.

Share offer | I hope you have enjoyed this story and the tips and hints I have shared.  I am offering mentoring session on Share London so if you are interested in starting community engagement projects or involving volunteers in collections care please do contact me.

Author | Georgia Vossou | Conservator, City of Westminster Archives Centre and LMG Member.

Westminster: The People’s Record Project will be presented in a community exhibition in SW1 Gallery www.sw1gallery.co.uk from 25 July - 30 August 2012, increasing community cohesion and celebrate the Games.  Please do go along and visit.

Delivering partners | British Olympic Association, Lloyds Banking Group Archives, NHS Westminster, Bangladeshi, Arab and Chinese communities, Open Age, Age Concern and Day Centres for older people in Westminster, Cardinal Hume Centre for homeless people, Westminster Arts, organisations for people with disabilities such as Community Access Westminster, SCOPE and PURSUING INDEPENDENT PATHS, St Andrews Youth Club, Museum Libraries and Archives Council, Arts Council, NADFAS Westminster, Victoria Business Improvement District, SW1 Gallery and 15 primary schools in Westminster area (St Matthews, Hallfield, St Vincent de Paul, St Vincent,  St George Hanover Square, Hampden Gurney, St Barnabas, Burdett-Coutts, St Clements Danes, St Peter's Chippenham Mews, Queens Park, Soho Parish School, St Gabriel, St Mary Magdalene, St Christina).

Individuals | I would like to thank the British Gold Olympian Jonathan Edwards, Paralympian Giles Long and Greek Gold Olympian Emilia Tsoulfa for their contribution to the project, a group of 15 valuable volunteers from Westminster City Archives, Westminster residents and Olympians from the 1948 Games who contributed with their memories.

Behind the scenes

Behind closed doors: Mines, Wax and Sir Richard Owen

© Natural History Museum

Rachel Mackay, Front of House Section Manager and LMG Share London Representative talks about her journey to the Natural History Museum.

Looking at my CV, my motivation for working in museums may seem obvious. I studied medieval history at university and I worked weekends in a visitor attraction. Combined result - a museum career. Actually, it wasn’t that well thought out.  I embarked on a career in museums accidentally, working weekends in a café in a small science museum in Dundee. Like all professional catering jobs, it was strenuous, but somewhere in-between the paninis and hotdogs, I discovered I loved being able to go behind the scenes of the museum.  When visitors were asked to leave at closing time, I had the privilege of being able to stay and enjoy the museum behind the closed doors.  It’s a very selfish reason for getting into a museum career and I’ve never found anyone who admits to having the same motivation.

With this passion for the private museum experience I volunteered for Historic Scotland at St. Andrews Castle. I wanted to wander about when nobody else was there. It appealed to all my senses; my love of history, the dangerous thrill of being in a spooky dungeon on my own and my innate sense of vanity that gets annoyed if I have to share my experience with the general public. Even now, I get annoyed if I go somewhere as a visitor and it’s busy; it feels unfair. This utter selfishness doesn’t go unpunished. One evening locking up at the Castle I was down the mine [see image] - incidentally the only example of a medieval mine and counter mine in Europe - and my boss mistakenly thought I’d left the site and turned all the lights out. It was terrifying being in the dark and alone!

The mine and counter-mine at St. Andrew's Castle, Fife. 
Image courtesy of Gazetteer for Scotland, 2011.

However, I’ve never lost that addiction to the unique experience you get when you work somewhere and you’re the last person to turn out the lights. At the Dundonian science museum, as a Duty Manager, the responsibility of being in charge of a museum, being a key holder, setting the alarms… it was right up my street!

Now, working in a major City work, is even more exciting.  It’s like being on a film set. It’s a privileged position and it never gets boring. My first job when I moved here was in the Chamber of Horrors at Madame Tussauds [Merlin]. I was interested to see how this organisation operated, and I have to admit that being behind the scenes was a lot of fun - for about a day. You soon realise that you haven’t seen daylight for 8 hours and you’ve spent the majority of your time surrounded by wax serial killers and bloody heads. Not that the term ‘wax’ is in vogue at Madame Tussauds and, in fact, neither is the word ‘museum’. “This is not a museum,” we were told on day one. “Museums are boring.”  That’s when I knew I was looking for something more.

My colleagues at Madame Tussauds.  Image courtesy of Merlin. 

Shortly after that I moved to the Natural History Museum and haven’t looked back. My job in Visitor Services is sometimes crazy, often unexpected and never boring. But my favourite part of the job is still when everyone else leaves and I get to walk through the Central Hall on my own, surrounded by statues of Sir Richard Owen and Sir Charles Darwin. Being part of history is never boring.

A year ago, I started an AMA (Associateship of the Museums Association) and as well as learning all about aspects of the sector I would never normally come into contact with, I can indulge my passion for being behind the scenes taking part in AMA Support Group museum tours.  AMA run events every six weeks in various different venues, and one of the nicest things about it is being able to get out and about and see what is happening in London museums. I suppose the point of the AMA is that it literally does ‘open doors’ – into all the places I always wanted to see!

Tips and hints: open up your doors and Share

The AMA programme has opened up the door to become involved with the London Museums Group, and I recently I became the NHM representative for the excellent Share London scheme. When another museum opens its doors to me, I feel privileged, so I say why not all open our doors to each other and share all the great experience and skills we have!

For more information on LMG’s  Share London you can contact Rachel Mackay via r.mackay@nhm.ac.uk.