Welcome to the 24 Hour Museum news in brief page for the week ending August 24 2008.
22.08.2008 - Bowes Museum Library closes to make way for The Reading Room
The library at The Bowes Museum will close at the end of this month to make way for a new state-of-the-art library called The Reading Room to be opened towards the end of 2009.
Staffed by volunteers, the current library opens by request only on Thursday afternoons, but once the new library with archive and study area is complete it will be much more user-friendly for visitors, researchers and students.
“There will be more space and longer opening hours on set days of the week,” said Jane Whittaker, the Museum’s Principal Keeper. “We are also looking to appoint a librarian to oversee the cataloguing process.”
The library is home to some 10,000 books and periodicals, ranging from illuminated manuscripts to art reference books and specialist magazines. Many of these have not been accessible to the visitor in the past, but will be available to view in the new library.
22.08.2008 - Phoenix Nights star delivers storytelling and podcasts for Manchester Art Gallery
Phoenix Nights Star and comedian Dave Spikey was at Manchester Art Gallery this week for a storytelling session with a group of local children.
Dave read Lauren Child’s That Peskey Rat as part of an exhibition of illustrations by the author at the art gallery. The storytelling sessions are to be made available as downloadable podcasts via the gallery's website at www.manchestergalleries.org.
21.08.2008 - Carbon Trust says museums could save 30% on lighting bills
Museums could be missing out on savings of up to 30 per cent of lighting costs according to the Carbon Trust, with the potential for simple lighting efficiency initiatives to have a dramatic impact on energy bills.
To help museums take advantage of these savings, the Carbon Trust has launched a free Display Lighting Technology Guide, offering advice and tips on how museums can reduce energy costs, while cutting carbon in the process.
“Museums are increasingly under pressure to demonstrate their environmental credentials to carbon-conscious visitors and staff," said Hugh Jones, Solutions Director at the Carbon Trust.
"Increasing the efficiency of display lighting offers the perfect opportunity to both save money and reduce carbon. The Carbon Trust’s technology guide is another tool that can be easily incorporated into a simple energy management programme.”
21.08.2008 - Work begins on Blyth's new public artwork
The newly renovated marketplace in Northumberland’s largest town is to be further enhanced with the region’s latest piece of public art commissioned by Inspire Northumberland for Blyth Valley Borough Council.
Work has begun on installing Hyperscope by Newcastle-based conceptual artist Simon Watkinson, which looks to celebrate the past, present and future achievements of Blyth, Northumberland.
The 7.5 metre high stainless steel installation has the honour of being the exciting centrepiece that will greet visitors to Blyth town centre’s marketplace.
The marketplace has been renovated at a cost of £3.1m by Blyth Valley Borough Council, Northumberland County Council, Northumberland Strategic Partnership, SENNTRi, One NorthEast and Inspire Northumberland.
20.08.2008 - Rare Matthew Boulton lamps acquired for Soho House Museum
Boulton helped manufacture the oil lamps for Swiss inventor Ami Argand, who had developed a revolutionary new lighting system which was seven times brighter than the tallow candles then in popular use.
The lamps also did not produce the same smoke and smell. Although the venture was fraught with difficulties and legal entanglements, the lamps finally went into production in the 1780s.
“Being able to acquire these extremely rare lamps is fantastic news for the Museum," said Cllr Ray Hassall, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport & Culture, "and it is especially pleasing to secure them in time for the Matthew Boulton Bicentenary celebration in 2009.”
Boulton lived at Soho House in Handsworth, close to the site where he established the then world-renowned Soho factory for the manufacture of toys, silver, ormolu, Sheffield plate, coinage, medals and eventually the steam engine.
20.08.2008 - Museums and libraries across Scotland affected in 24 hour strike
Libraries and museums across Scotland have been affected by today’s strike by public sector workers across the country.
Members of Unison, the GMB and Unite are in dispute over the offer of a 2.5% pay increase.
The unions argue that in the light of inflation running at 4.6%, the increase is not enough for their members. Ballots confirmed support for the action at the beginning of August.
COSLA, the umbrella organisation for local authority employers in Scotland, has acknowledged that inflation has outstripped the initial deal offered in March and has indicated a willingness to work towards a resolution. However, they have warned that any higher offer would have consequences elsewhere in terms of local authority services.
Unions are urging Scotish Ministers to increase funding to the local authorities to allow for a higher settlement and to reduce low pay.
19.08.2008 - Yoko Ono needs your broken crockery
Margate's Turner Contemporary is putting out a call for anyone who has unwanted or broken crockery.
The request comes on behalf of Yoko Ono whose work, Mend Piece for Merry England, features in Turner Contemporary’s Far West exhibition which opens at the Project Space on Saturday October 4 2008.
If you have any broken or unwanted crockery, you are asked to take it to the Turner Contemporary Project Space on Margate High Street, open from Tuesday to Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, 10am–5pm .
If you have a large amount of crockery you would like to donate, contact 01843 280261 or email info@turnercontemporary.org
19.08.2008 - The history of the kitchen revealed at Powis Castle
From larders to ladles, sculleries, safes and cellars...all will be revealed about kitchens of days gone by in a special lecture at Powis Castle on Thursday August 21 at 6.30pm.
The lecture will be given by award-winning museum curator and food and kitchen historian Peter Brears who has a delicious list of published work to his name: The Appetite and the Eye; Cooking and Dining in Medieval England; Tudor Cookery: recipes and history; and Food and Cooking in the 16th Century to name but a few.
Peter Brears will incorporate stories of kitchens from many National Trust properties into his lecture.
19.08.2008 - Portsmouth Historic Dockyard wins Arts Council Award for cross community project
The final stages of a year-long project called Voyage East, which links the Chinese and Bangladeshi communities of Portsmouth with local families and youth groups, can now be completed thanks to funding from Arts Council England.
Voyage East seeks to encourage new visitors to Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Gunwharf Quays leisure and shopping complex by bringing local Asian communities together through a range of stimulating and exciting events.
Over £12,000 has been awarded for the two sites to link up and run workshops and activities from October 25 in preparation for the grand finale, firework display and lantern procession on Friday October 31.
19.08.2008 - TV star bus makes appearance at Locomotion
Fans of a long-running sixties-themed TV series are in for a treat at Locomotion on Wednesday 20, Thursday 21 and Friday August 27 as they will be able to ride on one of the buses featured in the popular ITV series, Heartbeat.
The Aycliffe and District Bus Preservation Society will be providing the museum’s on-site shuttle bus service, using their Heartbeat bus, a restored Bristol LS. The 1949 bus was modified by United in the mid 50s to ‘one man operation’ – meaning that it has a front door entry, rather than the usual rear entry.
Visitors to Locomotion will be able to catch the Heartbeat bus to travel from one end of the museum site to the other as it makes its regular shuttle trips throughout the day.
19.08.2008 - Thomas Cook archive opens for free tours
To mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of the father of modern holidays and travel, the famous tour operator and travel agent Thomas Cook is opening its archives to the public.
Founded by Thomas Cook, a Baptist missionary from Derbyshire who began offering breaks for Temperance campaigners in the 1840s, the company is acknowledged as the first to bring travel and tourism to the masses.
The archives are kept in a company museum at the Thomas Cook HQ on a business park on the outskirts of Peterborough. Visitors will be able to see everything from Victorian-era travel brochures and early rep's uniforms to sculptures, posters and other travel related paraphenalia.
19.08.2008 - Old house decorated with sea shells is given Grade I listing
A 'Shell House' situated within the grounds of Sherborne School in Dorset and beautifully decorated with shells has been listed at Grade I by the Minister for Culture, Margaret Hodge.
The shells are all believed to be native to the British Isles, with the majority coming from the local Dorset coast. Constructed in the mid-18th century, it is thought to have been adapted from an existing dovecote.
It is still not known who commissioned it and the garden to which it is attached has, over the centuries, belonged to properties in three different streets. It has been owned by Sherborne School since 1931 but the building was deteriorating badly until being carefully and sensitively restored in 2003 by the School, with help from the Dorset Gardens Trust.
The listing will ensure that care will be taken over decisions affecting its future and that any alterations will respect its character.
18.08.2008 - Culture24 announces job vacancies in its Brighton office
Culture24 has today announced four job vacancies in its Brighton office.
Culture24, the publishers of 24 Hour Museum, are looking for new recruits to take the organisation forward as it rebuilds its publishing system, re-launches its websites and expands to take on a more strategic role within the heritage, education and arts sectors.
Anra Kennedy, Head of Programmes said: “This is an exciting period of change for us and these are great opportunities for the right people.”
For more information about the positions, visit the job vacancy page on the 24 Hour Museum website.
Culture24 is a not-for-profit organisation and exists to promote and support the UK's cultural sector online and to serve the needs of different online audiences. It has been publishing websites and sharing data and experience since 2001.
The family of Culture24 websites currently includes:
18.08.2008 - Secret missile will make an impact at The Herbert, Coventry
A missile made as a prototype during the late 1940s by Coventry firm Armstrong Whitworth Aircraft Limited has been brought back to the city to take its place at the newly refurbished Herbert.
However, due to it being four metres long and weighing in at half a tonne, structural engineers will be visiting the museum and gallery in the next few weeks to discuss the best way of displaying it. Huw Jones, Keeper of Industry at The Herbert, hopes to be able to suspend it from the ceiling in the new History Gallery.
The missile was part of a secret project which resulted in the development of the 'sea slug', a type of missile the Royal Navy used from 1961 to the 1980s.
Previously kept at the Midland Air Museum while The Herbert had its £20 million make-over, its return to Coventry adds to the story of the city's industrial past.
Once on display, Huw said: "It will certainly make a striking impact!"
19.08.2008 - Aberdeen exhibition goes out for a fish and chip supper
An exhibition running at Peacock Visual Arts has moved beyond the gallery and into Aberdeen's fish and chip shops.
Rather than old newspapers or greaseproof paper, customers at chip shops and fishmongers across the city are having their food wrapped in an illustrated history of the North-Sea Fishing Industry. This is the subject of the exhibition currently at Peacock Vistual Arts until September 20.
The exhibition has been put together by Norwegian artists examining the rise and fall of the industry through text, photography, video and installations.
The six types of fish and chip wrapper news sheets compiled by the artists tackle different aspects of the industry. These include the origins as well as the challenges being faced today.
