Supporting Cross-sector Partnerships to Enhance Collections and Community Engagement:Case studies from Share Academy

Laura Lannin & Paddy McNulty

Share Academy

• A partnership project between

– University College London

– University of the Arts London

– London Museums Group

• Funded by Arts Council England (ACE)

• Pilot project: 1 October 2012 – 31 March 2013

• Current programme: 1 April 2013 - 31 March 2015

Aims & Principals

Aims• To build sustainable and mutually beneficial

partnerships between Higher Education Institutions and London museums

Why?• Collaboration between museums and Higher

Education Institutions benefit both sectors • Barriers exist to partnership working • A broker provides support and advice when kick-

starting partnerships

Share Academy 2

Share Academy 2 is:

• Testing pilot conclusions

• Providing support & brokerage

• Liaising with HE and museum stakeholders to develop strategic approaches

• Funding 15 projects, £126,000

• Developing cross-sectorial advice & guidance for future collaborations

Museum Benefits

Cross-sector partnerships:

• can have a positive impact on working practices; for example they can be a powerful way in which museums enhance understanding of their collections

• provide a means to re-engage the community

• can be a mechanism which enables museums to add to and develop new collections

HE Benefits

Cross-sector partnerships provide :

• academics with an opportunity to engage different audiences, communities, and organisations with their research

• a means to develop and test academic research

• opportunities for public engagement

• real-world, research-based teaching and learning opportunities

Local Roots, Global Routes

• UCL Legacies British Slave Ownership & Hackney Museum and Archive

• Project aims:

– To create a performance-based and interactive educational resource for Key Stage 3

– To explore the history of Hackney in the context of British slave-ownership

• Project outputs

– Resources developed and being delivered for Black History Month

– Putting the Black in the Union Jack? Black British History in Education

Stamp printing plates, dies, and rollers: from vault to view

• UCL CEGE & The British Postal Museum and Archive

• Project aims:

– To test & create 3D digital resources for BPMA

– To use 3D digital resources to open up collections

• Project outputs

– Will form the basis of an online, publicly accessible resource for the BPMA

– Contribute to the BPMA & researchers’ knowledge on 3D digitization techniques & hoe these can be utilised

– Blog: http://postalheritage.wordpress.com/category/3d-scanning/

Inspiration Examined

• UAL MA Textiles & Museum of Domestic Design & Architecture (MoDA)

• Project aims:

– To articulate the process of inspiration through engagement with museum collection

• Outputs:

– Short informative films on MoDA’s website

– Peer reviewed journal papers, increasing understanding of how museum / archive resources can be used to inspire university students

Summary

• University – museum collaborations provide:

– access to local, rich & diverse communities and organisations, demonstrating cultural and social impact of collections

– an outlet for research to take place & be disseminated

– An opportunity not to view resources, knowledge and skills in isolation

• Smaller museums can provide greater scope & richer research

• Some Share Academy funded projects have demonstrated the value of engaging with social media, using this as an archival and engagement tool

• Mutual benefit & honest discussion from the outset is a key component in successful collaboration

Share Academy

• Sally Macdonald, Co-Founder of Share Academy

• Judy Willcocks, Co-Founder of Share Academy, Head of Museums, UAL and London Museums Group Chair

• Dr Helen Chatterjee, Head of Research & Teaching, PACE, UCL

• Paddy McNulty, Museums Consultant

• Laura Lannin, Share Academy Academic Coordinator

• Chloe Bent, Share Academy Administrator

Contact

Email shareacademy@ucl.ac.uk

Twitter @share_academy

Websites

• www.londonmuseumsgroup.org/share-academy

• www.ucl.ac.uk/museums/research/share-academy

• www.arts.ac.uk/csm/csm-culture/museum-and-study-collection/share-academy