APPENDIX 1
REPORTS ON RENAISSANCE AT WORK (RAW) AND
BUILDING CONSERVATION CAPACITY 2004-06
RENAISSANCE AT
WORK (RAW) PROGRAMME
Aims
Professional development training and advocacy
in the field of collection care has become increasingly difficult
to locate and access due in part to the repositioning of the MLA
at national and regional level. The advocacy and information role
previously filled by the museum councils has left a void in this
area a problem which was identified in the report The Museums
Domain, commissioned in 2002 by Resource.
The Renaissance at Work programme aimed to address
this gap in a number of ways:
1. Through a comprehensive, tiered programme
of courses in collection care, using leading practitioners from
the conservation profession.
2. By holding courses around the region in
local venues to make them as accessible as possible to those working
in all types of museums across the whole of the West Midlands
region.
3. By offering a follow up service of consultative
visits and email and telephone support to ensure that the information
provided in the training is applied effectively and is relevant
to each institution.
Partners
The programme has achieved excellent sector
penetration through effective collaboration and coordination with
the Museum Development Officers (MDO's). The local knowledge of
the MDO's has been an essential component in the success of the
programme. We worked with them to promote and model the programme
to suit the needs of museums across the six counties. They also
located venues, usually within museums, so that the programme
could be seen to be directly relevant to the local situation.
Partnerships have also been forged with leading museum/collection
care practitioners from around the UK ensuring that the course
content represents best practice. The programme has also been
closely linked to the work of the Renaissance Accreditation Officer
and has underpinned the accreditation process.
Successes
The major success of the programme is that 492
people from 69 museums have attended courses. 99% of participants
stated that they would attend another course and 98% rated the
courses as excellent or good.
Feedback from the participants gives an impression
of the courses:
— "Really interesting, useful
day."
— "This is exactly what is needed
for museums and galleries. More Renaissance money should be going
to these projects."
— "Very enjoyable course with
excellent emphasis on practical techniques. I am now much more
confident about attempting in-house solutions."
The programme was designed to lead people from
basic levels of knowledge to practical application and many people
attended several courses allowing them to build a rounded understanding
of collections care. Participants were encouraged to set goals
as part of the courses and the questions asked and comments made
by the repeat attendees showed that programme had a positive impact
upon collection care in their museums.
— In the next two weeks I will "look
more carefully at the positioning of objects in relation to lights
and assess any potential problems with relation to what we looked
at today."
— In the next month I will "assess
the standards of documentation and the disaster plan."
— In the next six months I will "consider
creating internal walls to create areas that can be environmentally
controlled."
Innovation
The RAW programme has taken a unique approach
to the provision of collection care training by offering a tiered
programme of training and taking it out to museums. This has enabled
participants to access information that they would not usually
be able to locate or interpret effectively, in a format that they
are able to understand. Many courses have made use of museum spaces
as part of the training; for example through benchmarking exercises
and environmental monitoring practice, this allows the participants
to understand how they can use the knowledge gained in their own
museums.
The RAW programme has been delivered free to
participants to ensure that all museums, but particularly the
small, independent museums, have access to high quality training.
The type of training delivered would typically cost £150-£250
and would be out of reach of most of the museums in the region.
The follow-up service is another unique feature
of the programme. This service was designed to ensure that the
training given was relevant to each museum. The implementation
of knowledge gained inevitably throws up questions and issues
that require additional knowledge and support to resolve. The
follow-up service ensures that support is available and that improvements
in collection care are achieved and sustained.
Challenges
Making contact with the diverse museum sector
across the region has been a challenge, but the support of the
MDO's in this area has been invaluable. It took time to convince
many of the small museums outside the Hub that training provided
by the largest museum in the region would be relevant to them,
but confidence and trust in the "RAW" brand has grown
such that the programme is highly regarded and penetration of
the sector in terms of awareness of the service and what it offers
is now very high.
Change
Collection care tends to be one of the less
visible areas of museum work, so it is difficult to assess the
full impact that the training programme has had in regards of
improvements to access. There are, however, some very noticeable
changes indicating the level of impact of the programme:
— The courses have allowed a frank
exchange of people's problems and successes in the sphere of collection
care. Participants have been able to solve many of their problems
through these informal networks.
— The Royal Shakespeare Collection
made significant improvements in their environmental control by
the use of insulation. These improvements were made after attending
courses and receiving a follow-up visit.
— The Cider Museum began a pest monitoring
programme and was able to identify an insect pest using the skills
learned through RAW.
— Kington Museum, an independent, implemented
an environmental monitoring programme and made changes to their
space due to attending RAW courses.
Follow up with those museums who attended RAW
courses during 2004-06 will provide a better picture of the impact
that the courses have had and the impact should also be revealed
through the next "Fast Forward" survey.
The Head of Collection Care at Birmingham Museum
and Art Gallery co-ordinated and hosted a national meeting for
those delivering collections care in the hubs, where the issues
of impact and measurement in this area were discussed. A follow
up meeting is planned for later this year to move this issue forward.
BUILDING CONSERVATION CAPACITY AT BIRMINGHAM
MUSEUMS AND ART GALLERY
AIMS
The conservation facilities at Birmingham Museums
and Art Gallery (BM&AG) had fallen into a poor state of repair
over a number of years, equipment was old and failing and morale
amongst the existing team was low.
The building conservation capacity programme
aimed to reverse this decline and develop the conservation team
and service through:
4. Refurbishment and re-equipping of dilapidated
and poorly utilised conservation spaces.
5. Establish a new Collections Care Officer
post to deliver services to the five community museums and the
new Museum Collections Centre.
6. Develop conservation studio rentals for
private sector conservators at BM&AG.
PARTNERS
Hub partners were invited to participate in
a seminar to discuss conservation and collections care needs in
the region and to consider how central resources could be developed.
We have worked in partnership with Birmingham City Council's Urban
Design department to effect the physical transformation of the
department and with BCC Building Services who part funded the
purchase of humidifiers.
SUCCESSES
1. Refurbishment and refitting: The conservation
studios have been successfully refurbished to provide modern,
clean, secure and professional working environments that inspire
confidence. New equipment has been purchased to bring the studios
up to acceptable health and safety standards and enable staff
to carry out a wider range of treatments.
2. Studio Rental: Studio space has been
successfully rented to Ogilvie-Vaile paper conservation and their
business is thriving. Adverts are being placed in industry publications
seeking additional private sector rentals for objects and easel
paintings.
3. Housekeeping Programme and Emergency
Planning: The Renaissance funded Collections Care Officer has
been able to work with the existing team to develop an effective
housekeeping programme that extends across all BM&AG sites
resulting in an improved Benchmarking assessment. She has also
developed and manages the organisation's emergency response plan.
4. Improved Museum Environment: Renaissance
has enabled the purchase of humidifiers with partnership funding
to improve the gallery environments at BM&AG.
5. Review and restructure: The impetus provided
by the "pump priming" funding from Renaissance was a
one of the catalysts that led to a full review of Collections
Care and Conservation services at BM&AG. That review has resulted
in the restructure of the department and the creation of three
additional permanent posts.
6. Increase efficiency: The combination
of the improved environment and staffing has resulted in a significant
increase in the range and number of objects being treated.
INNOVATION
The introduction of private sector conservators
into the studios shows innovation in developing positive working
relationships between public and private sectors. Private sector
conservators can easily become isolated and public sector conservators
easily forget the reality and pressures of working in a commercial
environment. It is thus mutually advantageous to build working
partnerships with the private sector as conservators then have
the opportunity to share information and develop understanding.
CHALLENGES
The department was kept fully operation during
the building works. The disruption was managed and controlled
through careful and effective project planning.
The introduction of private sector conservators
presented cultural and organisational challenges. There was the
danger that existing staff could feel threatened by the presence
of private sector conservators but this process has been carefully
managed to ensure the co-operation of existing staff.
CHANGE
The review and restructure resulted in attitudes
and practices of the existing team being challenged. This has
been turned to an opportunity to develop a service that understands
and meets the needs of customers. The process of change is ongoing
and will continue as the team are encouraged to contribute to
the wider aims of Renaissance through offering regional advice
and support in the 2006-08 phase of the programme. Collection
care improvements will be assessed through Benchmarking and the
use of the Fast Forward survey.
The potential for a second phase of development
at the Museums Collections Centre which could include purpose
built conservation facilities will be explored in the 2006-08
phase of the Renaissance programme.
26 September 2006
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