Citizen Curators 2021
“I have thoroughly loved being able to learn new skills surrounded by likeminded people… I have gained a lot more confidence as a result” – Rob Palmer
“It’s made me review my life. I left school at 16, I didn’t go to university, I didn’t do anything. I educated myself through art” – Carolle Blackwell
The Citizen Curators programme is provided by Cornwall Museums Partnership in collaboration with seven museums. It is funded for three years by the Museums Association’s Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund (2018-21). The Programme Leader is Dr. Tehmina Goskar, Curator & Director of the Curatorial Research Centre. Successful candidates who complete the programme will receive a certificate endorsing their accomplishment.
2021 themes:
- Exploring Falmouth with Blind and Visually Impaired people – Falmouth Art Gallery
- China Clay workers then and now – Wheal Martyn Clay Works
- Climate change in Cornwall and the world – Royal Cornwall Museum
- Conscientious objectors, Quakers and others during WW2 – Museum of Cornish Life
- Black US soldiers and Jewish lives during WW2 in Cornwall – Bodmin Keep
- Decolonising and telling the stories of marginalised people – Penlee House
- Global stories of the telegraph, including British Empire – PK Porthcurno
The 2021 application window for the Citizen Curators scheme has now closed.
American GIs in Cornwall in WW2 (George Ellis Collection, Kresen Kernow).
Contacts at participating museums:
- Wheal Martyn: Siân Esther Powell – engagementofficer@wheal-martyn.com
- Penlee House: Katie Herbert – kherbert@penleehouse.org.uk
- Museum of Cornish Life: Annette MacTavish – director@museumofcornishlife.co.uk
- PK Porthcurno: Alice Howard – Alice.Howard@pkporthcurno.com
- Bodmin Keep: Verity Anthony – collections@bodminkeep.org
- Royal Cornwall Museum: Jeni Woolcock – jeni.woolcock@royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk
- Falmouth Art Gallery: Donna Williams and Tamsin Bough (please contact both) – info@falmouthartgallery.com and TamsinBough@falmouthartgallery.com
For enquiries contact: citizencurators@curatorialresearch.com or contact one of the museums above.
#CitizenCurators
Be sure to sign up to the CMP newsletter for all the latest on Citizen Curators and if you haven’t already, be sure to check out the blogs from some of our Year Two Citizen Curators.
Bethlehem pasty, Museum of Cornish Life.
Growing confidence and competencies
The Citizen Curators course is based on supporting participants grow their confidence and competence in five key areas of curatorial work. Using a coaching-style of teaching, based on Kolb’s experiential learning cycle, the programme participants will self and peer-assess the change they experience through the 6-month programme, supporting each other in their learning groups (5 per museum, per year).
By learning through doing, each cohort and group will be able to provide invaluable feedback to their museum in areas of the collection that have been obscured or new ideas and stories that have been discovered. Participants learn how to turn one-way conversations into two-way conversations leading to new content, new knowledge and new relationships which the museum will be able to harness in its audience-focused programming.
Supported by:
