Whitby Museum – Interpretation Mentoring
Find your spark!
The Authentic Spark is one of Museum Development Yorkshire’s consultant mentors. In this capacity I recently provided interpretation mentoring for the volunteers and staff of Whitby Museum. As a result they are developing their first interpretive plan for the whole museum.
We worked together in a series of workshops to build collective understanding of interpretation. The workshops encouraged collaboration in an organisation where volunteers are often working in isolation on their own collection areas.
The collections curators shared their top 10 objects during the first workshop. Through this the whole team realised the strength of the museum’s collections and the connections between them.
We worked together in a series of workshops to build collective understanding of interpretation. The workshops encouraged collaboration in an organisation where volunteers are often working in isolation on their own collection areas.
The collections curators shared their top 10 objects during the first workshop. Through this the whole team realised the strength of the museum’s collections and the connections between them.
“I feel the museum will be a stronger place moving forward, with a structured plan in progress to expand and tell our story. I look forward to the future!!”
Workshop participant
We explored audience data to build a picture of the potential and target audiences for interpretation. The team developed interpretive objectives and messages for the museum as a whole. They identified preferred interpretive media for the museum, appropriate to the audience and to the quirky character of Whitby Museum.
Discussions revealed a range of opportunities for interpretive development. These have formed an action plan of ‘quick-wins’, short, medium and long term activity to guide the museum towards the bicentenary in 2023.
