Count Me In Celebration

Celebrations were in full swing in, as people from museums, Youth Ambassadors and supporters made their way to the X-Centre to talk about the achievements and highlights of the Count Me In project.

Youth Ambassadors and 12 museums from across Devon have been taking part in a groundbreaking project for the past year; Count Me is about standing up and asking how young people can positively affect and engage other young people with their local museum. Each museum had their own dedicated Youth Ambassador who have independently developed a project and formed partnerships with local youth organisations.

Susan Eddisford from Devon said that “museums must be willing to listen to them [the Youth Ambassador] and accept that they might have something to say which they don’t already know”

Gemma Lissman, Youth Ambassador at Sidmouth Museum advised any young people wanting to take on the project to “have confidence in what you’re doing”.

Simon Gough from Redfront added that “The outcomes from the Count Me In project will be unexpected”. Each project has been different, which reflects the huge variations between youth ambassadors and museums, but these unexpected outcomes have enriched the museums as well as new visitor’s experiences.

Julian Vayne, Education Officer at Barnstaple Museum commented “My eyes, my thinking were refreshed” [from the project].

12 museums have participated with Count Me In, here are some of the highlights:

Bill Douglas Centre, Exeter - re-interpreting the collection using audio devices and podcasts
Dan and Jenny, both at Exeter University, have been working hard to research the collection and record audio, telling people what is at Bill Douglas Centre, which holds an enormous collection of film history and memorabilia.

Cookworthy Museum, Kingsbridge - connecting the museums, with its collection of farm equipment with the local Young Farmers Group to make films and audio recordings
Alice was interested in the museums large collection of farm equipment and the town’s strong connection with the farming community, so she asked the local young farmers to work with her.

Sidmouth Museum - re-inventing the famous ‘long picture’ in the museum and re-making regency costumes for people to try on
The museum has beautiful costumes, but visitors are unable to touch them due to their fragile nature, Gemma’s project has focused on finding a way for visitors to interact with the costumes. The museum now has a sewing machine and plans to remake costumes.

Dartmouth Museum - partnering with the local school to make audio guides for the town
Chantal partnered with the local youth organisation, the school and the museum to make audio guides for the town, on the local history. In addition, each year the town youth organisation run a history quiz, starting this year the museum will contribute obscure local facts.

Newton Abbot Town & GWR Museum - making a interactive website where young people can share stories and photos, re-examining the concepts of social history and archiving
Claire’s project, called Scene Here, combines social media, an archive and a map into one website, where local people can share stories and photographs, scenehere.co.uk For her work in Youth Arts Claire won the Regional Champion Award which she will hold 2010-2011.

Tiverton Museum of Mid Devon Life - organising an exhibition with the local college in response to an exhibition showing a collection of a local artist
The museum has a regularly changing exhibition space, Ann organised the local college to go to London and then combine what they’d learnt into making art for their own exhibition, which was shown at the Museum.

Further Information
If you would like to know anything more about Count Me In, the projects, or are interesting in running your own Count Me In project, get in touch with us via email, devonmuseums@googlemail.com

Count Me In is managed by Redfront for Devon Museums, it is funded by MLA Renaissance South West and supported by RAMM, Exeter City Council

Links

Redfront
http://www.redfront.co.uk/

Devon Museums
http://www.devonmuseums.net/

For more information visit http://codotlab.com/2011/02/28/count-me-in-celebration/