Studies in Partnership:Something Borrowed

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Cover Image: Flopsy Bunny Gardeners Beatrix Potter, illustration from ‘The Tale of the Flopsy Bunnies’, 1909. Image courtesy of the British Museum © Frederick Warne & Co., 2010

The work described in this booklet is supported by Renaissance, the MLA’sground-breaking programme which is transforming England’s non-nationalmuseums. It strives for excellence, and through targeted investment, andcultivation of local, regional and national partnerships, it is realising the sector’spotential to make a real difference to people’s lives. Central government fundingis enabling regional museums across the country to raise their standards anddeliver real results in support of education, learning, community developmentand economic regeneration.

In the East of England, Renaissance is managed by the Renaissance East ofEngland Office, and delivered by the four large museum services which togethermake up the East of England Museum Hub:

■ Colchester and Ipswich Museum Service■ The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge■ Luton Culture■ Norfolk Museums & Archaeology Service

You can read more about the impact of the Renaissance programme in the East of England by visiting our website:www.mla.gov.uk/renaissanceeastofengland

Acknowledgements

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4 Something Borrowed: In a nutshell

5 Foreword

6 Something Borrowed: A partnership project with the British Museum

Case Studies

8 Beatrix Potter in Hertfordshire: A unique exhibition at MillGreen Museum

10 An Egyptian cat in Ely

11 The Dunwich Seal: Symbol of a lost town

12 Partnership and evaluation:Creating a legacy

14 Something Borrowed Partners

Contents

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Something Borrowed: In a nutshell“This has been a challengingand highly rewarding project,offering colleagues from manydifferent departments at theBM the chance to work withregional partners and pass on knowledge and advice thatwill hopefully see these venuesborrowing from nationalinstitutions regularly in thefuture.” John Orna-Ornstein,Partnerships Manager, British Museum

28%increase in visits to ElyMuseum in August 2010compared to August 2009,following the opening of AnEgyptian Cat in Ely based ona loan from the BMcollections

Visitor quotes from BeatrixPotter in Hertfordshireexhibition:

“Wicked, very interesting.”

“Wonderful to be able to seethe original paintings! Thankyou to all concerned with theexhibition!”

“When times are tough, it makes sense to club togetherand share resources. Skill-sharing is not just a survivaltactic though – it can delivertangible benefits to theinstitutions and individualswho participate.” RebeccaAtkinson, from an article in theMuseums Journal featuring theSomething Borrowed project

“We’ve had our busiestsummer ever, and manypeople were asking to see theBeatrix Potter exhibition whenthey arrived, demonstratingthat they had come to themuseum for that reason.”Caroline Rawle, Museums Manager,Mill Green Museum and Mill

£10,000committed by British Museumto develop the SomethingBorrowed project

“We’re delighted to have beengiven the opportunity to workwith the British Museum on thisexhibition. It’s been fascinatingdrawing together the differentstories around our mummifiedcat.” Elie Hughes, Curator, ElyMuseum

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In the current economic climate there is a greater emphasis than ever onworking in partnership to deliverservices more efficiently and moreresponsively to local needs.

This booklet is one in a series of sixhighlighting ongoing projects led byEast of England museums which havepartnership working at their heart.Taken together they demonstrate thatmuseums have a valuable contributionto make in:■ Engaging local people in decision-

making■ Promoting community cohesion

through exploration and celebrationof the past

■ Providing economic benefits throughemployment and tourism.

Communities benefit when museumsshare resources and expertise witheach other:■ The Greater Fens Museums

Partnership and Maritime HeritageEast are networks which bringtogether museums with similarcollections to celebrate and promoteunique aspects of the region’s past.Economies of scale are combinedwith a richer offering to the publicand more effective promotion ofheritage to visitors.

■ Something Borrowed is apartnership with the British Museumwhich is enabling smaller museumsin the East of England to borrowitems from the BM’s collections,creating new opportunities fortourism and learning.

Museums are also working increasingly with partners beyond the cultural sector:

■ Growing Communities provides a forum for museums, localcommunities and planningdepartments in Growth Point areasin the region to explore how the pastcan help shape future development

■ Stepping Stones has broughttogether 24 museums in apartnership with the Department forWork and Pensions to create 32 jobsand apprenticeships for long-termunemployed young people

■ The Sustainability Project isunlocking the potential of rural lifemuseums to engage the public indebate around environmental andsocial issues, as well as joiningforces with other organisations tofind ways of reducing the sector’scarbon footprint.

This work is supported by Renaissance,the Museums, Libraries and ArchivesCouncil’s ground-breaking programmethat is transforming England’s non-national museums. The staff leadingthese projects are funded byRenaissance East of England which hasalso developed the strategic vision andinfrastructure to help the sector becomemore outward-looking and innovative.

The projects showcased in this seriesshow museums have a part to play inmaking the Big Society a reality – by providing a unique space forcommunities to learn about their pastand get involved in shaping their future.

Vanessa TrevelyanHead of Norfolk Museums &Archaeology ServicePresident, Museums AssociationOctober 2010

Foreword

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“This has been a challenging andhighly rewarding project, offeringcolleagues from many differentdepartments at the BM thechance to work with regionalpartners and pass on knowledgeand advice that will hopefully seethese venues borrowing fromnational institutions regularly inthe future.” John Orna-Ornstein,Partnerships Manager, British Museum

Something Borrowed came about as a result of Renaissance East ofEngland’s 2009 Partnership Day event. During a session focussing on collections, displays and lending

programmes, it became clear that theBritish Museum is keen to develop newways of working that enables theircollections to be borrowed by museumsof all sizes across the country. Thisseemed like too good an opportunity to miss and so, in discussion with theBM’s National Partnerships Manager,the Something Borrowed project cameinto being.

The main aim of Something Borrowedis to enable a number of smallermuseums in the East of England to borrow objects from the BritishMuseum’s collections, museums thatare not, perhaps, the BM’s mostobvious partners.

Something Borrowed: A partnershipproject with the British Museum

An Egyptian Cat in Ely: The finished display at Ely Museum

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However, rather than a straight forwardloan scheme, Something Borrowed isalso an experiment. Each of thepartner museums involved ispurposefully quite different:■ Mill Green Museum, part of the

Welwyn Hatfield Museums Service, is a local authority-run organisationemploying a small number ofprofessional staff as well as relyingon volunteers to run effectively

■ Ely Museum is an independentmuseum employing a museumcurator, part-time education officer,assistant and front of house teamalongside a dedicated volunteerworkforce

■ Dunwich museum is independentlike Ely, but unlike the other two, ithas no paid staff, being run entirelyby volunteers.

By working with partner organisationsthat are quite different we are able toevaluate the process more thoroughlyfrom start to finish, with a view toproducing a report that can be used by a range of museums to informfuture lending projects.

In addition to detailed ongoingevaluation, a third aim is to support the development of staff skills andknowledge within the partner

museums. Developing a successfulexhibition around a new loan takes alot of work. It raises numerous issuesincluding security, specialist knowledge,display techniques, effective marketingetc. that can swamp a museumworking with a small staff and a limitedbudget. Working with a nationalmuseum can also be a dauntingprospect.

To turn these challenges intoopportunities for the museumsinvolved, Renaissance East of Englandhas supplied targeted, focussedsupport through SHARE, its innovativeskills and networking scheme. SHAREdraws on the expertise of staff in thelarger museum services in the region todevelop the sector through free trainingand advice. The availability of stafffrom the region’s hub museums,whether from learning, curatorial ordisplay teams, has meant that tailoredsupport can be on hand whereneeded, complementing the help onoffer from the British Museum.

At the time of writing, two exhibitionsare open (Mill Green and Ely), and are proving a great success: ■ British Museum collections are

benefiting from new accessibility■ Partner museums are benefiting

from skills sharing and support andincreased profile with visitors andstakeholders alike

■ And local communities arebenefiting through the availability of high-quality and interestingexhibitions, along with theirassociated events for all age groups.

Beatrix Potter originals arriving at Mill Green Museum

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Mill Green Museum in Hertfordshire is located within the Old Mill Housedating back to the 16th century. Thehouse is immediately adjacent to arefurbished working flour mill thatdates from the 18th century. With asmall, but carefully planted formalgarden and the mill stream runningthrough, the museum is a beautifulcorner of Hertfordshire that could bedescribed as ‘quintessentially English’.It is against this backdrop that thedecision was made by the museumteam to borrow original paintings from The Tale of the Flopsy Bunniesby Beatrix Potter.

These paintings are not only fitting in terms of the look and feel of themuseum; there is also an historicallink. Beatrix Potter was born inKensington in London; however, shespent many holidays in Hertfordshirewhere the landscape influenced anumber of her books. In addition to the Flopsy Bunny paintings, a numberof drawings have been loaned by the

Victoria and Albert museum, includinga sketch of the mill made by Potter in1910.

Mill Green was the first of the threepartners in the Something Borrowedproject to open their exhibition. Movingfrom project inception to completedexhibition involved a great deal ofwork and many people. Keycontributors included the museumcurator (Mill Green), nationalprogrammes project coordinator(British Museum), marketing and eventssupport officer (freelance), projectevaluation officer (Renaissance East ofEngland) and security advisor (MLA). Inaddition, there was support for displayfrom Museums Luton through theRenaissance East of England SHAREscheme, and environmental controladvice from the Renaissance-fundedRegional Conservation officer, as wellas from British Museum curatorial staff.

The exhibition was officially openedwith a celebration on the 23 July 2010.

Beatrix Potter in Hertfordshire: A unique exhibition at Mill Green MuseumC

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Visitor comments:

“Wonderful to be able to see the original paintings!”

“I really enjoyed it. The picturesare wonderful and I likedcolouring in Peter Rabbit.”

“Stunning to see these originalillustrations”

“Very proud that she (Beatrix)stayed nearby”

“Brought back some lovelychildhood memories”

“Lovely exhibition and so nice tocome 100 years after the picturewas done. 23.09.2010”

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The opening attracted many morepeople than usual, including the Mayorand senior council officials, along withproject partners, friends, staff andvolunteers of the museum. Initial signssuggest that visitor figures for Augustare up by 25% on the previous year,with an indication that the Sundayafternoon cream teas at the Mill havebeen even more popular than inprevious years.

A full analysis of the exhibitionwill be made after it closes on31 October, but ongoingevaluation of the projectprocess tells us that allpartners involved, from thelocal museum, Renaissanceteam and British Museumhave learned from the project.Skills have been shared andconfidence and knowledgehas grown, ensuring that themuseum is in a good positionto take further national loansin the future.

“We’ve had our busiest summerever, and many people wereasking to see the Beatrix Potterexhibition when they arrived,demonstrating that they hadcome to the museum for thatreason.” Caroline Rawle, MuseumsManager, Mill Green Museum and Mill

Publicity flyer for theBeatrix Potter exhibition

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The second exhibition opened in Ely hoton the heels of the first. Ely Museum issituated in the heart of the historical cityand housed in the old Bishops Gaol. It has a range of local history displaysexploring life in the gaol and Fenlandlife from prehistoric times to the presentday. In contrast to Mill Green, wherethe objects selected from the BritishMuseum’s collections relate to themuseum, the Ely team decided to optfor something unconnected to theircollections but which links to theNational Curriculum, thereby allowingthem to enhance their schools offer for the duration of the exhibition. Withthis in mind, they chose to develop anexhibition on ancient Egypt centred on a mummified cat.

The mummified cat, with its paintedbandages, is an extraordinary objectthat provides an interesting insight intoancient Egyptian culture. Of particularinterest, although rather macabre, wasevidence from a CT scan that showedthat the cats bones had been broken aspart of the mummification process.

The project at Ely has demonstrated thestrength of partnership across theregion and how this partnership canwork effectively with a nationalmuseum: ■ Renaissance East of England

provided support for developingevents and learning activities(Norfolk Museums & ArchaeologyService and Colchester and IpswichMuseum Service)

■ Specialist curatorial support wasprovided by staff at the FitzwilliamMuseum as well as from thecuratorial team at the BritishMuseum

An Egyptian cat in ElyC

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“The Something Borrowed projecthas not only given Ely Museum a high quality exhibition for ourvisitors to enjoy but it has alsobeen a great learning experiencefor our staff, trustees andvolunteers. With the help ofSHARE, the hub and the BritishMuseum, we now have thecapacity to take loans from anymuseum in the future.” Elie Hughes,Curator, Ely Museum

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The final museum involved in thisproject is Dunwich Museum. Thismuseum is dedicated to telling thelocal story of medieval Dunwich, a citythat was famously reclaimed by thesea. It’s appropriate therefore that themuseum has decided to borrow theDunwich Seal.

In 1199 Dunwich was made a freeborough by King John, which gave it a degree of control over its own affairsand offices. To mark the borough’s

freedom it was given a charter and a seal which is decorated with theimage of a ship.

This exhibition is due to open in lateMarch 2011 and is currently in theplanning stage. But as with the othermuseums, partnership will be the key, with an emphasis on developing a programme of support for the museum volunteers through the Renaissance East of England SHARE scheme.

The Dunwich Seal: Symbol of a lost town

■ Support with evaluation is beingprovided from the Renaissance East of England team

■ In addition, the curator of themuseum and the BM’s nationalprogrammes project coordinatorhave been pivotal in ensuring thesuccess of the project.

Visitor figures at Ely Museum are up 28% this August compared toAugust 2009. In addition, local schools are benefiting from theexhibition through the new Egyptiansession, which has not been availablelocally in the past.

There are other tangible legacies,including a security case and securitysystem now in place, enabling themuseum to borrow from a nationalmuseum again in the future.

Opening of An Egyptian Cat in Elyexhibition, August 2010

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This project has aimed to achieve anumber of different outcomes. At itsvery simplest, the aim was to take ahigh profile object from a nationalmuseum and display it in a smaller,local museum. The process ofborrowing, however, is not a simpleone. The national museum must besatisfied that various security andenvironmental conditions will be metand to ensure that the loan is seen and enjoyed by as many people aspossible, an engaging exhibition needs developing and a marketingcampaign rolled out.

Yet many small museums operate with few, if any, paid staff and theygenerally have limited funds. Theanticipated outcomes of this plan werethat the objects would reach a wideraudience and the participatingmuseums would gain skills, experienceand materials enabling them to borrowfrom national institutions in the future.Therefore, to make sure the projectwas successful, the final strand was to bring in support where needed bydrawing on the skills and expertise ofstaff across the Renaissance East ofEngland Museum Hub.

In order to assess the success of theproject, there has been an ongoingevaluation programme and, reflectingthe complexity of this ‘simple’ project,the evaluation has necessarily had tohave two strands: one focusing onunderstanding the impact of theexhibitions in the museums and theother assessing the loans process andsupport offered. Exhibition evaluation

Partnership and evaluation:Creating a legacy

has principally taken the form offeedback cards and visitor counts. Theevaluation of the process has taken theform of a mini-ethnographic studycomprising discussions and interviewswith those involved.

“Something Borrowed has been a really successful partnershipproject from the outset. Duringinitial meetings at the BritishMuseum, all partners met withstaff from Brent Museum, whohad recently borrowed the BM’sGayer Anderson cat. This providedan opportunity to learn from theirexperience, which enabled us todistribute and direct our tightbudget effectively, particularlyaround marketing. The rest of the project support has comefrom staff within each partnermuseum, the British Museum andthe Renaissance SHARE scheme. It has, at times, been anextraordinarily busy project - butone that has been enormous fun,has produced two excellentexhibitions so far and importantly,has demonstrated that learningfrom one another and supportingone another is an effective way ofworking. The icing on the cake ofthis project will be to see thepartnerships continue with moreobjects being borrowed into thefuture.” Natasha Hutcheson, MuseumsDevelopment Manager, Renaissance East of England

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So far, the evaluation of the exhibitionsis telling us that both Ely and MillGreen Museum are seeing an increasein their visitor figures. Equally, althoughstill in the midway stage, feedback onthe process is starting to give valuableinformation – both about what couldbe improved and of the benefits ofworking in this way. Importantly, whatdoes come across from all thoseinvolved is a feeling of enthusiasm andan openness and willingness to worktogether in new ways.

Finally, one of the challenges of thisproject has been to develop threeexhibitions on a small budget*. The keyto the success of this project so far hasbeen that partnership working hasunderpinned the project as a whole,ensuring that the budget has beentargeted and used efficiently.

* This project has been funded by the Renaissance East

of England Priorities Challenge Fund and the British

Museums National Partnership programme.

Beatrix Potter in Hertfordshire, exhibition display at Mill Green Museum

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Something Borrowed PartnersJohn Orna-OrnsteinPartnerships ManagerBritish MuseumGreat Russell StreetWC1B 3DGwww.britishmuseum.org

The ManagerDunwich MuseumSt James StreetDunwichSaxmundhamIP17 3DT01728 648796www.dunwichmuseum.org.uk

The CuratorEly MuseumThe Old Gaol Market StreetElyCB7 4LS01353 666655www.elymuseum.org.uk

The CuratorMill Green Museum & MillMill GreenHatfieldHertsAL9 5PD01707 271362

For more information on theSomething Borrowed projectcontact:Natasha Hutcheson, MuseumsDevelopment ManagerRenaissance East of England01603 228993natasha.hutcheson@norfolk.gov.uk

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Renaissance East of EnglandNorfolk Museums & Archaeology ServiceShirehallMarket AvenueNorwichNR1 3JQ

T +44 (0)1603 493665F +44 (0)1603 493651

renaissance-east@norfolk.gov.ukwww.mla.gov.uk/renaissanceeastofengland