WMMD Engaging Young People

How to use the Arts to Engage Young People with Museums Event

This looks set to be an inspiring event looking at how museums could use art and artists to engage a teenage audience with their collections. Interdisciplinary artist, Leigh de Vries engages in a wide variety of practises including visual art, installations, sound, digital media and video and will open the event with her most recent work and follow up talks and workshops.

Leigh’s latest project, “Exposure: The Broken Reality Tunnel”, with support from Arts Council England, was first exhibited in September 2015 at The Old Market Gallery in Rotherham.

An immersive installation, comprised of projected video footage in a custom designed maze-like structure of blacked-out passages. Utilising a variety of stimuli such as sensory deprivation and audio engineered sound elements, the audience is transported into and navigated through the reality tunnel of a BDD sufferers mind, challenging perception, perspective and self-image.

Highlights of the project included:

• The youth engagement campaign which involved 7 separate groups of 110 young people with over 80 hours of engagement.
• Reached audience broadcast and online is currently up to 11,092,741 and growing.

Leigh de Vries was invited earlier this year to speak about her lived experience of BDD at the official BDD Foundation’s Conference in London.

As part of her story she speaks honestly about fear, anxiety and self-perception and how being creative keeps her well.

Other elements of the day include:

• Digital games design workshops with John Sears, from Museum Games, looking at exciting ways of utilising near field communication technology,
• Arts Connect West Midlands will give an overview on Arts Award and how to become a supporter
• Discussions with FE Colleges giving an overview of work experience post 16, apprenticeships and why a museum may consider one or both.

There are two opportunities to attend this event, if you would like to attend book your place by following the links below:

Tuesday 9 February, Rugby Art Gallery and Museum: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-use-the-arts-to-engage-young-people-with-museums-tickets-20921432568

Wednesday 10 February, Shrewsbury Museum and Art Gallery: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/how-to-use-the-arts-to-engage-young-people-with-museums-tickets-20921503781

If you have a colleague who would be interested please share this email with them!

More detail and booking information for all our current training programmes here http://mdwm.org.uk/over-to-you/

If you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact us.

Kind regards

Charlotte Edwards

West Midlands Museum Development Programme

Tel 01952 435 900 Fax 01952 435 999
email: charlotte.edwards@ironbridge.org.uk