Summer Holiday activities

 

There's a lot happening for families over the Summer Holidays whether the sun shines or the rain pours!

 

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Readers' group with a difference!

This is the book group with a difference - where you might find yourself mixing up medieval remedies, trying on a plague mask or perusing original documents from Wakefield Asylum! 

Previous sessions have included making medieval medical remedies, and trying on a plague  mask - not your usual readers' group!

Each month, the group members read a book of historical fiction - ranging so far from the time of Genesis to 1960s America - which they will then discuss the following month. Because this group is run by both the Libraries and Museums Service, each month an object from the Museum Store, from the time period or the theme of the book of the month, is also brought along for the group to explore.

The current book being read is "The Remains Of The Day" by Kazuo Ishiguro - the reminiscences of an early twentieth-century butler. No doubt the next meeting of the group with resound with discussion of class, social change, the nature of relationships, formality versus informality in the workplace and the definition of 'dignity'.

The current book for discussion

If you would be interested in coming along to the Historical Readers' Group, the next meeting is on 9th July, from 11am-12noon in the Wakefield One Library.  The group meets on the second Tuesday of the month.  

Feel free to email for more details.

Free Adult Events at Wakefield Museum

The secret of good beef: modern day beef production and the factors influencing the eating quality of beef

Wakefield Museum, Learning Zone

Thursday 27 June, 6.30pm

Adult talk - John Mackey

Johnny will take at look at how quality beef cattle can be raised on a diet of grass. After a brief background to his family farming business, he will take the audience on a walk through the life cycle of a beef animal from birth to slaughter, focusing on the four main factors influencing beef eating quality - diet, breed, growth rate and stress.

Entry is free and there is no need to book.

For more details, email or phone (0113) 343 1910.

The triumph of the mould
Wakefield Museum, Learning Zone

Wednesday 3 July, 5.45pm prompt

Adult demonstration - Ivan Day

Solomon's Temple - from a 1769 recipe

In this illustrated talk and demonstration, food historian Ivan Day will survey the remarkable genre of figurative food from the late medieval period to the eighteenth century. He will not only bring some remarkable wooden, ceramic and metal examples from his own collection, but demonstrate the unmoulding of early seventeenth century gingerbread, Georgian flummeries, sugar work and jellies from original period moulds.

Ivan Day with a couple of his moulded flummeries

Booking essential as places are limited - please call 0113 3431910 or email to book.

Both of these events are being run as part of the You Are What You Ate project in partnership with the University of Leeds, and University of Bradford - funded by the Wellcome Trust.

See here for the full programme of this season's talks, all on the theme of 'food for all seasons'.

New medieval manuscript on display at Wakefield Museum

The Food For All Seasons Exhibition at Wakefield Museum opened in March and runs until September.  The exhibition demonstrates what was on the menu season by season in medieval Wakefield.

As part of the display we have had the amazing opportunity of exhibiting some very rare and beautiful objects, on loan from the University of Leeds Brotherton Library:  3 intricately decorated books of hours.

The second book of hours being put on display

 

Due to the delicate and sensitive nature of these loans the manuscripts have to be protected from light and have the pages turned every 7 – 14 days to prevent any light damage.  The books can only be on display for a short amount of time.  The first book of hours has now been returned to the Brotherton library and replaced with an equally stunning manuscript. 

The book of hours has had a special mount made to safely hold it open for display

 

Don’t miss this rare and special opportunity to view these incredibly beautiful books.

This exhibition is part of the You Are What You Ate project, funded by the Wellcome Trust and in partnership with Wakefield Council, the University of Leeds and the University of Bradford.

Creating a Better Museum

An article about Wakefield Museum was published by Museums and Heritage Advisor:

CREATING A BETTER MUSEUM IN FINANCIALLY CHALLENGING TIMES

Ensuring that our museums continue to prosper in these difficult economic times is the major challenge facing the museum sector. One possible way forward for protecting museum’s in the future is through co-location and integration with other services to reduce overall operating costs and improved efficiencies whilst benefiting from new and exciting synergies that can lead to improved customer experience.

As a consequence of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review in October 2010, Wakefield Council had to look closely at all its services to address a significant budgetary deficit and the Museum Service was no exception and it had to find a way to reduced its overall running costs whilst ensuring that core services continued to be delivered to the public remain.    

To meet this challenge the Museum Service  had to do something radical and to face up to a major operation issue – the future of Wakefield Museum.

To read the full article - click here. 

Artists in the Atrium

Wakefield One Atrium Case Commission

We have recently been successful in securing funding from Arts Council England for a project to commission an artist or cultural organisation to create an installation using Wakefield Council’s museum objects in an innovative and exciting way - a special showcase in the Lower Atrium of Wakefield One. 

We are looking for an artist to use our collections as inspiration to create a beautifully engaging display. Combining artistic practice, be it sculpture, multimedia or painting, with museum objects to wow, thrill and surprise our visitors. Take this opportunity to amaze us with ideas that allow people to engage with museum collections in a different way. As long as the objects are safeguarded we will consider anything…

The prominent atrium case (currently contains a printing press)

We have pre-selected two areas of our collections to choose from to act as the centre point and inspiration for the installation. They are either:

·         Architectural stonework - The museum collections include numerous examples of feature stonework from now demolished buildings across the district.

·         Painted bath - A late Victorian painted and stencilled metal bath

Project budget: up to £4000

An example of the architectural stonework available

Painted bath - the inside is painted to look like marble!

Project timetable:  Closing date for proposals 1 July 2013. Display to open in October 2013.

For full details of the commission and how to apply please e-mail 

All in a flap!

Vote for your favourite 1920s dress

The 1920s are coming to Wakefield Museum but we are all in a flap!

Historic costume enthusiast Nicola Townend has been back with us to start preparing a 1920s display in our Dress to Impress case. Beaded flapper dresses are the order of the day, but Nicola can’t decide which one to use.

We have a short-list of three dresses, all from the 1920s, when jazz and the Charleston came to Wakefield.

Our current Dress to Impress display explores a night out in Wakefield in the 1820s

Nicola examines one of the dresses - we are spoilt for choice!

Pick your favourite by ticking the 'funny', 'interesting' or 'cool' reaction boxes under the dress picture you like the best. The dress with the most reactions by  Sunday 30 June will go on display at the end of July.