Cantie Museum Project brings happiness agenda to Scotland
Happy Museum Project principles for Scottish museums
Details of the Cantie Museum Project, which will take the principles of the Happy Museum Project to Scotland, were unveiled at the Museums Association’s (MA) members' meeting in Dundee last week.
The aim of the initiative, according to a leaflet handed out at the meeting, is “to make the Cantie Museum Project community of practice a base to share ideas, resources, skills and expertise and collaboratively support initiatives to show that museums can change lives in Scotland, without costing the earth”.
The Happy Museum Project works in England and Wales and has received funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Arts Council England and Cymal: Museums, Archives and Libraries Wales, but to date funding bodies in Scotland have not supported it.
MA Fellow Peter Stott told Museums Journal: “There has been funding for activity south of the border, so this is to focus attention north of the border.
“We want to have a conversation with Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) to see what concrete work the Cantie Museum Project can do, working with the Happy Museum. We want to encourage MGS to take more of a strategic lead.
"We will be discussing our ideas at the MA's tweetup in Glasgow next week. The energy for this is not going to go away."
Hilary Jennings, freelance consultant and project manager for the Happy Museum Project, said: “We have talked to MGS in the past about funding our work in Scotland, but its funding model hasn't matched our way of working on a project by project basis.
“There are blurred lines though, as individuals in the team have done some work with individual museums in Scotland, and museum professionals from Scotland have come to our events in England.
“We are always keen to work with museums in Scotland, and we are sharing our plans for the future with the Cantie Museum Project so that we can continue to work closely together.”
A spokeswoman for MGS said: “MGS is supportive of the Cantie Museum Project approach, and our collections and engagement manager sits on the steering group.
"We have suggested that they might focus on a pilot project, which we understand they are in the early stages of developing.”
The Cantie Museum Project's steering group consists of Stott, Stephen Allen at National Museums Scotland, Gillian Findlay at the Museum of Edinburgh, Victoria Hollows at Glasgow Museums, the MA’s Scotland representative Nat Edwards at the National Trust for Scotland, and Jason Finch from MGS.
Scottish museum professionals interested in the Cantie Museum Project are encouraged to attend the MA’s tweetup, an informal networking event focusing on museums, happiness and wellbeing, on 28 November at the Glad Café in Glasgow.
Links
Scotland tweetup
Happy Museum Project
The aim of the initiative, according to a leaflet handed out at the meeting, is “to make the Cantie Museum Project community of practice a base to share ideas, resources, skills and expertise and collaboratively support initiatives to show that museums can change lives in Scotland, without costing the earth”.
The Happy Museum Project works in England and Wales and has received funding from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Arts Council England and Cymal: Museums, Archives and Libraries Wales, but to date funding bodies in Scotland have not supported it.
MA Fellow Peter Stott told Museums Journal: “There has been funding for activity south of the border, so this is to focus attention north of the border.
“We want to have a conversation with Museums Galleries Scotland (MGS) to see what concrete work the Cantie Museum Project can do, working with the Happy Museum. We want to encourage MGS to take more of a strategic lead.
"We will be discussing our ideas at the MA's tweetup in Glasgow next week. The energy for this is not going to go away."
Hilary Jennings, freelance consultant and project manager for the Happy Museum Project, said: “We have talked to MGS in the past about funding our work in Scotland, but its funding model hasn't matched our way of working on a project by project basis.
“There are blurred lines though, as individuals in the team have done some work with individual museums in Scotland, and museum professionals from Scotland have come to our events in England.
“We are always keen to work with museums in Scotland, and we are sharing our plans for the future with the Cantie Museum Project so that we can continue to work closely together.”
A spokeswoman for MGS said: “MGS is supportive of the Cantie Museum Project approach, and our collections and engagement manager sits on the steering group.
"We have suggested that they might focus on a pilot project, which we understand they are in the early stages of developing.”
The Cantie Museum Project's steering group consists of Stott, Stephen Allen at National Museums Scotland, Gillian Findlay at the Museum of Edinburgh, Victoria Hollows at Glasgow Museums, the MA’s Scotland representative Nat Edwards at the National Trust for Scotland, and Jason Finch from MGS.
Scottish museum professionals interested in the Cantie Museum Project are encouraged to attend the MA’s tweetup, an informal networking event focusing on museums, happiness and wellbeing, on 28 November at the Glad Café in Glasgow.
Links
Scotland tweetup
Happy Museum Project