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Tag: Education

Aberdeen Music Hall Transformed

Aberdeen Music Hall reopened to the public with a series of community events on Saturday 8 December 2018. 

From 2016 to 2018 the Music Hall building was closed for transformation and renovation for a new generation. Over the past two years, I have worked on the interpretation plan and produced two digital exhibits. I also worked with music/theatre education consultant Alison Reeves to create education packs for primary and secondary schools and I have written scripts for tours of the building for a range of audiences. I hope these resources too will help engage a range of audiences with the stories and performances of the Music Hall; past, present and future.

The original ‘County Assembly Rooms’ building which the Music Hall occupies was built in 1820 when people of the city and surrounding area felt that Aberdeen needed a meeting place for events that was more respectable than a tavern or pub. In 1859, the Music Hall was added at the back of the County Assembly Rooms and was opened by HRH Prince Albert.

The main auditorium (below) is now refreshed and brightened, looking modern and fresh, comfortable and accessible for a new generation.

Aberdeen Performing Arts



Stepping In screen and Meet Me in the Music Hall

The first thing you see as you enter the transformed building is the Stepping In screen. Through the Stepping In screen, Aberdeen Performing Arts will work with local, national and international artists to commission and create a programme of digital art to welcome and inspire.  Meet Me at the Music Hall is the first commission for the screen. We worked with ISO Design to create a dynamic looping animation using the rich archives of Aberdeen’s Music Hall which we’ve spent the last two years collecting and organising.

The Walls have Ears

The other digital commission I worked with Aberdeen Performing Arts on are the touchscreen terminals in the foyer which invite you to explore some of the performances and personal stories that make up the building’s rich heritage. Based on the well-known saying ‘the walls have ears’ and celebrating the notion that the fabric of the building has absorbed the events of 200 years of history, the content of the touch screens will also available to experience via mobile web. Digital media company Surface Impression worked with our archive and themes to create ways to explore the photos, audio and video stories of past events and experiences.

Accessibility

For the first time in its history, the 200-year-old building has three lifts, allowing access from the basement to the balcony for people with restricted mobility. The front steps lift is particularly impressive in the way it allows access while maintaining the visual elements of the listed building.

Opening Day

For me, the opening day was a really strong reflection of the spirit of the Music Hall, including events for and by all sections of the community. A highlight for me was the Nevis Ensemble ‘street orchestra’. 

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Exploring electricity at Cragside

Before 2017, I was only dimly aware of Cragside House and Estate. I had driven past about five years ago on a holiday in Northumberland, googled the site, and made a mental note to visit next time. If I’d had any idea what lay beyond the NT ticket booth that day I would most certainly have stopped and paid the entrance fee!

In early January 2017, I pulled together all my previous electricity related exhibits and activities in order to apply for a piece of work with the National Trust at Cragside House and Estate. They were looking for a consultant to develop a new learning and engagement programme to complement the re-opening of the “Electrical Room”. I was interested because I have been watching developments at the National Trust closely since the launch of the ’50 things…’ campaign. Over the last few years, the idea of a ‘National Trust visit has changed; no longer limited to the over 50s who enjoy a scone and some decorative arts, NT visits are now all about family, sticks, wellies and mud, fun and playing. 

National Trust, Cragside House

National Trust, Cragside House schools

Setting up for school session on static electricity

One thing National Trust visits are not often about is Science. But at Cragside, the science stories are spectacular. So with my experience with electricity demonstrations and science communication, and being interested in the National Trust’s engagement with family audiences, I was excited to work with them on this learning and engagement programme for both schools and families. The first time I visited the site it was closed for the filming of The Current War starring Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison; which felt very relevant. The next time I travelled down (only 2 hours drive from Edinburgh!) I was able to explore the House and Estate in depth and was absolutely blown away by the beautiful environment and the stories.

There are a number of components to the electrical stories of Cragside and Lord Armstrong. After research and consideration, I decided to divide the material into three stories. One would be about understanding the electrical lamps in the library – the famous lamps built by Lord Armstrong, using bulbs just invented by his friend Joseph Swan. This involved a hands-on exploration of basic electrical circuits and bulbs as well as creating working models of the copper lamps.

National Trust, Cragside House
National Trust, Cragside House spark

The second story was the generation of electricity. How electricity was and is generated and how Armstrong generated power in the late 1800s. His forward-thinking ideas about fossil fuels vs. Renewables, and what the future looks like for electricity generation in the UK. And finally, there’s the story of Armstrong as “Magician of the North” and his high voltage experiments to create and photograph electrical sparks in air and water.

We ran our first family workshops in Science Week in March and evaluated the response from visitors. We ran another workshop and some in-room demonstrations over the Easter Holidays when I began to get a sense of the popularity of the site and what it means to local and tourist visitors. In June, we tested the workshops for KS2 with local schools. And just recently we finalised the self-guided resource for KS3/4 and interested visitors.

Overall, it was a fantastic project to be involved with. I was so pleased to be able to help the staff of Cragside to increase their own confidence with this subject matter as well as find ways to engage their visitors with the science of electricity and give a bit more of a sense of Armstrong the scientist. And I will definitely be back at Cragside in 2018, with my family, as a visitor!

National Trust, Cragside House trail

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Energy Lab

I am very excited to announce that the Energy Lab at the National Mining Museum Scotland is almost ready to launch!

You can read about the origins of the project in this blog post. Since I wrote that in May, we have been very busy working with our designers and fabricators; Leach Colour to create the exhibits for the space.

Roger Meachem of Yet Science CIC has worked hard with the museum staff on a supporting teachers’ resource full of pre- and post-visit activities about energy and engineering challenges. And Ryan Sturrock of Walk the Line Productions has filmed presenter Emily Carr demonstrating some of these activities for the supporting dvd and YouTube clips.

National Mining Museum, Scotland Energy lab exterior

The Energy Lab

National Mining Museum, Scotland Energy lab

Introduction

We have collected objects, photographs and film footage donated kindly by Professor Stephen Salter, the University of Edinburgh, Jamie Taylor, Artemis Intelligent Power and Pelamis Wave Power.

And we have welcomed teachers and p6/7 pupils from three local schools to try out the activities, interactives and teachers’ pack.

National Mining Museum, Scotland

Generating Electricity and Energy Changes exhibits

National Mining Museum, Scotland wave energy

Wave Energy interactive

National Mining Museum, Scotland the duck

Salter’s Duck display

All that’s left to do is a little bit of final snagging before we welcome Fiona Hyslop, Scottish Government Minister for Culture and External Affairs to open the space formally on 1st October. Then we’ll get our teachers’ pack and film clips live on the museum website and compile our post-project evaluation report for our funders, the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Let’s hope that the Energy Lab can help inspire some of the children of the coal-mining areas of Midlothian to turn their creative problem-solving energy towards engineering a sustainable energy future for us all!

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