The serious benefits of fun

Manchester Art Gallery

Dec 3rd, 2013

Happy Museum Principles

• Create conditions for wellbeing• Pursue mutual relationships• Value the environment and be a steward of

the future as well as the past• Be an active citizen• Learn for resilience• Measure what matters

Aims for the day• Hear case studies from new and existing commissions, share stories and

gain some practical how-to-do-it knowledge about what’s worked, and what’s made a difference, what’s been hard and what they’d do differently

 • Experience playful, fun challenging activities – to understand how they

might feel for your staff or visitors, (& to possibly implement them in your setting)

• Find out how fun and well-being has been embedded strategically and share your own experience of building practice that can be future-proofed and resilient

• Contribute your ideas on quick-fire or easy evaluation methods and discuss how we can build in measuring what matters to our daily practice

• We also need you to do some work! We will spend a portion of the day inviting comments on proposed methods and resources for sharing practice about fun and well-being with the museum sector. We’d also like your own ideas about what we should share and how we can disseminate this learning.

• Lunch - 1 p.m. – 1.15 p.m

• Close by 4.45 pm

THE NEEDHow do we use the newly refurbished and

revitalised Beaney to improve people’s well being?

How can we get staff involved and empower & unite them?

How do we create a mechanism to actively engage with staff & new audiences?

How do we give people a voice?How can we really listen?

How can we break down barriers?

THE PLANWork with an artist

Devise a project that answers the questions!Get funding

Speak to as many staff as possible about the project, especially senior managers

Invite community groups and schools to participate

Allow time for coordinating the workshops and build of the final piece

THE PROJECTInvolve heads of departments and staff in

workshops working side by sideInvolve hard reach groups and schools

Allow plenty of project management time Use social media to create a buzz

Document the process Make a noise!

THE LEGACYStaff and visitors well being increasedBeaney becomes A Happy Museum

Well being activities are programmedPartnership with Canterbury Christchurch

University – Prof Paul Camic & study with NHS & Dementia patients

Adoption of Wellbeing section into Museums & Galleries Policy 2013

NOWHow do we become more resilient?

What do we need to do next?

Well-being becomes a permanentstrategic objective at The Beaney, Canterbury

HAPPY MUSEUMS MANIFESTOThe Happy Museum manifesto enabled us to be a part of something that was bigger than us on

our own! An organisation that believed the same things as us – that gave our ideas and beliefs credibility.

At this time it was just me but my Director was a keen supporter and knew about Happy Museums already.

THE PAPER APOTHECARYGaining funding for the project and becoming a ‘Happy Museum ‘was the beginning of the

journey to get ‘health & well being “into the strategy. We knew that the project would act as a great advocacy tool.

We specifically used it to get key people directly involved .This would be key if they were to act as advocates for the project and influence the strategy at a

later stage

Becoming a More Playful Museum – action becomes future strategy at Manchester Museum

1. How it started/ where the idea came from: Previous exposure to playful exhibitions, to playwork training, Anna’s interest in play, and in education

2. How the project got moving – a formal path of ideas, funding plan, agreement and then getting it going.Aims linked into HM vision: to promote well being through play, challenge use of space

3. Our model of change and experimentation ………From guided work by external trainers through to independent, confident practice and communication

4. The influences and key people who helped it to work, and to become embedded.

5. External support – (Or how partners helped enable people to take it seriously)•Outside people worked with everyone and took ideas and concerns on board equally, and fed back into project. •Alongside project staff, presented to all Museum staff – developing credibility and understanding internally•Presented externally alongside project staff – building museums professional confidence and credibility

6. How it became part of the museum mission statement

•The word “Play” already used on formal family programme leaflet

•Training, experimentation - doing it. Reflecting on it, being supported to try things.

•Organisational understanding developed – whole staff talk

•VSAs develop their own play statements and agreed key concept

•Agreement to formalize – into film/ mission statement/ entrance/ welcome – in process

•Museum mission statement includes play

•Ongoing playful days and commitment to developing new staff to support this going forward

•Mission statement keeps it central to everyday tasks, ethos and even JDs

• Think of all the ways you contribute to the well-being of your visitors and staff

• Can you prioritise these?• How can you measure this?

• What are the small things we can do to capture and show the quality of work that we do?