This month we sat down with Clifton Park Museum to learn about all the creative skills that comes with a job behind the screens of creating exhibits at the museum. Clifton Park Museum are a proud National Portfolio Organisation who work with communities to create important programming such as the ‘Days of Laughter, Days of Pain: The Miner’s Strike in Rotherham, 1984-85’. Plug in, grab a brew and listen about Rotherham’s Famous Sausages, police riot gears, the gamble of painting an entire space red, moving from a café to collections.
Jenna and Rebecca are part of the Collections & Exhibitions Team for Rotherham Museums, Arts & Heritage, mainly working with the object collections belonging to Clifton Park Museum, a local authority museum in the centre of Rotherham. Rotherham Museums, Arts & Heritage is a National Portfolio Organisation and uses the Arts Council funding to provide creative opportunities for the people of Rotherham and artists. Through a programme of engagement, temporary exhibitions and co-production, the service creatively explores the heritage of Rotherham and the people who call it home.
Part of Jenna and Rebecca’s job is to look after the 70,000+ objects in the collection that span from Social History and Fine Art to Natural History and Archaeology. They are also responsible for creating the hugely popular temporary exhibitions at Clifton Park Museum, most recently ‘Days of Laughter, Days of Pain: The Miner’s Strike in Rotherham, 1984-85’ and the upcoming exhibition ‘Our Habitats, Our Home’ which opens on 20th July 2024 with the return of Marco the bear.
Jenna and Rebecca have differing education and work experience, not always knowing they wanted to work in museums or with collections, but use their knowledge and enthusiasm to help tell the stories of Rotherham in new, creative and fun ways.