For Arts' Sake

We speak with Sutton House's Community Learning Manager, Sean Curran, to learn about the importance of keeping local and hidden histories alive.

We sit down with Holly Wilson of the British Museum's Wolfson Project to find out how museums can make themselves more welcoming spaces.

To kick off Season 3, we're joined by Tim Powell, head of R&D at Historic Royal Palaces, to chat about creating memorable experiences that bring stories to life.

Karly explores how meditation and awareness practices in museums can bring us deeper connection, understanding and joy. She is part of the Limina Collective delivering 'slow looking' and mindfulness-based practices in UK art collections. Before her current venture, she has enjoyed over 20 years of delivering learning events for the National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Collection, Wal...

Olivia and Paula like to challenge traditional interactions with cityscapes and reveal hidden histories through 'Uncomfortable' walking tours. This project has transformed the traditional walking tour into a critical pedagogy of urban landscapes. With extreme opinions on the rise, academics have an obligation to bring their research out into the public space to encourage dialogue, critical thinkin...

Liam believes that museums are not neutral, and wants them to challenge themselves to always be more inclusive, empathetic, and radical. He believes in the power museums have to go beyond their fundamental role as holders of history, and use that knowledge to present a bold and fair vision for the future. He wants to see museums decolonise their collections, and provide more people with the power...

Alex is passionate about making a change in the ways that cultural organisations speak and engage with their audiences.  As a freelancer, Alex works with many cultural institutions, including ArtUK where he explores how digital outreach and learning resources could help engage wider audiences. Prior to that, Alex led Digital Programmes at the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) and worked...

Claire Madge is a central figure in the promotion of accessible museums across the UK. She's the founder of Autism in Museums, an initiative working to create autism-friendly change in the cultural sector. A tireless volunteer, Claire has worked with a number of big and small museums, including the V&A, British Museum, Jewish Museum, and Museum of London. Claire has seen the dif...

Hello. This is For Arts' Sake – a podcast that gives voice to museum people. Here we share real-life stories of leading professionals in museums and the heritage sector across the UK. Stay tuned for upcoming episodes!

Jenny wants to know how historical places retain people’s emotions. She is a true cultural ambassador and has a great deal of experience having worked across many cultural organisations, including the V&A and Historic Royal Palaces. Currently, Jenny Pistella is teaching at Queen Mary University, London, where she is also working towards her PhD. Could historical places remain haunted by the em...

Listen in as we chat to Jack Shoulder, a museum learning Rockstar. Learn from Jack how to make museum learning fun and filled with positive energy! He has practised it on millions of people at the British Museum and now at the Towner Art Gallery and V&A. Jack gets personal as he shares his commitment to overcome the fear of failure by the time he turns 30.

This week we are talking to Caroline Marcus - a passionate museum learning expert. Caroline is a university lecturer at UCL, a consultant and programme producer specialising in museum learning. She will be sharing her insights on how to transform museums into magical and eye-opening places for kids and adults alike. Listen until the end to hear about Caroline’s inspirational vision...

This week we’re chatting to Aisling Serrant about her creative approach to museum festivals. Aisling works as a Community Engagement Manager at the Museum of London Docklands which tells the history of about London as a port. Aisling organises festivals bringing together families from all backgrounds to learn about different cultures and history. Her main goal is...

Ed Lawless makes the British Museum more accessible to young visitors using technology within the Samsung Digital Discover Centre. He enjoys challenging the conventional models of what museum learning programmes for schools, families and young people look like. From live video links with classrooms to a growing programme of tablet guided experiences for school groups, Ed is making digital technolo...

You're listening For Arts' Sake,  a podcast where we discover what museums are really for and what people who work there really do. Every week we ask leading museum professionals to share. Stay tuned! The first episode is coming soon!