We’re very lucky here in Leicester to have some wonderful museum collections and gallery displays throughout the year. Now you’re be able to experience them from home as well. We bring you all the info in this week’s BID Leicester Spotlight feature.
Yes, our city’s museums may be shut while the lockdown continues, but the collections are being opened up to a new audience of online visitors through the Museum From Home experience.
Not only will you be able to enjoy a number of the most popular collections, including Leicester’s stunning collection of German Expressionist art but there’s also a whole host of downloadable content to keep the little ones entertained as well. Take a look through the collections on the Art UK website or via the council website.
The Council’s education team have created downloadable museum activity sheets and other fun resources, including Egyptian mask templates, dinosaur colouring sheets and more.
You can download these educational resources from the Leicester City Council website.
If your family is interested in local history, then why not dive into The Jewry Wall Story? Find out about the largest piece of standing civil Roman masonry in the UK, which happens to be right here on our doorstep.
Of course it’s vitally important that the public can keep supporting museums during this time with no physical visits. James Hickford, Senior Marketing Officer for the Museums, also added that they’re in need of donations for a special project.
“Thanks to the City of Leicester Museums Trust ‘Save the Hogarth Campaign’ last year, we raised monies needed to save William Hogarth’s ‘Wollaston Family’ painting for Leicester, preventing a nationally important artwork potentially being old overseas.
We now need the public’s support to help conserve and restore the Hogarth painting and frame. Even a small donation, however small will make a difference. The aim is for a conservationist to clean the painting and then present the work in a flagship Hogarth exhibition, developing additional learning resources to support the significance of this key work and artist within our collection.
More info & donate.”
And just what is it that makes Leicester’s museums so special?
“We’re very fortunate to have a great mix in our museums. From world class collections and objects to our very local connections with schools and city universities. Our school visits are so popular, particularly for primary school ages. It connects and inspires the museums from such an early age with Leicester’s children.
Museums in hometowns and cities are proven to make a real difference to people’s lives, particularly in formative years. Over the years our museums have inspired David Shrigley, who grew up in Oadby and was nominated for the Turner Prize, Lord Richard Attenborough who donated his wonderful collection of Picasso Ceramics to the museum and Sir David Attenborough who attended the Saturday Museum Club when he was growing up and spoke so highly of New Walk Museum when he came to open our Dinosaur Gallery.”
The Museum team are working to make as much content available as possible online so keep an eye on the website for other additions. You can also keep up to date with them on Facebook.
Our BID Spotlight features are brought to you in collaboration with BID Leicester.
