This week’s blog is about the University of Cumbria trip that was planned by Ellie! The trip saw 3 schools visit the University of Cumbria Brampton Road campus as well as Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery. Check out Ellie’s blog to find out how she planned the trip: Trip Blog Part 1: The Planning – Hello Future
After travelling to Carlisle, the schools were split across the University of Cumbria campus and Tullie House. I was based at the University of Cumbria for the morning session. We began by going on a tour of the campus and exploring all of the facilities that the Brampton Road campus offers. This gave the students a great insight into what studying there would be like and the facilities that they could use. We then split into three groups to take part in an arts-based workshop. The workshops included: illustration, photography, and sculpting. I took part in the sculpting workshop where students used wire to make their own sculptures. The students really enjoyed this workshop and got to take their sculptures home with them. After this workshop, we reconvened with the other groups to have lunch and hear about the workshops they took part in. See the images below of the illustration workshop and the great work that students produced!
After lunch, the groups swapped over, and we travelled to Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery. The students were very excited to look around the museum! We first listened to a talk from some of the staff at the museum and got to hear about their journeys to working at Tullie House. This provided students with an insight into the different careers that they could pursue in the arts industry and how they could start building their CV now. The afternoon saw the groups take part in different workshops and get to look around the different exhibitions. We got to look around the Hair exhibition which showcased various pieces of artwork relating to hair and hairdressing as well as interactive elements for students to engage in. This exhibition proved to be very popular with the group I worked with, with many students still talking about it on the journey home! We then took part in a funding workshop where students could create a bid for funding – a key aspect of the work often involved in the museum industry! It was great to see the students getting stuck in and thinking of creative ways to apply for funding. This included festival fundraisers as well as fashion shows and silent discos! The final session we took part in was a tour around the Dome in the gallery which was about wildlife. Students enjoyed looking around this exhibition and asked lots of questions about the displays.
The trip ran seamlessly, and it was great to hear that the students enjoyed themselves! Thanks to Ellie for organising a trip that must have been logistically difficult! Also, thanks to the staff at the University of Cumbria Brampton Road Campus, and those at Tullie House Museum for being so helpful and helping organise a great trip!
