Sheila McGregor
R.38 Airship Disaster
2022
On 24 August 1921, R.38 - at that time the world's largest airship - crashed into the Humber Estuary, killing 44 out of the 49 crew aboard. The Carnegie Heritage Centre in Hull is commemorating this tragic event with an online exhibition, which I am helping to evaluate.
Gallery Town, Rotherham
2022
Gallery Town began in 2009, when Rotherham Council and local businesses embarked on a programme of art installations in the town centre. I am evaluating the current phase of the project, in which artist James Capper (pictured) is working with local children to make a gigantic moving sculpture based on the form of a camellia.
WE Wonder festivals
2022
Wentworth Woodhouse, just outside Rotherham, is fast developing as a venue for multi-artform events. I am writing the end-of-project report for We Wonder and WE Wonder Noir, two festivals that combine show-stopping spectacle with a relaxed family atmosphere.
Scarborough Museums and Galleries
From 2022
I am working with the team at Scarborough Museums Trust to explore the impact of 'From Local to Global', a project examining the legacy of colonialism through the collections left to Scarborough in 1923 by Colonel James Harrison (pictured). The trophies, photographs, artefacts and documents associated with his Big Game hunting expeditions in the Congo will frame a challenging programme of displays, research and debate.
The Lock-up, Birmingham
From 2021
The West Midlands Police Museum houses one of the most comprehensive police collections in the UK, from Peaky Blinders-style custody photographs to items of uniform and equipment. Thanks to NLHF funding, the museum's new home in the iconic Steelhouse Lane Lock-up opened in April 2022 with new displays and a busy community engagement programme. I am supporting the evaluation of the project.
Burton Constable
2021
Funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund has enabled Burton Constable in the East Riding of Yorkshire to develop ambitious plans for increasing organisational 'resilience' through new sources of income, audience development and strengthened governance. In the final stages of the project, I helped the director, trustees and staff team articulate what the project has achieved in a summative evaluation report for NLHF.
British Glass Foundation
2021
A new museum of glass-making opened on the site of the former Stuart Crystal factory in Stourbridge in April 2022. I prepared an evaluation framework for the project, including guidelines for ongoing visitor research.
Selby Abbey
2020-21
Selby Abbey secured a Resilient Heritage grant to develop new approaches to community engagement, fundraising and local partnerships. I supported the Community Engagement Coordinator with additional consultation and informal advice about the evaluation of the project.
Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust
2020-21
In 2019 the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust secured development funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to realise key elements of its masterplan for this magnificent historic house between Rotherham and Barnsley. I evaluated the development phase of the project and put in place a framework that will be carried forward into the delivery of the capital scheme.
St Andrew's Church, Dalton le Dale
2019-20
A group of committed parishioners secured a lottery grant to renovate the ancient St Andrew's Church in Dalton le Dale near Seaham in the north east. They also ran a lively programme of community events. My role was to help them tell the story of the project in a final report for the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Aberdeen Art Gallery
2018-21
Aberdeen Art Gallery reopened in November 2019 after a £34.6 million refurbishment. On behalf of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, I am providing oversight of the interpretation and activity plan that form part of the opening programme.
ARTIST ROOMS
2018-20
Anthony D'Offay's gift of 50 'artist rooms' to Tate and National Galleries Scotland in 2008 has introduced modern and contemporary art to new - and especially younger - audiences all over the UK. Sarah Boiling, Felicity Woolf and I were commissioned to examine the impact of the programme and consider how the existing touring model might change as the project entered its next phase.
Artists Access to Art Colleges
2019
Artists Access to Art Colleges (AA2A) places artists and designer-makers in art schools, where they are given the opportunity to carry out research or realise a project using the host institution's facilities. In 2019 AA2A commissioned me to examine the value and impact of the scheme within the larger UK visual arts ecology.
Sharpe's Pottery Heritage and Arts Trust
2018-20
Sharpe's Pottery Museum in Swadlincote occupies the site of what was once a leading manufacturer and exporter of sanitary ware. Now a museum and community resource, it secured funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund to refresh its vision and values, and provide training for trustees. Felicity Woolf, Mike Woodward and I carried out this work in 2018-20.
Contemporary Visual Arts Network - East Midlands
2018
Contemporary Visual Arts Network - East Midlands (CVAN - EM) fosters collaboration between artists, curators and academics, with ongoing financial support from Arts Council England. To help its director and steering group plan for the future, I collated feedback, data and other evidence relating to CVAN EM's achievements between 2015 and 2018. This culminated in a report to guide future decision-making, fundraising and advocacy.
Bletchley Park
2018
The trustees of Bletchley Park, home of the World War Two codebreakers, wanted to review the site's learning and public engagement programme after a period of rapid and successful expansion. Our consultancy team (Felicity Woolf, Tom Welch and Becky Palmer) reviewed the current operation and proposed some new directions, including a more embedded digital strategy.
Group for Education in Museums
2018
The purpose of this project was to help the Group for Education in Museums (GEM) strengthen its overall business model by aligning its training offer with the needs of the heritage learning workforce. Our consultancy team (Felicity Woolf, Mike Woodward and Emma Hutson) examined the wider landscape of CPD provision in heritage education, assessed the potential for an online distance learning offer and made recommendations about GEM's future as a provider of professional development.
Image: Participants in GEM's Effective Engagement course, led by Pete Brown
What Do I Need to Do to Make It OK?
2018
This exhibition featured the work of five artists - Dorothy Caldwell, Saidhbhín Gibson, Celia Pym, Freddie Robins and Karina Thompson - who use stitch and other media to investigate ideas about damage, well-being and repair. Liz Cooper, who curated the show, commissioned me to produce an independent evaluation of the exhibition's UK tour (2015-2017).
Image: First One's the Best (detail), Celia Pym, 2015. Photo by Douglas Atfield.
Museums Association
2017
Museum Development North West invited me to chair a discussion at the 2017 MA Conference in Manchester about Meeting Point, a programme of artists' commissions in northern museums organised by Arts + Heritage. Our session explored the impact of artist David Murphy's sculptural installation Semerwater Spear for the Dales Countryside Museum in Yorkshire.
Compton Verney
2017
In 2017 Compton Verney commissioned me to research and write a new learning strategy, alongside a master-planning exercise for the site as a whole. I reviewed the current learning offer and made recommendations about future priorities, in the light of increasing pressure to generate new income.
Group for Education in Museums
2016-18
In 2016 the Group for Education in Museums (GEM) won resilience funding from Arts Council England for an ambitious programme of training events and digital development that will help the organisation adapt its business model. My role was to act as 'critical friend' over the lifetime of the programme (until March 2018), evaluate its impact and help GEM apply the lessons learned to its future operation.
Image: Participant in GEM's Effective Engagement course, led by Pete Brown
Ferens Art Gallery
2016-18
During Hull's City of Culture celebrations in 2017, a recently acquired 14th century panel painting by Pietro Lorenzetti formed the centrepiece of exhibitions at the Ferens Art Gallery. I was recruited to evaluate the public engagement programme that surrounded the painting, including work with schools and new links with the city's Italian community.
Heritage Milton Keynes
2017
Since 2011 five heritage organisations in Milton Keynes have worked together on an HLF-funded programme of digitisation, volunteer training and exhibitions. In January 2017 the consortium commissioned Felicity Woolf Associates (Felicity Woolf, Phoebe Walker and myself) to develop a five-year strategic framework for the next stage of their collaboration, including an outline business plan and job description for the new role of Business Development Manager.
Heritage MK: Bletchley Park Trust, Milton Keynes Museum, City Discovery Centre, Cowper & Newton Museum (pictured) and the Living Archive
Now and the Future: a review of formal learning in museums
2016
This 'state of the nation' survey of how museums are working with schools was commissioned from CapeUK by Arts Council England in 2016. I designed the methodology, led the research team and wrote the final report. Our analysis covered such issues as curriculum change, budgetary pressures, digital technology, new delivery models and the impact of academisation. The report makes nine clear recommendations to guide future investment.
New Expressions
2015
Over a period of seven years Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery led a commissioning programme that explored how artists and museums can work together to unlock the creative potential of collections. In 2015 I was asked to look at ways of sustaining the initiative's distinctive model of mentoring and knowledge-exchange. The outcome was an options appraisal that considered every aspect of the New Expression's future operation.
Image: Chris Poolman and Elizabeth Rowe, New Expressions commission for Soho House, Birmingham, 2014-15
The New Immortals
2015-16
“What difference would it make if we never died?” That's the question artist Judith Alder set out to explore when she embarked on the research that culminated in this exhibition at Phoenix in Brighton in 2016. Although my role as mentor to the project was initially funded through a bursary from a-n, Judith and I became good friends in the process and remain in regular contact. I was delighted when Judith invited me to write an essay for the final exhibition.