Reflecting the 12-year-old museum’s growing self-confidence and maturity, the National Maritime Museum Cornwall (NMMC), in Falmouth, recently embarked on a voyage of discovery towards establishing a formal art strategy to underpin its exhibition programme.
Senior curator Tehmina Goskar carried out some initial research into attracting artists to work with the museum and discovered there were many different routes to take.
“Some were formal, some were open to competition, some had funding attached, others were less stuffy and more about building relationships so that an artist’s original work was not only a showcase of their craft but also something of which the museum could be proud,” she says.
As a maritime museum, NMMC felt it was being overlooked as a venue for great art.
“We had conversations with Arts Council England and the Art Fund about why that was the case,” Goskar says. “The message we received was that we should speak their language and present plans in a way they understood.”
The museum’s first artist-in-residence was already part of the fixtures and fittings in Falmouth.
Boat-builder and restorer Rob Johnsey, a long-term volunteer at the museum, is also a sculptor. The museum is going to provide Johnsey with facilities and formal access to its collection in return for a pilot residency project culminating in an exhibition of new small boat-inspired art, which will open in March.
Johnsey’s artwork came to the attention of the NMMC when he was asked to make a replica boat figurehead for the British Museum’s 2014 Viking exhibition.
Falmouth subsequently commissioned its own figurehead, which Johnsey based on a Viking carving preserved in a church doorway in southern Norway. It then invited him to be artist-in-residence for 12 months.
“It’s interesting talking to my fellow volunteers now I’m creating new work based on the museum’s boat collection that we helped to maintain together,” Johnsey says
“We agree that we’re all basically using the same materials and tools but now I’m working on things that are definitely not designed to float.”
Goskar hopes the project will give the museum an insight into how artists work and what they require, and help it promote itself as a venue for new art.
“You’re bound to be noticed more if you engage with and talk about the art world rather than simply ploughing the maritime furrow,” she says. “You’re also helping the public to engage with contemporary art, as the majority of our visitors are not what you would class as traditional gallery-goers.”
Senior curator Tehmina Goskar carried out some initial research into attracting artists to work with the museum and discovered there were many different routes to take.
“Some were formal, some were open to competition, some had funding attached, others were less stuffy and more about building relationships so that an artist’s original work was not only a showcase of their craft but also something of which the museum could be proud,” she says.
As a maritime museum, NMMC felt it was being overlooked as a venue for great art.
“We had conversations with Arts Council England and the Art Fund about why that was the case,” Goskar says. “The message we received was that we should speak their language and present plans in a way they understood.”
The museum’s first artist-in-residence was already part of the fixtures and fittings in Falmouth.
Boat-builder and restorer Rob Johnsey, a long-term volunteer at the museum, is also a sculptor. The museum is going to provide Johnsey with facilities and formal access to its collection in return for a pilot residency project culminating in an exhibition of new small boat-inspired art, which will open in March.
Johnsey’s artwork came to the attention of the NMMC when he was asked to make a replica boat figurehead for the British Museum’s 2014 Viking exhibition.
Falmouth subsequently commissioned its own figurehead, which Johnsey based on a Viking carving preserved in a church doorway in southern Norway. It then invited him to be artist-in-residence for 12 months.
“It’s interesting talking to my fellow volunteers now I’m creating new work based on the museum’s boat collection that we helped to maintain together,” Johnsey says
“We agree that we’re all basically using the same materials and tools but now I’m working on things that are definitely not designed to float.”
Goskar hopes the project will give the museum an insight into how artists work and what they require, and help it promote itself as a venue for new art.
“You’re bound to be noticed more if you engage with and talk about the art world rather than simply ploughing the maritime furrow,” she says. “You’re also helping the public to engage with contemporary art, as the majority of our visitors are not what you would class as traditional gallery-goers.”