Karen Southworth is the access and learning officer for Harrogate Museums and curator of Inspired by Harrogate, a series of new work by local artists and makers that is on sale at Harrogate’s Mercer Art Gallery in the shop.
How did the Inspired collection come about?
We’re surrounded by wonderful craft and design shops in this part of the world, so we decided to introduce high-end contemporary work to our shop as well as showing it in the gallery. We commissioned eight Yorkshire artists to produce work inspired by our collections – for example, jeweller Alice Clarke designed a new range using jet and horsehair based on our Victorian mourning jewellery.
Some museum shops are a little underwhelming, aren’t they?
The fact is that visitors don’t always take the thread that curators want them to; there’s an expectations gap between curators and operations managers, and we’re working towards making both more relevant to each other. It’s sometimes easier to look at a museum shop purely as an income generator rather than an opportunity to enhance an overall visit. This project gives people a chance to handle objects and experience work in, perhaps, a less intense way.
How did you arrive at having a foot in both camps, as curator and project manager?
I was on the classic regional museum career trajectory until I started my family and went freelance. The world of working across networks on a variety of projects opened up. There are pros and cons; I miss being part of a team seeing a project through to the end, rather than being “brought in” for three months.
Were you always destined for a museum career?
I was. That’s a bit sad, isn’t it? In my teens I volunteered at the Harris Museum and Art Gallery in Preston. While I was sealing envelopes, my peers were enjoying life as new romantics in Manchester, slapping on the make-up and squeezing into frilly shirts.
What’s the strangest item you’ve seen for sale in any museum shop?
I like the irrational, nutty things. On a visit to the Guggenheim in Venice, I saw a pair of Peggy’s Dame Edna glasses on display. They were naff and tremendous at the same time, but they weren’t cheap and I wouldn’t have had the nerve to wear them in public so I satisfied myself with a photo.
How did the Inspired collection come about?
We’re surrounded by wonderful craft and design shops in this part of the world, so we decided to introduce high-end contemporary work to our shop as well as showing it in the gallery. We commissioned eight Yorkshire artists to produce work inspired by our collections – for example, jeweller Alice Clarke designed a new range using jet and horsehair based on our Victorian mourning jewellery.
Some museum shops are a little underwhelming, aren’t they?
The fact is that visitors don’t always take the thread that curators want them to; there’s an expectations gap between curators and operations managers, and we’re working towards making both more relevant to each other. It’s sometimes easier to look at a museum shop purely as an income generator rather than an opportunity to enhance an overall visit. This project gives people a chance to handle objects and experience work in, perhaps, a less intense way.
How did you arrive at having a foot in both camps, as curator and project manager?
I was on the classic regional museum career trajectory until I started my family and went freelance. The world of working across networks on a variety of projects opened up. There are pros and cons; I miss being part of a team seeing a project through to the end, rather than being “brought in” for three months.
Were you always destined for a museum career?
I was. That’s a bit sad, isn’t it? In my teens I volunteered at the Harris Museum and Art Gallery in Preston. While I was sealing envelopes, my peers were enjoying life as new romantics in Manchester, slapping on the make-up and squeezing into frilly shirts.
What’s the strangest item you’ve seen for sale in any museum shop?
I like the irrational, nutty things. On a visit to the Guggenheim in Venice, I saw a pair of Peggy’s Dame Edna glasses on display. They were naff and tremendous at the same time, but they weren’t cheap and I wouldn’t have had the nerve to wear them in public so I satisfied myself with a photo.