News Maidstone Museum Focus Groups
Maidstone Museum is asking for help with redesigning the Local History Gallery.
The new ‘Lives in our Landscape’ gallery has been filling with enthusiastic visitors. Now it is time to bring the local history displays, from Medieval times to the Present day right up to date, now that a second round of funding has been secured.
Museum staff want to work with the local community to shape proposals for the new displays, and are inviting input to highlight what is relevant and important to the people of Maidstone through two focus group sessions. Anyone interested is encouraged to register by 25 August to get involved, when a broad mix of people will then be chosen from the applicants.
The current collections showcased in the Local History Gallery represent the everyday lives of people in the borough over the generations, from many different backgrounds and cultures. These collections and stories are used to share the borough’s rich histories.
MBC Cabinet Member for Healthier Stronger Communities, Cllr Stephen Thompson said:
“These focus group sessions are free and open to anyone living in the Maidstone borough aged 18 years or over. We are particularly keen to hear from residents who have visited the Museum in the last year to share their views about how the displays look now, and what ideas are sparked by the new gallery.”“The Museum is becoming an even more accessible and fantastic place to visit and we want to make sure it continues to offer visitors what they want to see.”
The focus group sessions are being held on 9 and 10 September. All sessions will take place in the Museum and start at 6pm and are expected to end by 8:30pm. The deadline for registering interest is 25 August 2024 here: Museum Focus Group Interest | Lets Talk Maidstone (engagementhq.com) Applications can also be made in person at the Museum reception. Those people selected will be notified by 2 September.
During the sessions there will be discussions about the types of objects and experiences that people would like to see featured in the new gallery, and how objects and information should be presented. Consideration will be given to possible alternative uses for museum spaces, such as community workshops, meeting spaces, and after-school activities.
MBC owns and runs the Maidstone Museums, which also includes the Carriage Museum.
For more information on all of the events at Maidstone Museum visit: https://museum.maidstone.gov.uk/whats-on/events/
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