Arts Derbyshire

08.11.2024

Derby Museums awarded £45,000 to inspire young people’s creativity and curiosity through a sustainable fashion programme at the Museum of Making

Derby Museums is one of 20 civic museums and galleries across the UK set to receive a share of £1 million from Art Fund’s Reimagine programme – designed to inspire creativity and increase stability and resilience in museums. The programme supports organisations to develop or refresh their work in response to their current situation.

£45,000 has been awarded to Derby Museums to support a new project on sustainable fashion, responding to feedback from Museum visitors who expressed their desire to learn more about textiles, considering the Museum of Making’s history as a former Silk Mill.

The funding will support a wool takeover at the Museum of Making which will bring together partners to explore the relationship between environmental sustainability making, the manufacturing process, as well as inviting experts working in fashion and textiles to share their experience on being more sustainably conscious, producing an ongallery takeover and workshop programme at the Museum. The partnership will look at the negative impact fast fashion and material sourcing can have on the environment and seek creative solutions to this problem. It will engage young people, families and wider Museum audiences with creative solutions to help combat the climate emergency.

A series of workshops will be co-produced with young people and partners within the Museum, schools and at industry locations. These will take students on a journey, covering a variety of themes including design and use of textiles, the heritage of wool, manufacturing processes and the design process for curating an exhibition. The project seeks to inspire young people’s creativity and curiosity through experiential STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) Learning.

An Ideation Day took place in late 2023, attended by students, teachers, wool artists and a farmer. This event solidified the need for increased knowledge and an interest in young people around textiles and where clothing comes from, one student shared “I didn’t know wool came from sheep” and all parties showed a commitment to come together to explore how fashion impacts the environment.

Abigail Wastie is a project partner and Sustainable Textile Activist and Practitioner based in Derby, she brings with her extensive experience of working with young people. Abigail will co-produce and co-deliver alongside Adam Blencowe, an experienced designer and maker, as well as other local Makers to support the vison of the project and inspire young people in their future careers.

Abigail Wastie discussed the difference she hopes the project will make:

Through this project, Derby’s schoolchildren are not only creating an alternative to synthetic uniforms, but are also weaving a sustainable future. Designed by the children, crafted from British wool, and manufactured locally, the initiative offers a roadmap for fashion that resonates with Gen Alpha. Along the way, students gain valuable insights into the Fashion and Textiles sector, discovering creative career possibilities while exploring solutions for environmentally sustainable school uniforms. 

This project has the potential to spark a wider conversation on sustainable fashion, empowering young people to take an active role in the climate crisis and equipping them with the knowledge and agency to shape the future.

Project partners John Smedley have also offered their support to the project. Jess Mcguire-Dudley, Deputy Managing Director at John Smedley, said:

“We are really pleased to be working with Derby Museums on this project. It provides a great opportunity to engage young people via a series of workshops to showcase the journey of materials through to the yarn creation stages and the manufacturing processes within John Smedley’s historic mill in Derbyshire. Each student will have the opportunity to engage with every aspect from farm to finished garment and learn about the processes involved in making a British wool garment in the UK and the career opportunities available within the British manufacturing and textile industries.

The project will culminate in an on-gallery takeover at the Museum of Making, offering practical solutions, empowering young people to think sustainably and make a difference.

 

Charlotte Convey, Head of Learning at Derby Museums, said:

“What a great opportunity for our younger audiences to be able to participate in a variety of activities led by industry experts all involved in promoting and leading change within the Textiles and Fashion sector. We hope this will empower them to make more informed decisions about their future consumption of materials and to consider how their future career options can contribute to a more sustainable and carbon neutral future.”

Art Fund has awarded £1million to 20 civic museums and galleries across the UK reliant on local authority support, with other recipients including Birmingham Museum Trust, Manchester Art Gallery and The People’s Palace in Glasgow. This latest round of the Reimagine programme will support museums to reimagine their approach to partnerships. The funding has been prioritised to support local authority-reliant museums and galleries in response to Art Fund’s Museum Directors Survey 2024 and other pieces of research revealing the significant challenges currently facing museums and galleries.

Reimagine grants are funded by Art Fund and made possible with the backing of Art Fund’s members and supporters, including The Headley Trust, alongside other generous trusts and supporters of the Making Connections campaign.

 

Jenny Waldman, Director at Art Fund, said:

“We’re extremely pleased to offer £1million in support to local authority-reliant museums and galleries across the UK through this latest round of Reimagine grants. The projects showcase the incredible value local museums have for communities and demonstrate their remarkable ambition, resilience and entrepreneurial spirit in the face of growing challenges.”

 

To find out more about the Museum of Making, visit www.derbymuseums.org/museum-of-making/.

If you currently work in the Fashion and Textiles industries and would like to share your experience or knowledge, or are a school that offers Textiles and Fashion to your students and would like to get involved, please contact us via learn@derbymuseums.org

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