What have you been doing today?
I work both for the Culture, Health & Wellbeing Alliance, and for Derby Museums. Today I had a fantastic time at the Group for Education in Museums conference, in Bristol. I presented with two of my Derby Museum’s colleagues, Rachael Wayne and John Banks, some work I’ve been leading at Derby Museums, whilst also sign-posting delegates to CHWA’s Creative Health Quality Framework. The framework has become a real touch-stone for health checking and reflecting on things I’m working on.
The presentation was focused on drawing the knowledge and experience of children in Derby and Luxor, Egypt into the development of displays of material from ancient Egypt. This is challenging because ideas about Egypt are embedded (often in ways that misrepresent ancient and contemporary Egyptian culture) into British life – especially in primary education and dated museum displays.
It’s been fascinating to both discuss ethical issues with the children and their adults and learn from how they navigate these conversations with each other internationally. Much of the work to build relationships and create a basis for these creative conversations was arts-based.
Is that a typical day for you?
There’s no such thing as a typical day. I really like the strategic and policy-level thinking, research and development, as well as the face to face delivery and relationship building. No two days are the same and that is one of the highlights of my work. I like to connect people across disciplines and sectors and that’s also what makes my days different – working with community leaders, health professionals, local government, academia, artists and cultural partners means different perspectives and constant learning.
When did you start working with culture, health and wellbeing, and how?
I anticipate I am not alone in working (and initially volunteering) within organisations where creative health work was happening, but might not have been identified as that. I’ve always worked in audience focused heritage roles and using a spectrum of creative practice – working with arts and community specialists alongside historians - to engage visitors with objects and reflect on museum practice.
I was part of the National Alliance for Museums Health and Wellbeing and set up an Age Friendly Museums Network when working for the British Museum in about 2015 – creative ageing and intergenerational learning have always been particular areas of interest for me.
What was the last project you came across that inspired you?
Most recently I’ve been inspired by work in community-led centres and settings which perhaps wouldn’t be identified by their staff as creative health, but absolutely is. Examples are elders’ sessions at Derby West Indian Community Association, which include chair-based movement, joyful game playing and opportunities to socialise and half term activities at Derby’s Pakistani Community Centre where food and games are enjoyed alongside free blood pressure checks for parents. These community spaces face huge pressures and the teams that run them (often including many volunteers) need to be celebrated for the essential work they do. They are inspiring for sustaining their work, often over decades, despite the funding landscape they have to contend with.
https://www.pakistancommunitycentrederby.co.uk/
https://www.culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk/age-friendly-museums-network
https://museumsandwellbeingalliance.wordpress.com/
Laura's biography
Laura has two roles, working part time as the Midlands Lead for the Culture Health and Wellbeing Alliance, and the rest of the time in a job share as Head of Curation at Derby Museums. She has worked across Derby’s Museum and Art Gallery, Pickfords’ House and Museum of Making sites since 2019.
Prior to this Laura developed community relationships and co-developed programmes at the British Museum, including collaborating on exhibitions focused on Sikh Heritage and LGBTQ+ histories. At the British Museum she also set up the Age Collective, later the Age Friendly Museums Network, championing creative, age friendly practice across the heritage sector. Laura was an active part of the National Alliance for Museums Health and Wellbeing, which provided part of the foundation for the Culture Health and Wellbeing Alliance.
Laura has also held the role of Head of Learning at Watts Gallery – Artist’s Village, working with all ages across formal and social justice learning programmes near Guildford. She started her career at the Wordsworth Trust as a volunteer and, later, worked at Imperial War Museum North.
Laura is particularly interested in how to make heritage relevant and valuable to local communities. Her work focuses on exploration of age friendly and intergenerational practice, ways of working that connect culture,
health and wellbeing, participatory and equitable practice and building mutual
relationships. As well as enjoying working face to face on the delivery of programmes, she like the challenge of trying to increase impact through strategic, interdisciplinary work at scale.