A group of determined young curators who stuck together during the pandemic to work on a series of socially-conscious exhibitions and innovative digital displays has scooped a top award.
Leeds City Museum’s Preservative Party travelled to London’s British Museum, where they were named joint regional winners of the prestigious Marsh Award for volunteering.
The British Museum and the Marsh Charitable Trust have been working in partnership for the thirteenth year of the ‘Volunteers for Museum Learning’ award, which recognises the hugely important contribution that volunteers make to help museums engage with their visitors.
Made up of history-lovers all aged 14-24, the Preservative Party has been working with Leeds Museums and Galleries for more than a decade, planning and curating a series of eye-catching exhibitions at Leeds City Museum.
Despite the difficulties they all faced, the group’s commitment to museums and to each other saw them keep in regular contact during the pandemic, coming together for regular meetings where they planned for online activities and future exhibitions.
By continuing to share their ideas and experiences, the group produced a virtual mental health exhibition, did outreach sessions, wrote and produced powerful animations about isolation and body image, and started social media campaigns about mental health.
Esther Amis-Hughes, Leeds Museums and Galleries’ community engagement manager, who works with the Preservative Party, said: “Like all of us, this group of young people has faced some enormous challenges over the past 18 months which have massively disrupted their day-to-day lives.
“To see the way they collectively took the decision to channel their experiences into something positive, creative and beneficial to others was genuinely inspiring.
“All of us who have worked with the Preservative Party are so immensely proud of them and what they’ve achieved and we hope this award gives them some well-deserved recognition.”
Previously, the Preservative Party has worked on displays about the armed forces and the First World War, a nostalgic look at life as a teenager in Leeds and a time capsule which was installed at Leeds Town Hall.
As well as this award win, their efforts have seen them win the 2015 Marsh Volunteer Award for the Yorkshire region, and the 2019 Volunteer of the Year award for City Development at Leeds City Council.
For more information about the Preservative Party, visit:
www.museumsandgalleries.leeds.gov.uk/tag/the-preservative-party
