Random Crafts Club

During school holidays, families can get creative at Kirkby Gallery at our drop-in Random Crafts Club – there is no need to book, so you can just pop in on the spur of the moment, between 11am and 3pm on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays until 27th August. Please note you may have to wait at busy times.
There will be different crafts, with lots of fabulous new materials to use thanks to a wonderful donation of fabrics and paper from Oliver Steer Interior Design.

Our fabulous volunteers are always around if you need anything – pencil sharpeners, more glue, creative advice, or an extra pair of hands if you’ve got a big family and your little ones need help with any tricky bits. The Random Crafts Club is free, but with a suggested donation of £2 to cover materials and support the Friends of Kirkby Gallery & Prescot Museum.

Art in the Park

Art in the Park is a creative learning collaboration with Knowsley Safari, combining art and conservation. The Friends of Kirkby Gallery & Prescot Museum secured funding from the Museum Development North West Covid-19 Recovery Grants scheme to enable our education programme to continue contact-free during lockdown: four artists were commissioned to create new works inspired by the animals and habitats at Knowsley Safari. They filmed on-site and shared their practice virtually, with schools and individuals joining in online. Find out more about the project here.

Home is Where the Art is

Home Is Where The Art Is is an LCR Cares support fund-backed project aimed at supporting local families during lockdown, offering the variety of art sessions which normally take place at Kirkby Gallery and Prescot Museum. The Friends of Kirkby Gallery & Prescot Museum identified and secured this funding, kindly providing this wonderful opportunity. In light of correctly following social distancing rules and the lockdown of public venues, these artist-led sessions took place both online and via telephone contact, with art packs of materials delivered contact-free to the homes of Knowsley families and those sheltering. Find out more about the project here.

From Pen to Paper

From Pen to Paper Creative Writing CourseFriends of Kirkby Gallery & Prescot Museum created a new scheme funded by the Knowsley Better Together fund, aimed at individuals on low incomes who had not participated in a creative project before.

Through reading, discussion and workshop exercises, participants were introduced to techniques that develop story telling and poetry writing skills, encouraging individuals to develop their own ‘voice’ via the written word. The project was so successful that further funding was obtained from Awards for All to allow a second set of workshops to take place for a new batch of writers.

Sue Comer, our writer-in-residence, worked with the groups of adults from across the borough at Kirkby Gallery and Prescot Museum, and later at The Watchfactory, Prescot.

Two books of participants’ writings and poems were published at the end of each project. Both books are available to buy at Kirkby Gallery, just £4 each; or copies can be loaned from Knowsley Library Service.

Mini Museums & The Little Big Art Gallery

The mini museum project enables groups to create and curate exhibitions which they can host in their own venue. Each mini museum is a colourful, portable and secure display cabinet which can be filled with objects of the loaning institutions’ choice. Dozens of schools and community spaces have hosted mini museums and had fun learning about heritage in a new and exciting way.

The Little BIG Art Gallery is a mobile folding gallery that opens to reveal angled walls fitted with perspex mounts ready to hold artworks – create a gallery within your foyer without having to worry about finding wall space, using tools or buying frames!

If you are interested in hiring a mini museum or Little BIG Art Gallery, get in touch mail@prescotmuseum.org.uk

Meeting Point2 / The Sounds of Time

The Sounds of TimePrescot Museum has recently taken part in Meeting Point2, Arts&Heritage’s project funded by Arts Council England’s Museum Resilience Fund to bring together museum staff, artists and contemporary art curators.

Meeting Point2 covered the whole of the North of England; Prescot Museum was one of ten institutions selected, and commissioned collaborative artists Owl Project to create a new piece inspired by the collection and the heritage of the area. Find out more about The Sounds of Time

A History of Lancashire in 70 Objects

History of Lancashire in 70 ObjectsAlthough Knowsley is now part of Merseyside, the townships of Knowsley were originally part of the County Palatine of Lancashire. 2017 marked 70 years of Lancashire Life magazine, so to celebrate, they created a project to capture the area’s history in 70 objects from museums and galleries.

Prescot Museum put forward five objects to a public vote to see which was thought best to represent Knowsley’s heritage. The winner was a framed display of watch and chronometer hands, made by William Preston of Eccleston Street, Prescot c.1862. At that time, individual highly-skilled workers across the local area made specialist tools and components for watches that were shipped out across the world and known for their quality. Lancashire Life agreed and chose them to be one of the 70!

Preserving the Past with the Present

Since 2014, Prescot Museum and 33 Signal Squadron at Alamein Barracks in Huyton have been working in partnership, sharing knowledge and expertise. The Local Heroes, Distant Voices exhibition told the stories of soldiers from the Knowsley area in the First World War through to the present day in a number of our venues; some of the displays remain in Prescot Museum’s lobby areas.

It is part of a larger project called Preserving the Past with the Present, for the Future supported by the Armed Forces Community Covenant Fund. Visit the website to find out more