Olivia Skipsey joined us for our summer student placement program from June 2021 to the end of August 2021. Her willingness to help, no matter what was needed, allowed her to participate in not one but three different museum projects. She began by helping to design the Keep Wales Tidy and the gardening parts of the 2021 Living History: Lockdown exhibition currently on display in the museum. She then went into the Biodiversity Garden to help identify and write interpretations for our agricultural aritfacts. Finally she researched and helped design a potential display to give visitors an overview of how agricultural heritage is linked to understanding changes in our local landscape and biodiversity.
She also had the opportunity visit and talk to Adrian Hughes of the Home Front Museum and David Cleary of MOSTYN Gallery about working in heritage and individual approaches to gallery displays. With an incredible can-do attitude, Olivia’s quick wit and sense of humour made working alongside her a joy. We are wishing her the very best of luck in her future heritage career!
In her own words:
Coming from a rural and farming background, my project exploring the relationship between agriculture and biodiversity was of great interest to me. It taught me valuable skills for my career, but also taught me a lot about myself as a person, and what is important to me and my future.
My placement began by identifying, verifying and researching farm machinery that had been donated to the museum and that needed to be integrated into the Biodiversity Garden. This involved working with and negotiating other people’s research and combining it with my own. The hardest part of this project was interpreting the information to link the machinery to biodiversity to fulfil the projects brief. Alongside this I needed to think about the intended audiences, which would vary from adults with a particular interest in agriculture to younger children keen to play in the garden. Eventually I created a format that I was confident in, combining historical aspects with functional information, and the effects of farming on the environment. This would be displayed alongside factual information about the machine and the manufacturer.
This aspect of my project developed into conversations about the relationship between agriculture and biodiversity and what is being done by different groups to improve this. This inspired the second part of my project, which was to propose an exhibit on farming over history and how this has effected the environment. This came with its own challenges, like formatting all the information I wanted to include in the space I had. However, one of the most rewarding parts of the project was working with India Hackett, another placement student, who collaborated with me to create the design.
Alongside this work I was also asked to help in the Lockdown exhibition as the opening date was fast approaching. I enjoyed working in here, not only as I could work more creatively, but also because I think the concept of the exhibit was so exciting. As a child I would have been inspired by the idea that events in my lifetime could be in a museum!
My placement at Llandudno Museum has taught me many skills that will be invaluable to me when looking at jobs in heritage and I always felt I could ask if there were certain things I wanted to add to this. The project had many facets, making it exciting and challenging every day, and I enjoyed its dynamic nature. For me, my time on placement was well balanced between being supported and encouraged and being trusted to work independently. This made it stand out for me as an opportunity, as I felt it replicated a realistic work place.
For me, my placement here has taught me a lot about the career paths that are open to me in my future, and how my personal skill set might benefit different roles. I also feel like I have learnt a lot about myself during my project; from my colleagues and volunteers and from the different challenges that I have had to overcome. This placement has highlighted how many options I have in my future, and has inspired me to explore this opportunities fully.
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