Museum is up for family friendly prize
Kids in Museums Awards nomination
Adam Giblin, Ellie and Maisie Fairlie enjoying the Playing With Dinosaurs exhibition Perth Museum and Art Gallery has been nominated for the 2018 Family Friendly Museum Award.
The Perth institution is part of an 11 strong shortlist in recognition of its commitment to putting families’ voices at the heart of their organisation, using family feedback to plan everything from their toilets and cafés to their exhibition programmes.
Kids in Museums, who run the awards, look at museums who have created new children’s galleries, built quiet space into their museums with ‘chill-out’ zones and a family snug, and curated an exhibition based on toddlers’ choices of art.
They also look at museums who have developed new family activities, such as audio Easter egg hunts and messy museum sessions.
In addition, they look at those who have reached out into their local communities visiting prisons, schools Perth Museum and Art Gallery and sure start centres and run a shuttle bus to get people to their site.
Kids in Museums also looks for institutions that continue to listen to visiting families using everything from visitor surveys to community notice boards to collect feedback.
A spokesperson for Culture Perth and Kinross said: “We are thrilled to be part of this 11 strong shortlist alongside such amazing museums.”
Many of the shortlisted museums have seen recent increases in their visitor numbers, with family visitors driving this trend.
Emmajane Avery, Chair of Kids in Museums said: “We were really impressed with the high quality of this year’s nominations for the Family Friendly Museum Award and the brilliant family friendly work that is going on in museums all over the country.
“It’s fantastic that so many museums are using our manifesto to shape their work with families, children and young people and listening and responding to their feedback.”