One of the valuable lessons I have learnt about myself in doing my artist residency is that I have to have a purpose to what I am doing. The Museum is about encouraging people to engage with the objects on show as well as informing them about the historial context and providing an insight into how man lived and operated years ago. By providing a trail for the children to really look at the objects, I am fulfilling part of the museum's mission goals. Doing a residency is not only about understanding how you as an artist works, but it is also about understanding the key goals of the place you are working in. On a small scale, I fel I have achieved this with the Kitty Trail. It has become an exhibition of some of the work I have done, yet it provides a focal point for children - and parents to use to engage with the objects on display. Hopefully it will give them the opportunity to look at and find out about something they didn't know before.
Before I launched the trail, I thought it wise to test it thoroughly first. So I sent my youngest three daughters - Kitty's great grandaughters - on the case. As a result of struggling with three of the objects, we were then able to make slight changes and add in the room numbers and a couple of clues for the really tricky ones.
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| Megan, Rosie and Kezia - Kitty's greatgrandaughters follow her trail |
It encouraged team work, investigation skills and lots of fun - exactly what I wanted it to achieve. And when the trail was finished - the reward was a Kitty sticker: a reminder of the objects they had seen and a miniature piece of artwork which in itself was part of a collection. One day I hope to put the entire set of illustrations into a miniature book with a narrative, whilst referencing the objects that inspired the work.
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| Rosie and Kezia - Kitty's youngest great grandaughters receive their Kitty sticker on completion of the trail. |
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