News
Alex takes on Dorset community engagement role
February 11, 2022
We’re pleased to announce that Alex Briggs has been appointed as Learning and Community Co-ordinator at Dorset Museum.
In this important role, she will be helping the museum find exciting ways to engage with underserved communities. Here she explains more about her role, past experience and unusual connection with Dorset Museum!
“I am really excited to be working with the Wessex Museums Partnership and about the journey and challenges that lie ahead. Part of my job involves reaching out and working with underserved communities in Dorset. I am currently planning a series of sensory, handling tours and fossil hunting sessions with partially sighted and blind adults in the Natural Dorset Gallery and at Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre. I am also organising an exhibition of artwork created by adults with disabilities which captured their response to climate change through a series of workshops undertaken last year.
“Prior to my new role, I worked within further and secondary education as an art and design teacher and I was also head of pastoral care in my school where I developed a programme for wellbeing and resilience. I also undertook many community projects and I am really looking forward to using this experience for future projects.
“I often visit museums and galleries in my spare time and have an interesting connection to Dorset Museum. Within its collection is a cast of a well-known megalosaurus jaw, now in the Natural History Museum, that was originally found in the garden of my family home in Sherborne!
“Dorset museum has an incredible collection of art and when the new museum opened in May last year I volunteered as a gallery steward where I was able to help to engage and inspire others. The photograph of me above is in front of my favourite painting in the museum, Landscape Impression, by Anthony Brown.”
What's on
4 August – 29 December 2023
The Askerswell Hoard
Discover a rare Roman coin hoard recently acquired by Dorset Museum, and find out about the work going on to preserve, research and catalogue it, in this special showcase display outside the Collections Discovery Centre.
Find out more2 December 2023 - 21 April 2024
Awakened by Frink
Awakened by Frink is a community exhibition of artwork by members of the Deaf community created during a series of workshops at Dorset Museum and Art Gallery.
Find out more2 December 2023 - 21 April 2024
Elisabeth Frink: A View from Within
Experience the inner world of famous sculptor Dame Elisabeth Frink (1930-1993) in a major new exhibition exploring her artistic and personal life in Dorset. Showcasing over 80 sculptures, drawings and prints, this exhibition will explore her artistic process, personal life, and the influences that shaped her work.
Find out more10 December 2023, 11:30am - 12:30pm | 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Elf Workshop
The Elves need your help in the workshop. Join them and lend a hand! You're invited to embark on a magical journey filled with Christmas crafts, fun activities, and the chance to learn all the secrets of the elves
Find out more14 December 2023, 10:00am- 10:30am
Storytime at the Museum
Come and join us for Storytime in our Community Space at the Museum. Hear fabulous tales about dinosaurs and animals.
Find out more14 December 2023, 7:00pm - 8:30pm
What’s new in the British and Irish Neolithic? | Dr Alison Sheridan
While the past doesn’t change, our knowledge and understanding of it are being transformed by new discoveries and new research – and this is especially the case with the Neolithic period, the time of the first farming communities from the late 5th millennium to around 2500 BCE. This lecture offers some highlights from the past decade or so.
Find out more17 December 2023, 11:30am - 12:30pm | 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Elf Workshop
The Elves need your help in the workshop. Join them and lend a hand! You're invited to embark on a magical journey filled with Christmas crafts, fun activities, and the chance to learn all the secrets of the elves
Find out more20 December 2023, 2:00pm - 3:00pm
Collections Discovery Centre Tour
Join our Collections Team for an opportunity to explore behind the scenes in the Museum’s Collections Discovery Centre.
Find out more21 December 2023, 11:30am - 12:30pm | 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Elf Workshop
The Elves need your help in the workshop. Join them and lend a hand! You're invited to embark on a magical journey filled with Christmas crafts, fun activities, and the chance to learn all the secrets of the elves
Find out more