I am passionate about museums; driven to transform spaces and bring objects to life. Using storytelling to interpret collections in creative ways, making objects and themes accessible and engaging to inspire a broad range of people.
My main area of expertise is within museum exhibition design, however throughout my career I have developed a wide range of skills. These include, mount, exhibit and graphic design, research, interpretation, installation, providing training, preventative conservation and collections care. The latter led me to complete a diploma in Collections Care, and Conservation. Another quest of mine is sustainability, always looking to reduce the carbon footprint of the organisation I am working with.
It is in my nature to be proactive and I am committed to continuous professional development, always seeking to expand my knowledge in exhibition, art history and museum best practices. I communicate effectively and am happy to present leadership skills, enabling me to deliver projects on time. I am comfortable using my own initiative; however, I enjoy the development that comes from working as part of a team. I pride myself in having good working relationships, and would describe myself as conscientious, approachable and supportive.
Assist on the install of the British Museum Gallery, which is part of the Royal Palace Reborn project at Norwich Castle Museum. Working with British Museum colleagues, external mountmakers as well as internal designers and conservators.
Checking shoot location and hired props for damage, and documenting the house for returning property at the end of the job. Reviewing contact sheets to understand design intent and to prepare props and other dressing needed for each shot. Other activities included dressing Christmas trees, wrapping gifts and other tasks to arrange sets as per the design for the Matalan Christmas 2025 campaign.
I worked on Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth? the major exhibition currently on at the Natural History Museum. It was a highly collaborative project, working alongside interpretation, technical production, project managers, conservation as well as scientists and content producers. Throughout my position I developed the exhibitions key design principles, conveying these through vision boards to stakeholders. I have worked in partnership with the interpretation team on both showcase and exhibit design and collaborated with the exhibit producers and technical production to develop and produce exhibits. Through the project I would source materials and samples, compiling a list of materials and finishes that would be used in the exhibition, making sure that health & safety, and sustainability was paramount. I was part of the evaluation panel for the appointment of the modelmakers used on the project. This meant communicating with them once appointed, to make sure that we recieved the quality and finish that we were after.
In this role I produced temporary exhibitions and permanent displays for Norwich Castle Museum; NMS's flagship museum. I designed a gallery for the project, Royal Palace Reborn, a £15 million project supported by NLHF. The gallery is in partnership with The British Museum and I worked alongside curators, learning, conservation, and collections from both institutions, to deliver the project aims. The last two exhibitions I designed for NMS were, The Last Voyage of the Gloucester: Norfolk's Royal Shipwreck, 1682 and Norwich Works: The Industrial Photography of Walter and Rita Nurnburg. These exhibitions were both in collaboration with the University of East Anglia.
I was a member of the Green Team at Norfolk Museum Service between 2018 - 2024.
During this position I worked on various exhibitions and displays for the 9 museums under NMS. These projects have included partnerships with Yale Centre for British Art, Young V&A and Arts Council Collection. Through all these projects I worked closely with curators and learning officers to ensure the vision and outcomes are delivered. Also working alongside conservation and collections management, caring for the collections and loans, following the museum code of ethics. During projects I communicate my designs to technicians and contractors making sure that I get the desired product and build.
During this role I mentored a museum trainee. We would have regular meetings to go through their objectives and deadlines for the project they were working on. I also planned and delivered training sessions to make sure that they had the experience and knowledge needed to go onto other positions within design or heritage.
Within this role I produced and maintained displays, using my own initiative or from drawings supplied, using a range of materials and skills. Undertaking technical tasks such as moving, hanging, pinning, mounting, unpacking, and packing objects. Making sure I follow health and safety procedures and guidelines within the museums. Working with curators, designers, conservators and managing external technicians to deliver high standard exhibitions and displays.
I was acting head technician between May 2019 - October 2019.
I operated the day to day running of various sites. I filled in when other members of staff were on annual leave or off sick. Sometimes this meant I would start the morning at one site and had to move to another location if the need was greater. This job gave me the ability to slot into different teams and into different roles. My duties included stock control, resource planning and end of day/week financial management. Ensuring that company policies and procedures were adhered to and making sure that health and safety was a priority.
This was a fantastic opportunity, during University, to gain experience working in a school. My main duty was to provide support and personal development for the students at Ellis Guilford School, (Basford, Nottingham). This was while acting as a positive role model and increasing awareness of higher education. During my placement I presented my university project work.
This level 4 work-based diploma was established by the V&A and Icon. It promotes professional standards and practice in conservation and collections care. The course allowed me to demonstrate new and existing skills and competencies. Throughout the course I documented all my day-to-day work as well as fulfilling new practices to meet the specified criteria. This was collected though, videos, images, PDP logs and written documents. I also delivered a 'Pecha Kucha' which is a Japanese style of presentation, where you talk for 20 seconds on each of your chosen 20 slides.
This 8-week course was taught at the Sainsbury Centre for Visual Arts, under the UEA. It focused on different areas of Art History. They included: The Art of Japan, Dutch Paintings, and African Art and Culture. I chose the print, Under the Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai to be the subject of my final assessment.
Decorative Arts is a fusion of applied art, design, and studio-crafts. The course offered a unique opportunity to explore, develop and create with a variety of traditional and modern materials, including ceramics, glass, metal, paper, plastic, textiles and wood. In my final year I specialised in glass and ceramics. My dissertation explored The Concept of Revivals, with the focus on the Volkswagen Beetle.
This level 4 diploma was an introduction to the main areas of 2D and 3D Art and Design. I learnt a wide range of processes and techniques to help me widen and develop my skills within this subject, while building a substantial portfolio of work.
I completed a week course on Vectorworks.
Previous qualifications available on request.