Annual General Meeting
At the AGM on 27 September our new chairman, Sue Thurlow, was elected. She has a more than full-time job which makes it impossible for her to come to as many of our events as she would like. She is planning, though, to be at as wide a variety of events as she can so that she can meet as many members as possible.
M Shed needs your support…
to help it win the Art Fund Prize 2012 worth £100,000
M Shed has been long-listed for the Art Fund Prize 2012, the UK’s annual ‘museum of the year’ award, and the biggest prize for arts and cultural organisations in the country. Show your support by telling the judges why M Shed should win and be entered into a prize draw to win an iPad 2.
Since opening in June 2011 over 440,000 people have visited the museum and this latest news is a further boost to everyone who has worked to make M Shed a success.
M Shed’s innovative approach to telling the story of Bristol through the people who have helped to shape the city, its international collections, the interpretation of objects and artefacts and the building’s design, which retains the character of the historic dockside are all part of what makes it a very special museum.
We need your support
Show your support for M Shed by visiting www.artfundprize.org.uk and leaving a comment on why you think M Shed should win the Art Fund Prize 2012. Anyone who posts a comment will automatically be entered into a prize draw to win an iPad 2.
The forum and prize draw close on Sunday 22 April 2012.
Please visit the website and post your comment to help M Shed win this prestigious prize: www.artfundprize.org.uk
Funding from Arts Council England
It was announced on 24 January 2012 that Bristol Museums Galleries and Archives have been successful in their bid to be one of the Arts Council’s Major Partner Museums. The 16 partners will share £20m a year over the 3 years to March 2015.
The Royal Visit
You will have seen news coverage of Princess Anne’s visit in December to open M Shed officially. Our Chairman, Sue Thurlow, was privileged to be invited, along with Mary Bailey, to join the event as your representative and to be introduced to the Princess. It was a genuinely memorable occasion, with opportunities to chat to the other guests while the Princess was being shown round M Shed by Julie Finch. Among others, Sue was able to talk one-to-one with Barbara Janke, leader of the council, and Mike Norton, the editor of the Bristol Evening Post, and to emphasise the great work done by the Museums, Galleries and Archives team, and the value of the Friends’ support to them. The Princess seemed to enjoy her visit, and to have an interest in the Museum and the guests that went well beyond the call of duty.
PenFriends give improved access to Wildlife Photographer of
the Year exhibition for visually impaired visitors
PenFriends are now available for loan by visually impaired people who want to visit the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition at the City Museum and Art Gallery, Queens Road, Clifton.
This prestigious exhibition has over a hundred photographs of wildlife from all over the world. Now, with the aid of a PenFriend, visitors can hear readings of the text that accompanies each image, plus descriptions of more than half of them.
The PenFriend labels, which play the recordings, are attached to the large print guide to the exhibition. All you have to do to hear the recordings is touch the tip of the PenFriend to one of the labels. The sound comes out of a speaker in the top of the PenFriend.
PenFriends are available for loan from Reception. Visitors are asked to leave a deposit.
Visitors are welcome to bring their own headphones if they wish, but they can not use their own PenFriends, as they won’t contain the relevant recordings.
For more information please contact Paul Sullivan on 0117 352 5613
email paul.sullivan@bristol.gov.uk
or Becky Peters on 0117 903 6538 email rebecca.peters@bristol.gov.uk
The exhibition is on till 11 March.
Details at: www.bristol.gov.uk/page/wildlife-photographer-year
Museums, Galleries & Archives
· Guided Tours of the stores in L Shed
Every Tuesday and Thursday there is a guided tour of the stores in L Shed starting at 11.30 am. Cost: £1 per head.
It is essential to book – contact the reception desk at M Shed on 0117 352 6600
Museum Opening Hours
Bristol Museum & Art Gallery
Monday – Friday 10.00 am – 5.00 pm
Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays 10.00 am – 6.00 pm
M Shed
Tuesday – Friday 10.00 am – 5.00 pm
Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays 10.00 am – 6.00 pm
Georgian House and Red Lodge
Closed November 2011 to Easter 2012 – reopens on Easter Saturday
Blaise Castle House Museum
September and October
Wednesday – Sunday and Bank Holiday Mondays 10.30 am – 4.00 pm
November 2011 to Easter 2012
Saturday and Sunday 10.30 am – 4.00 pm
Winter Talks Programme October 2011 – March 2012
Sponsored by Friends of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives
This winter the talks will celebrate the opening in 2011 of Bristol’s newest museum, M Shed, with a series of three talks on facets of the city’s history. By contrast the final three talks will celebrate 190 years since the original museum, the Bristol Institution for the Advancement of Science and Art, first opened its doors, a time when the natural sciences were to the fore.
The talks take place on Thursday evenings, 7.30pm – 9.00pm. All talks are FREE and open to all. However, due to heavy demand, places MUST be booked in advance by contacting the reception desk at Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, tel: 0117 922 3571 or email to: events@bristol.gov.uk .
The talks on 8 December 2011, 12 January, 9 February and 8 March 2012 will be held at the Tyndall Lecture Theatre, H.H. Wills Physics Laboratory, Bristol University, Tyndall Avenue, Bristol.
There will be a retiring collection, with all funds used to support the work of Bristol Museums, Galleries & Archives.
Thursday 8 March 2012
The Origin of Our Species
Speaker: Chris Stringer, Natural History Museum, London
Human Evolution can be divided into two main phases: first, a pre-human phase in Africa prior to 2 million years ago, where walking upright had evolved but many other characteristics were still essentially ape-like; second, a human phase, with an increase in both brain size and behavioural complexity, and an expansion from Africa. Evidence points strongly to Africa as the major centre for the genetic, physical and behavioural origins of both ancient and modern humans, but new discoveries are prompting a rethink of some aspects of our evolutionary origins, including the likelihood of interbreeding between archaic humans (such as the Neanderthals) and modern humans.