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Ellie Livermore/Interactive Arts

May 25, 2011 Student Projects Comments Off on Ellie Livermore/Interactive Arts

Alphabet Fan Book from the collection

“In the letters that Mary sent to Manchester Art Gallery she said the reason she wanted the museum to have her collection was because she wanted children to enjoy museums more. What I want to do is run an event that aims to just this. Taking it back to its original aim, I want to invite school children into Platt Hall and allow them to explore the collection. Following this, workshops on creative writing would allow the children to choose objects and create narratives around them, who owned them, where they came from, how Mary Greg came to own it. As well as this, craft workshops dedicated to some of the delicate objects in the collection: patchwork, quilting, embroidery etc.

All of the work produced by the groups would be displayed along side the collection to demonstrate the explosive nature of creativity, and to show how life can come from this quietly hidden collection. I think it would also be great to produce little publications of the stories written in relation to the objects to make fun catalogues for sale and for souvenir purposes so the children involved can take away as much as possible from the experience.”

Ellie Livermore

Books And Learning

June 5, 2010 The Collection Comments Off on Books And Learning

Besides the objects in the collection there is also a wonderful collection of children’s books.  Some of these were on display at Heaton Hall, certainly during the mid 1930’s.  Batho writes to Mary in July that year saying

…Darlington showed me some very nice wall cases that had been made to hold the large-sized children’s books.  He turns the pages over daily so that the children from the summer camp in the park have an opportunity of reading something new everyday.

The educational remit of the collection was a strong driving factor in it’s initial assembling.  I have amassed further evidence of this which I am currently trying to unravel and will post more at a later date.  Sharon

Box tray of miniature books

Bertie's Indestructible Horn Books

Inside Bertie's Horn Book

Pages from the children's book collection

Alphabet Fan Book