Takeover Day at Galway City Museum a huge success!

On Friday 18 November, Galway City Museum became the first museum in the Republic of Ireland to role out Takeover Day, a celebration of young people in museums, galleries, arts organisations, archives and heritage sites. A Kids in Museums (kidsinmuseums.org.uk) initiative, Takeover Day is a day on which young people are entrusted with meaningful roles, working alongside staff and volunteers to participate in the life of the museum.  The students expressed great excitement at the prospect of taking over the museum saying:

“We think this will be an excellent experience as it is very interesting and a great way to learn about history.  It will give us a great insight on what it looks like to work in a museum.  It is an educational and fun way to learn about the past through interacting with people.  While we guide them around and teach them, we will also learn more.  We will gain valuable life lessons about working that will help us in the future”. (TYs Salerno)

Museum staff worked closely with Sally McHugh, PhD researcher in the School of Education, NUI Galway, and fifteen transition year pupils from Salerno Secondary School in Salthill to deliver a Takeover Day that was inspiring and engaging for kids of all ages!  The Salerno girls were given the responsibility of running the museum on the day and this involved everything from operation of the front desk, management of social media, facilitation of guided tours and running of workshops for younger kids.   Hildegarde Naughton, T.D. and Teresa Mannion, Journalist also popped in to chat with the girls and show their support.  Kids from nearby Claddagh N.S. and Boleybeg N.S. and their teachers also visited on the day.  Museum staff are thankful to all who participated in making Takeover Day such a huge success.

Galway City Museum is particularly interested in getting feedback from younger audiences in relation to its exhibitions and events with a view to establishing a teen advisory panel to better gauge the perceptions and expectations of young people towards museums.  If you wish to be part of this please send an email to museum@galwaycity.ie.

Galway City Museum is on course to exceed 200,000 visitors in 2016, making it one of Ireland’s most visited free attractions outside of Dublin.