Hello,
My name is Sue Mackay and I started work at the Museum in February as Collections & Programming Director. That means I work across curatorial, learning and exhibitions. For me, these are the most exciting parts of museum work because bringing people and collections together is when the magic happens! Objects can touch us emotionally, can spark creativity, can inspire learning, rekindle memories, evoke wonder… I have seen that already here as people sigh, shriek, cringe and exclaim at our amazing collections and interpretation.
I have worked in Interpretation and learning all my life as a curator, a primary school teacher, a museum educator and Manager. Immediately before coming here I managed Keswick Museum in the Lake District, helping to transform a tired council run facility into a vibrant independent community hub and visitor attraction. Previously I developed the learning offer with our friends at Ripon Museum Trust in North Yorkshire.
I am looking forward enormously to getting to know the remarkable collections we have here, to understand what our visitors enjoy about them and, from that, helping to plan the new displays and activities which will open in 2020.