Programmes
Small bronze dog figurine held between two fingers against a black background
Credit:
Newport Roman Villa
Current Projects

Curators’ Choice

Over the last several months Creative Island has been running a Brave Island Work Experience Placement, to help deliver a new project: Curators’ Choice.

Jazz Truman visited museums and heritage partners across the Island to ask curators about an artefact of their choice. Questions or prompts like the ‘curators’ favourite item in the museum’s collection, a fascinating story, or something linked to the Island.

The aim of Curators Choice is to shine a light on untold Island stories, making heritage more accessible and engaging for new audiences. We’ll then be sharing those stories via our newsletter, this web page and as a mini-documentary style series on our social media platforms. Below, you’ll find more information on each of the chosen artefacts in alphabetical order. Massive thank you to each of the Museum’s who participated!

EXPLORE VIDEOS
Painted illustration of a man at work in a Roman-inspired mural style

Brading Roman Villa

Sarah Girling introduces us to an interesting Bone Dice Shaker, potentially made from a animal femur, showing us the playful side of the Romans that lived on the Island.

Vintage bus beside a wall of archive photographs and posters

Bus & Coach Museum

Richard Newman from the Isle of Wight Bus & Coach Museum shares the wonderful stories behind their 1920’s Daimler Bus, currently being restored in the Museum’s workshop!

Museum display of red and dark period jackets

Carisbrooke Castle

Kate Tiley from Carisbrooke Castle shows us a jacket from the 1800’s made by Redfern & Son’s, a local tailors which went on to have fashion houses in Paris, London & New York!

Person standing beside a red-hulled boat marked “Britannia” in a boatyard workshop

Classic Boat Museum

Victoria Preston from the Classic Boat Museum shows us ‘Britannia’, a boat designed for John Fairfax to row across the Atlantic Ocean, Solo… in 1969!

Wooden gears and machinery inside a historic water mill

Calbourne Water Mill

Sally Chaucer shares the wonderful stories behind Calbourne Water Mill, how it came to be and all about what it has provided for the Island.

Vintage wooden plate camera on a stand beside a window

Dimbola Museum & Galleries

Brian Hinton from Dimbola Museum & Galleries shares the wonderful stories of Julia Margaret Cameron and introduces a wet plate collodion camera, the same type of camera she used.

Layered sandy cliff face on the coast beneath a blue sky

Dinosaur Isle

Alex Peaker from Dinosaur Isle presents fossil shells collected by Alfred, Lord Tennyson and tells the story of the global impact that the Island has in the study of fossils.

Hand holding an iridescent blue-green glass vessel

IW Glass Museum

Anton Doroszenko, the founder of the Isle Of Wight Glass Museum shows us the piece that started the entire collection, back in 2008!

Gloved hand holding a small bronze Roman dog figurine

Newport Roman Villa

Rachel Tait from Newport Roman Villa talks to us about a beautiful copper figurine of a long-nosed hound, and tells us the wider story of the Romans on the Island.

Stack of old leather-bound books

Shipwreck Centre & Maritime Museum

Ian Vallance from the Shipwreck Centre & Maritime Museum tells us about the horrible shipwreck of the HMS Eurydice, now known as the Island’s Ghost Ship due to many mysterious sightings since the time of its wreck!

Long hall with a timber-beamed vaulted ceiling and a long table

Sir Max Aitken Museum

Lorraine Ireland introduces us to the centrepiece of the collection at the Sir Max Aitken Museum, the 51ft long Gaff from racing Yacht ‘Britannia’

Older man seated at a desk in an archive room lined with books

Ventnor Heritage Centre

Paul Kingswell from Ventnor Heritage Centre shares the meaning behind ‘Death Pennies’, and the story of John Thomas Snooke, who is commemorated on this particular Plaque.

Museum display case filled with old hand tools and workshop objects

Wight Aviation Museum

Perry Clifton from Wight Aviation Museum, introduces the spectacular life of William Wilbur Davis through a hand crafted tool designed to make vents on aircraft.

Current Projects
Past Projects

Past Futures - A People's History of the Isle of Wight

A people’s history of the Isle of Wight: a new heritage fund for the Island.

Current Projects
Past Projects

Curators' Choice

A new project digitally showcasing artefacts from museums on the Isle of Wight.

Current Projects
Past Projects

Museums & Schools

The Museums and Schools Programme aims to enhance the links between local schools and museums

The Ventnor Giant Mural on side of a building by Phlegm
Current Projects
Past Projects

Lift the Lid on Island Culture

Martin Woodward in a vintage diving helmet
Current Projects
Past Projects

It’s Your Museum Project

SYM Newport Youth Panel at bus station mural credit Independent Arts
Current Projects
Past Projects

Supporting Young Minds