De-Stress Day Event

To support this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week, we hosted an event to help people to unwind and feel less stressed on Wednesday 16^th May.

We enjoyed various relaxing activities and games like jigsaw puzzles, dominoes and even a few rounds of Rota; a game similar to Tic-Tac-Toe that was played by the Ancient Romans including the famous poet Ovid.

We also had arts and crafts activities including drawing, colouring mandalas and crocheting,

Some of the artefacts which people had access to are from the time of the Ancient Romans, the Middle Ages, and the Victorians. It was a lot of fun trying to guess which pieces belonged to which era, with some surprising results.

We hope you are feeling a little less stressed and have enjoyed the day as much as we have. 

Our next event for Mental Health Awareness will be a Break The Stigma Open Day on Saturday 26th May which aims to address the discrimination surrounding mental health. Find out more about the Break The Stigma campaign here 

www.facebook.com/LetsBeOpenAboutMentalHealth

 

For more information about Mental Health Awareness and Wellbeing events at The Higgins Bedford bit.ly/HigginsWellbeing

Museums at Night

Thursday 17th May

7.30pm

Join us in a free event consisting of a talk about The Short Brothers, who were the first in the world to make production aircraft including hot air balloons built in Cardington. There will also be a book signing by Liz Walker, great great niece of the Short Brothers and author of 'A 'Short' Story - The Lives and Works of the Short Brothers. Pioneering Aeronautical and Balloon Engineers and Manufacturers'.  Afterwards enjoy an evening visit to the exhibitions and galleries at The Higgins Bedford which will be open until 8.30pm. Find out more about our current exhibitions at The Higgins Bedford bit.ly/HigginsExhibitions

Half Term Activities

Tuesday 29th May

Wednesday 30th May

Friday 1st June,

11am, 12.30pm, 2pm

Explore with Kevin at The Higgins Bedford this Half Term and take part in a range of activities including exploring the Beasts in the Bawden gallery, exploring the Settlement gallery, designing prehistoric pencil cases and creating your own personalised top hat.

These activities are suitable for children aged 5 and above but must be accompanied by an adult. Entry for these activities cost £2.70 per child and accompanying adults can take part for free. Places can be booked in advance. To book, please purchase a ticket at The Higgins Bedford reception desk. Unfilled places will be offered on a first-come, first served basis on the day.

Find out more information about our Half Term activities at The Higgins Bedford bit.ly/HigginsFamilyEvents

De-Stress Day

In recognition of this years Mental Health Awareness Week focusing on Stress we are hosting a free event on Wednesday 16th May running from 11am - 3pm. Join us for various relaxing activities including, drawing and sketching in the galleries, colouring mandalas and handling museum artefacts.

For more information about Mental Health Awareness and Wellbeing events at The Higgins Bedford bit.ly/HigginsWellbeing

Break the Stigma Open Day

The Higgins Bedford, together with The Harpur Trust, The Panacea Charitable Trust and ELFT (East London NHS Foundation Trust) are hosting a Break the Stigma open day on Saturday 26th May running from 11am - 4pm with free entry. Break the Stigma is a campaign that aims to address the discrimination surrounding mental health and to encourage everyone to be more open about their own mental health. 

Come along and take part in many fun activities including art and poetry workshops, yoga, table tennis and live music. 

Find out more about the Break The Stigma campaign here www.facebook.com/LetsBeOpenAboutMentalHealth

Join us as we launch two new exhibitions at The Higgins, Bedford.



 Blue-Sky Thinking: the Short Brothers' Airships

6th May-17th September 

Connections Gallery

Free Entry



IWM (Q48023) Rigid Airship R31 preparing for flight

From the 6th of May, discover the story of three remarkable brothers - Oswald, Eustace and Horace, and their vision for a British airship industry. 

Back in 1917 the Short brothers started building R31, the first of their airships, at the Cardington Sheds. At the same time the Brothers set about building homes for workers in the village that still heralds their name today, ‘Shortstown’.

For more information click here.

Romance & Rebellion: the Art of the Victorians

6th May-17th September 

Wixamtree Gallery

Free Entry

Romance and Rebellion: the Art of the Victorians, draws upon the internationally acclaimed Cecil Higgins Art Gallery Collection in a romp through Victorian art.

The exhibition charts the period chronologically and reveals how these styles developed and flourished alongside one another. It features artists including J.M.W. Turner, Edward Burne-Jones, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, James McNeill Whistler, Richard Dadd and Frederic Lord Leighton.

For more information click here.

LGBT History Month

Come to The Higgins, Bedford on Thursday 23rd February (12 noon) to hear about photographer Angus McBean

Free event

Adrian Woodhouse will be at The Higgins Bedford to talk about the life of the photographer Angus McBean, who was imprisoned for homosexuality in 1942 but was able to successfully resume his career after the second world war.

Kids Go Free on the Marston Vale Line

Kids go free on the Marston Vale Line from Saturday 11th February to Saturday 18th February. For more details about this offer click here

If you live in Milton Keynes or Bletchley, why not come and visit The Higgins Bedford by rail. For details of our half term activities click here

Visit by Bedford College ESOL students

A group of ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) students from Bedford College came to look around The Higgins in January and were given a tour by our volunteer guide Bill. For some of the students it was their first visit to a museum and they were fascinated by the objects and the stories behind them.

Four Achieve Bronze

Four Achieve Bronze

Four girls, who were part of a group of 15 students from Beauchamp Middle school who curated the highly acclaimed exhibition, Fatal Attractions for the opening of The Higgins Bedford in June 2013, have gone on to achieve their Bronze Arts Award at the museum.

Imogen, Kezia, Rachel and Rhianna used their individual contributions to the design, layout and interpretation of Fatal Attractions as part of their evidence of participating in the arts. During the following months, the girls were invited to participate in work with the collection keepers and in a promotional video and photo-shoot for The Higgins. They also reviewed other art events they had visited and explained why they admired the work of an artist they selected.

The girls’ final task was to share with others what they had learned through participating in their chosen artform. Together the girls devised a skill-sharing assembly for their peer-group at school, including a visually exciting slide presentation showing the Fatal Attractions exhibition and an engaging audience-participation activity about selecting, grouping and contextualising objects.

Moderated through Trinity College on behalf of the Arts Council, the girls’ portfolios were described as ‘exceptional’ and ‘beautifully presented’ by the moderator.

The Higgins Bedford helped its first two groups of young people to achieve a Bronze Arts Award in 2012, with a further group of  8-year olds completing Arts Award Discover in 2013. Three young people are currently working towards their Silver Arts Award. The Higgins Bedford is committed to supporting the Arts Award scheme, and we are continuing to develop our offer by launching Arts Award Explore through ‘The Higgins Art Studio’ later this year. We are also an Arts Award Supporter venue.

For further information contact Susannah Oliver, Learning & Access Officer, on susannah.oliver@bedford.gov.uk and visit www.artsaward.org.uk.