Once Upon A Planet

Tullie is home to incredible natural science collections. They are comprehensive, scientifically important, and nationally significant, containing over 300,000 specimens that represent the flora, fauna, and geology of Cumbria.

The aim of the Once Upon A Planet project was to use the amazing collections to inspire, engage and advocate around the climate crisis, with young people leading the way.

The project was a two-year initiative funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund, run by the Museums Association. The ideas and content generated during the project are used to shape future natural science galleries as part of the museum’s major capital development programme, Project Tullie.

In year one of the project we worked with a huge range of partners to create an inspiring, interactive exhibition that focussed on climate change, biodiversity, and habitats – both their loss and conservation. To do this we recruited a group of Young Advisors to help develop content and steer the exhibition development. We also worked with key partners Natural England, the Heathlands Trust and Sustainable Carlisle to develop creative responses, celebrate the amazing work happening in our county to improve habitats and share ideas and inspiration for how we can all do our bit to help the planet.

With Natural England, we commissioned two local artists to work with the Heathlands Trust on their creative response pieces for the exhibition: Vega Brennan, a local printmaker, and painter Alison Critchlow. The pieces they created with the group are beautiful, tactile pieces of work and the creative process was brought to life via short films documenting the group’s work. In addition, we worked in partnership with local street art collective Blank Wall Assassins to commission major national street artist Angry Dan to create a stunning mural inspired by the Tullie collections and that encapsulated the themes of the exhibition.

Over 6,000 people visited the exhibition over the summer, and over 1,500 people took part in a summer programme of events and activities co-designed with our Young Producers.

We also collaborated with the Climate Museum UK to host their first Young Associate, recruiting Megan Bowyer to the post – Megan is a young Cumbrian artist currently living and working in Paris.  Megan was particularly interested in a collection of wildlife observation cards, originally collected by the Carlisle Natural History Society. Megan used the cards to inspire poems, stories and digital images which explore how we talk about wildlife and how museums archive and organise their collections. Her impactful and thought-provoking pieces are on display in our permanent galleries, and digital versions can be found here.  Climate Museum also hosted training for Tullie staff and project partners.

 

During the second year of the project, we delivered several engagement projects, including taking part in Art Fund’s Wild Escape initiative.

Tullie built on connections made with people seeking refuge in Carlisle. With partners, Carlisle Refugee Action Group and Multicultural Cumbria, Tullie linked with groups living in hotels in the city to become a part of the project connecting Tullie’s Secret Garden with the Natural Science collections. The garden was used as a safe space for vulnerable members of the community, who are often uncomfortable socialising in public green spaces. The project worked with people from more than 10 countries with 475 engagements. Tullie is now recognised for its ability to meet the needs and interests of people seeking asylum and refuge and is regularly consulted for advice and partnerships.

In addition, in the summer term of 2023 we worked in depth with three schools as part of the project, in partnership with Natural England. The focus was on helping the pupils discover more about their local habitats and gain a deeper understanding of the Climate Crisis.

The project ended on a celebratory note as we won the Kids in Museums Family Friendly Museum Award in the category Best Youth Project – Climate in October 2023 for the work on Once Upon A Planet. This was a huge honour for the team and recognised the work and collaborative nature of the project.