Hello everyone, I have been volunteering at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (BMAG) since January and I am keen to share some of my favourite pictures and objects on display. Watch this space for blog updates of my latest favourite artwork!

So here I go with number one… ‘Column on the March’ by Christopher R W Nevinson is in the Modern British Art Gallery at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery. It is almost completely monochrome, painted in blues from palest to almost black, and a few dabs of brown. Depicting World War One (WW1) it is devoid of any bright colour and seems to me to be a unique way of looking at warfare. Read More...

The MiniBrum gallery provides an inspiring environment for children to explore and question their understanding of the world around them. Through play, the city gives children the confidence to think like scientists in a real-life context: to test their ideas, to problem solve and to create. The main ethos behind Minibrum is that it is created with children for children and we have worked with over 800 people from schools, families and community groups to design each zone of our city. 

The MiniBrum museum, designed by Henley Montessori school, provides an inspiring example of co-production. From choosing their favourite objects, to designing models and engaging interactions, the children have led and been involved in all aspects of the design; everything you can see and do within the museum has been created in response to their ideas! Helen Everley, Head Teacher at Henley Montessori School said, “The finished museum is a replica of the children’s original designs and ideas, testimony to the whole process they were involved in. An opportunity that none of them will fully realise the significance in their education until they are older.” Read More...

Hello, my name is Shahmima Akhtar and I did a Midlands4Cities Innovation Placement at the Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery from April to June 2019, after submitting my PhD at the University of Birmingham and before starting my postdoc. 

My PhD looked at exhibitions of the Irish in World’s Fairs in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in Britain and the United States.  Read More...

From Monday 7th October until 29th October 2019, there are pedestrian diversions to Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery - this is due to the Paradise redevelopment. But don't worry there are detours in place. 

(This page has been updated on 7th October to reflect the new changes in access.) Read More...

We proudly launched the Signal Box Café at Thinktank a little while back. To give you a better idea of what to expect from our new family eatery we spoke to Daniel Wattrus, the Food and Beverage Manager at Thinktank and asked him what was new.

"The whole space is much more attractive and welcoming, it’s brighter with comfortable new furniture and it feels much more part of the surrounding galleries. Read More...

Hello, my name is Stefanie and I have managed to volunteer at four different Birmingham Museums Trust (BMT) sites! My background is in archaeology, history, museum studies and teaching languages. I moved to Birmingham last year, so I am still quite new to the area. When I started volunteering at BMT earlier this year, everyone made me feel welcome and a part of this local community.

As a volunteer Learning Resource Assistant at Blakesley Hall, I volunteer once a week and am involved in lots of aspects of public programming: from cutting shapes in preparation for school visits to assisting the Learning Officer during workshops. But I also help to develop new ways to engage visitors – my current project is around the gardens at Blakesley Hall. Read More...

The dinosaurs first arose in the Late Triassic period about 225m years ago. The dinosaur group has three main lineages: the huge Sauropodomorphs such as Diplodocus, the herbivorous Ornithischians such as Triceratops and the (mostly) carnivorous Theropods, which include Velociraptors and Tyrannosaurus rex. We all know that the dinosaurs became extinct at the end of the cretaceous period about 66 million years ago. However, modern birds are the direct descendants of a group of small carnivorous dinosaurs but it took a long time for all the experts to agree.

In 1860 near Solnhofen in Bavaria, Germany a very odd-looking fossil was discovered. It looked like a small carnivorous dinosaur with wings and feathers. It had a mouth with teeth, claws on the hands and a long tail. They named it Archaeopteryx. Experts at the time agreed that this was the earliest known example of the prehistoric bird. However, they disagreed on what animal it had evolved from. Read More...

Hi I'm Robert and I have just put down some of my thoughts and experiences of being a volunteer at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery (BMAG). I have been a regular visitor to BMAG since the mid-1960s as I have always loved looking at, and learning about, all forms of art.

When I had the opportunity to volunteer, BMAG was top of my list! I was delighted to join the team as a volunteer, just over a year ago. For my first volunteer role I helped out with the ‘Dippy on Tour’ exhibition in the Gas Hall, evoking memories of a trip to the Natural History Museum with my sons when they were seven and four. We had so many visitors and everyone loved Dippy. Read More...

“Makes you feel good!”

“Lovely people and atmosphere” Read More...

Hello. My name is Izzy and I have been volunteering at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (BMAG) for seven months. I am part of the Works on Paper Project, which has an end goal of digitising and inventorying all of the works on paper in the collection including paintings, sketches and prints.

Read More...