The National Justice Museum [NJM] ran a fantastic 'Make it Yours' Big Draw workshop on the 4th October, asking visitors to respond to the huge array of keys in their collection. These come from prisons, police stations, and other buildings associated with justice. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and the Museum is already planning their Big Draw programme for next year!

We caught up with Simon Brown, Project Curator at the NJM, and Andrea Hadley-Johnson, Artistic Programme Manager at the NJM, to hear more about the Museum, their involvement with The Big Draw, and the healing powers of art...

Hello Simon and Andrea! Thank you both for taking the time to catch up with us after a very warmly received #DrawnToLife event at the National Justice Museum. Could you start by explaining to our readers a bit about the NJM, its history and your work there?

[SB] At the National Justice Museum we inspire people of all ages to become active citizens. We are based at Nottingham’s historic Shire Hall and County Gaol, where you can delve into the fascinating history of justice through time. You will meet historical characters, explore our immense collection, take part in a range of interactive games and activities, and discover how law and justice contribute to all of our lives. We run a hugely ambitious education programme in the museum, as well as at our partner sites in Manchester and London. Next year will be our 25th year anniversary.

[AHJ] The NJM is a historic gaol and courtroom; the spaces within the building are totally awesome, infused with trauma and hope in equal measure. As a source of creative inspiration the collection is outstanding, I’ve worked here for one year and am still inspired every day! My work at the NJM draws upon a human centred and co-productive practice. I develop and deliver exhibitions and creative activities with many people, starting out on the street with provocations and objects, using them as a stimulus to engage with our enduring themes of crime, justice, law and punishment. These creative interventions are where the ideas for projects are shaped and informed in a representative way, building multiple narratives, perspective, opinion and lived experience onto existing fact.

Here at The Big Draw we advocate the incredible influence of art and visual literacy in building bridges and communicating beyond language barriers. Can you share your views on the benefits of being ‘visually literate’ in one’s everyday life?

[SB] Our role as a museum is to engage the public with justice and the law, concepts which affect all of us. Art and creativity are similarly universal subjects, which extend beyond borders and language. Some of the most exciting work in the museum has happened through our visitors creatively responding to the stories we tell.

[AHJ] I left school at 15 to go to art college for 5 years, for the first time I was surrounded by people exploring, experimenting, talking visually, speaking a similar language to me. Those years of exploration shaped who I am today, bringing comfort, energy, inspiration, understanding and ideas. Mark making and crafting lines, responding freely or noticing and exploring details is the perfect way of connecting people with people within the museum spaces. Visitor drawings instead of ‘more labels’ enables people to connect emotionally with objects and each other.

Why do you think that Museums are the perfect setting for drawing? Do you often see people being inspired by your collections to take pencil to paper?

[AHJ] Wow, always. When I led the development of the ‘notice nature feel joy’ gallery at Derby Museums people’s drawn responses and doodles in the project lab were the foundation of the room design. Less words and more things ignited curiosity, increased connectivity and conversation. Drawing intensifies noticing. Sharing these responses in a beautiful way encouraged more people to draw, leading to the ‘objects of love, hope and fear’ world collection gallery where drawings were applied to fixtures.

[SB] Museums are a place to stop and think, and to engage with stories that are bigger than any of us. Drawing and creativity are a great way of helping to engage our minds on a subject. Our project lab in the museum is a space in which we invite responses to our collection from our visitors - we’re always surprised and delighted by the contributions we see.

This year The Big Draw Festival is celebrating ‘Drawn to Life: Creativity & Wellbeing’. What are your thoughts on the healing powers of art, and how does it resonate with your events and programming at the National Justice Museum?

[AHJ] There are so many interesting things to spend time with and placing a drawing tool onto a surface, without fear of failure, and just drawing for the fun of it, in the moment.

You ran a fantastic ‘Make it Yours’ workshop as part of The Big Draw Festival on the 4th October. Can you tell us a little bit about how this went? Were there any stand out moments for you?

[SB] Our Make it Yours workshops happen every week in the museum. Every week a different artist comes to the museum to work with visitors to creatively engage with our collection, our building and our themes as an organisation. We use a wide range of media: sculpture, photography, music and many others.

In our workshop as part of the Big Draw, we asked our visitors to respond to the huge array of keys in our collection. These come from prisons, police stations, and other buildings associated with justice. There was an overwhelming response to the physical aspects of the keys themselves, but also what they mean in terms of restraints, and the concepts of locking ourselves and other people away from society.

[AHJ] We dipped our toe in this year, the gentle, creative calm and togetherness that settled around the drawing activities was gorgeous. During the workshop a volunteer began to hum and suddenly the room was filled with the sound of others joining in. Next year, we’ll stage a takeover event and weave the activities throughout the whole museum and courtyard.

Having just run your first event, do you have any words of wisdom to pass on to someone considering organising their own Big Draw event? Moreover, what are some of the biggest challenges you have faced/overcome in organising your Big Draw Festival event?

[AHJ] Our venue is a paid museum and our free spaces are relatively new. We’re still building awareness of these activities as part of a wider focus on better representing and including the people of the city. The most effective way for encouraging people to join in is for them seeing others actually doing and enjoying it. Working outside will hopefully amplify the activity next year.

[SB] Prepare to be surprised by what your visitors will contribute. That’s the joy of it!

Do you have anything else in the pipeline for #DrawnToLife?

[AHJ] Placing sketchbooks next to a new display of keys, inviting people to study the objects, close their eyes and then draw instinctively what they remember. These responses will shape a sequence of ideas for drawn interpretation next year and be documented to support the key collection.

What are some of the reasons that motivated the National Justice Museum to take part in The Big Draw Festival, and what did you hope to achieve?

[SB] The Big Draw Festival was an important opportunity for our visitors to creatively engage with the museum. Our hope is that new people would come to us who have never visited before, and begin to feel at home in the museum.

[AHJ] We loved the idea that we were part of a collective drawing happening across many cultural venues, involving thousands of people. We hoped to achieve a welcoming creative workshop that brought people together for a few extraordinary hours. Hoping they would continue to draw their thoughts and make time for mindful creative moments long after the session ended.

Thank you Simon and Andrea, and the team at the National Justice Museum!

The National Justice Museum is one of our Big Draw Festival 2019 Sponsor Partners.

Have you been inspired by this interview with Simon and Andrea, and The Big Draw Festival 2019 theme: #DrawntoLife? Why not join our global Festival in 2019? Registration is now open! Find out more about the benefits of becoming an organiser here and other ways to support The Big Draw's mission here.