I began 2019 by installing the Creative Wiltshire: A Celebration of Art exhibition at Salisbury museum. As the pictures below will show it was a very transformative experience. We began work on the Sunday, making the most of the time when the museum was shut to the public. Firstly, we took down all of the portraits which had been on display, and then with quite a few helping hands we set about painting the space.
The painting for this exhibition was one of the crucial elements. This is because I chose to paint two brightly coloured feature walls, one in pink and the other in a deep teal. As the exhibition is about celebrating creativity in Wiltshire I wanted to show that museums can be creative too. I also thought it would be a great way of exciting interest in, and conversation about, the exhibition.
The painting took a few days but after some finishing touches we were ready to install the art. We began by hanging the paintings and photographic pieces on the walls. As we had quite a lot of pieces to hang, some of which were very large, this took two days and more helping hands to complete. By this point the space was beginning to come together. We then installed the objects, mostly ceramic and sculpture, which with a little bit of moving around, fitted into the space very well. I was then able to install the colour co-ordinated captions. Finally, the two wall panels were added, completing the space and look of the exhibition.
Overall, I am really pleased with how the exhibition has turned out. I think it highlights how versatile the space can be and shows you do not need to shy away from using bright colours, as when used correctly they can be effective. I hope the exhibition shows visitors the great creativity Wiltshire has to offer.
The exhibition officially opens on Saturday 19 January and runs until 4 May 2019.