The first in our series of special 'Get to Know' interviews to celebrate Women's History Month is with Peggy Ainsworth, Art Collections Officer. Peggy is currently working on putting together profiles of artists who are women featured in our university’s drawing collection for Women’s History Month. In her interview, she shares with us where this idea originated from, why she feels it's important to highlight stories of women in art, and how you can learn more about our collections.
1. Can you tell us about yourself and your role as Art Collections Officer?
My background is in museums and heritage, which all began with studying Archaeology at the University of Birmingham. I studied my MA in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester, and went on to work as a freelance producer for audio-visual heritage shows. Most recently I was Collections Manager and Deputy Museum Director at the Soldiers of Oxfordshire Museum, before joining the cultural services team at Royal Holloway in December 2021.
My role as Art Collections Officer is varied, and no two days are the same! As well as caring for our fantastic art and object collection via environmental monitoring and research activities, I also provide access to our collections both digitally and in-person via tours and teaching. Another aspect of my role is running our Picture Gallery open days on Wednesdays in terms one and two; managing our brilliant team of volunteers who help welcome our visitors. I really enjoy telling the stories of our university’s heritage, and was proud to work on our current exhibition College Collections Uncovered with four placement students last summer. The exhibition is open 10am-6pm every day in the Davison Building, if you’ve not visited yet!
2. You’re currently working on putting together profiles of female artists featured in our university’s drawing collection for Women’s History Month. Could you tell us more about this work, and why you feel it’s important to highlight and celebrate the stories of other women in art?
This idea grew through working as part of the Library’s communications team to think of ways to mark Women’s History Month. We have a great number of stories about attending and teaching at Royal Holloway from a female perspective in our archives, so that made me think about the stories that our art collection could tell.
I felt it was important to highlight the works of these female artists in our drawing collection, particularly as many of these works are currently only viewable by appointment and so may not be widely known. This is building on the work of Dr Laura MacCulloch (our previous curator) to highlight the lesser-known works in our collection, notably our Lady Christiana Herringham collection which came into our care when we merged with Bedford College in 1985. Researching the artists featured in our collection helps us contextualise each artwork, and enables us to celebrate their stories.
The cultural services team and I will be working to add more of these stories to our website pages over the next year, and we will be sharing some of these profiles via our RHUL Gallery Twitter and Instagram pages throughout March.
3. Are there any upcoming projects which you are particularly looking forward to working on?
Our team has been fortunate to secure funding to purchase some digitisation equipment, which will create several exciting new opportunities for students and staff to engage with our archival and art collections. I am looking forward to using this equipment to discover more about our collections, and I will be using our newly digitised material to create some new digital resources such as 360 tours and films centred on our collections.
We are also working with ArtSoc to produce a display featuring creative interpretations of our Thomas Holloway collection, currently displayed in the Picture Gallery. I’m always inspired by the creativity of our students, and I am very much looking forward to seeing the pieces they will create. The display will be shown in the Davison Building Event Space from 17 – 19 March, more details to come soon.
Finally, we have just attended the fantastic Picture Gallery Composer in Residence Scheme concert organised by the Music department, which saw six composers and six creative writers create compositions and poems responding to the artworks displayed in the Picture Gallery. The pieces were brought to life by the Choir of Royal Holloway and recorded on the night, so I will be creating a special tour featuring these compositions on our partner app Smartify for our Gallery visitors to enjoy next academic year.
4. How can students, staff and members of the public learn more about our university’s collections?
There are a number of ways to learn about the history of Royal Holloway and our collections. You can learn about the university’s history on our website, and we are currently working on adding more information on our cultural services pages.
You can also engage with our collections when on campus. Our exhibition College Collections Uncovered is currently open in the Davison Building, and here you can explore four student research projects covering our rich history including the move to make the university co-educational, and diaries from past students. You can also visit the Picture Gallery on Wednesdays in terms one and two, attend our Gallery lunchtime talks, and explore our collection via our partner app Smartify.
We offer volunteering opportunities throughout the year for students looking to help out in the Picture Gallery and in our archives. We advertise our opportunities on the volunteering portal so look out for those! We’ll be advertising for volunteers again next academic year.
We encourage anyone wanting to hear more about culture on campus to contact the cultural services team. You can get in touch by emailing artcollectionsrhul.ac.uk or archivesrhul.ac.uk.
5. How do you like to spend your free time outside of work?
I very much enjoy cooking and discovering new recipes. I am also into crafts, including jewellery making and sewing to name a couple. I’ve recently moved into a house that needs some repairs, so my free time is currently taken up with boiler repairs and redecorating! When I get a free weekend, I love to visit museums and historic houses, particularly when there’s tea and cake in the café involved.