AN ARTIST from Rugby is helping to capture the untold stories of women and disability in sport, as part of a series of free illustrated online resources and activities to be used at museums across England.
Freelance illustrator and education consultant Jessica Hartshorn will work with Sporting Heritage on a programme of eight online informal education resources, activities, quizzes, and games, thanks to an Arts Council England grant.
Jessica will collaborate with the social enterprise once again, following this year’s popular National Sporting Heritage Day Treasure Hunt which encouraged families to participate in an online, interactive illustrative game.
The resources, aimed at children aged 7-14, will all be drawn by hand by the illustrator and distributed over the next 11 months to provide digital access to museum collections, and engage new audiences and families in the hidden stories of sporting heritage in a creative and unique way.
Jessica said: “Through these unique and bespoke illustrations, families can creatively learn remotely about the wonderful world of heritage, challenge stereotypes, and develop awareness of sporting collections across the country that they may otherwise never have known about.”
Sporting Heritage founding director Dr Justine Reilly said she was delighted to have received funding for the project.
She said: “During the current pandemic, it has been integral that museums work closely together to support each other in new ways of working while continuing their important and positive heritage education programmes.
“All the resources created will be available to museums across the country and we hope to develop a model of working for family resources for the future.”
Each resource will be launched ready for school holidays and in line with national events, such as National Sporting Heritage Day. Content will include a Christmas advent calendar game, a challenge to build and construct a sporting museum, Top Trump female sporting heroes, ‘spot it’ illustrations with a focus on disability in sport, and ‘did you know’ illustrated fact sheets and puzzles linking to women in sport, disability in sport and unusual sporting objects through time.
Visit https://tinyurl.com/yyy5v9va for more information.
