By james art 
The Trust of Museums in Birmingham revealed the results of its first jury meeting of citizens.
The initiative was announced last year and will see members of the local public directly involved in resolving the future direction of Birmingham museums.
The Community interest company shared future was entrusted to lead the process, which was held for the first time last fall.
He saw 5,000 letters sent to the households in the Birmingham metropolitan area, from which 28 participants were randomly selected.
The participants who made up the jury were 18 to 79 years old. They met 30 hours on three nights online and three full days personally.
The jurors heard from 12 “expert” commentators, made 3 exhibition visits and shared their own opinions and experienced experience.
Was convened to answer the question: “What he needs and wants Birmingham from him
Museums, now and in the future; And what should the Birmingham museums trust in order to do these things?
After 30 hours, the jury produced 11 museum roles and 20 recommendations covering funding and marketing, community engagement and cooperation, exploration of various perspectives and a new audience, accessibility and inclusion.
A joint statement of the jury states: “At the beginning of this process, we did not know what to expect. Many of us were not in a museum for a long time, we did not know what the confidence of the Birmingham museums was and what it could mean to us. We were not engaged and did not feel close to our museums.
“As a result of the process, we feel more pronounced than our museums and the city.
Our museums must update how they are perceived in Birmingham and on the national stage. The Open Museum and the Birmingham Art Gallery is much more attractive, we hope to see that this goes on on other sites and that trust guarantees that people are aware of the incredible things that the process he has undergone has to offer.
“The voice of the museum is to some extent the voice of the people and we want everyone to hear us mile.”
11 museum roles 20 recommendations
The 11 jury’s key roles included its most popular that museums “should be spaces for different experiences. They must enable experiences that are educational and improve knowledge and experiences that are fun and fun and offer escapism. “
Of the 20 jury recommendations, its most popular were the better promotion of museums and their activities.
The jurors have suggested that the rules for the planning of the municipal council be challenged, which prevents museums from promoting its entrances, the construction of the museum’s social media strategy to include influential and short -form videos and to increase the level of physical promotion, such as outside Home Conditions Advertising.
“We admit that it is unrealistic to do all this at the same time – there must be a stroke approach,” the jury said.
The full report of the initiative, which includes all the jury answers and a detailed process report, is available here.