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Since 2017 I’ve been project managing in collaboration with the British Museum’s Adult Programmes team an annual one-night Late opening takeover of the Museum campus. Normally hosted in June - July each year this annual one-night event normally reflects and responds to the Museum’s flagship exhibition at the time. Over the last three years this has meant that nights have varied in theme and approach, taking as their inspiration notions of the American Dream, Rodin and Manga. 

For this collaboration students responded to the theme of ‘American Dream: pop to the present’ a dynamic display of American prints and artworks within the British Museum’s collection. Students gained the opportunity to hear a personal account of the exhibition from its curator Catherine Daunt, inception mentoring so that we could support their vision, troubleshoot and ensure that they had the expertise to delivery, funds to not only pay for their time as artists but a complimentary materials budget and on the night activity support by a dedicated team of British Museum volunteers. Students also then managed to show their idea to the audience at the British Museum (normally between 4,000 - 6,000 people over the course of the evening), interact with the public and gain insight into running educational / public-facing / socially engaged work.

2017 British Museum Late; The American Dream © Arts SU 

British Museum Late 2017 from Sophie Risner on Vimeo.
Video: Stefon Grant

Students involved: 
 TEDXUALSociety / UAL Royals (Cheerleading team) / UAL Life Drawing / Nia Hefe Filiogianni / GalPals / Natasha Hicken / Adam Crockett / Minz Sorya and Moi Tran / Marco Bertuzzo and Tingwei Liang / Magda Kuca / Patricia Doors / Frederic Anderson / Noemi Gunea and Grace Lambert / Thomas Hedger / Wided Rihana Khadraoui / Tommaso Speretta

Propgramme 



Images (click to scroll)


Images: Stefon Grant © Arts SU

Cyanotpe workshop footage (workshop run by Magda Kuca):


Video © Magda Kuca

UAL Comms story on the event: https://www.arts.ac.uk/study-at-ual/postgraduate-study/postgraduate-community/stories/american-dream-a-ual-takeover-of-the-british-museum#

American Dream: pop to the present - exhibition trailer from the British Museum


Video © The British Museum

British Museum credits
With thanks to the British Museum Adult Programme who collaborated with us for this event - facilitating and budgeting for the activity to happen, believed in the students and supported their vision:
  • Freddie Matthews - Head of Adult Programmes
  • Bryony Smith - Events Manager (2017 - 2020) and all the amazing British Museum volunteers