Hannah Fox is a woman, mother, wife, and creative professional (in no particular order) who loves the impact that creativity and energetic collaborations can have on her own and others lives. She’s been a part of the NAS community since 2014, coming in as a member of the inaugural Creative Community Fellows cohort. The project she brought to that fellowship was the Museum of Making, an exploration of Derby’s 300-year history of manufacturing located in the Derwent Valley Mills UNESCO World Heritage Site in Derbyshire, England – widely regarded as the site of the world’s first factory.
In the years since her fellowship, Hannah has become a faculty member for Creative Community Fellows and the Executive Program in Arts & Culture Strategy. This past year, after a decade of tireless work, the Museum of Making held its grand opening and is now open to the public!
NAS recently caught up with Hannah to check in on the museum and see what’s next!
Tell us about what you are currently working on.
I’m currently finishing my role at Derby Museums in the UK, where I have spent the last 10 years developing and building the UK’s first Museum of Making, the £18m redevelopment of the 18th Century Derby Silk Mill factory site. In this role I have also been working with NAS to support the first two cohorts of the UK Creative Community Fellows Programme. Soon I’ll be moving on to a new role as Director of The Bowes Museum in County Durham, UK.
What are you most proud of in doing this work?
I’m so proud that we’ve held true to community-centred and coproduction approaches all the way through the development and delivery of the Museum of Making, often in the face of funder’s and stakeholders expectations and huge challenges throughout project. We’ve built a museum that is owned and loved by its communities and is supporting the future of people and place.
What’s the biggest challenge facing this project/your work?
There are too many practical challenges to count. I think the biggest challenge is how to maintain your own creativity and energy in the face of a project of this size. Where do you get your oxygen? How do you hold true to your values when leading?
How has your NAS experience assisted this project/your work?
It is true to say that, without my connection to NAS and the networks they bring, I would not have been able to navigate the Museum of Making project the way I have. The pressure I have experienced in leading such a project has been exhausting and isolating many times. NAS has given me the space to think, the tools to strategise, the community to call on when I need help and advice, the oxygen to keep going.
How can the NAS community learn more about the work you do?
You can find some profiles about my work on the Museum of Making over the years at:
- Did Derby build the world? How the Museum of Making bounced back | Museums | The Guardian,
- Re:Make the Museum: Citizen Curators and Makers – Museum-iD
- Museum of Making (tumblr.com)
Connect with Hannah at: