News

Dimbola Museum and Galleries and Isle of Wight Hidden Hero, Julia Margaret Cameron, are back on the BBC.

Both feature in the BBC1 programme, Civilisations Stories – Art, Us and the Truth (7.30pm).

Schafernaker’s inspiration
Presented by the well-known meteorologist Tomasz Schafernaker, who happens to be an superb portrait artist (see some of his work below), the programme tours of some of the south of England’s art treasures.

During the snow period, Tomasz makes a visit to Dimbola to meet Gail Middleton and discovers more about the captivating portraits by the pioneering Victorian photographer, Julia Margaret Cameron, inspiring him to take more risks with his own art.

Work by Tomasz Schafernaker
Watch this short video to see just how great an artist, Tomasz is.

So here’s my most intricate portrait to date, Sir #DavidAttenborough. He took around 100hrs to complete. I could never say that any of these latest drawings are finished…I could continue with even more detail! There comes a point when you just have to stop! Working on exciting art projects this Spring! #Attenborough #Art #InstaArt #Portrait #RealistArt #Realism #pencildrawing #colourpencilart #colourpencildrawing #RetinaArt #schafgallery

A post shared by Tomasz Schafernaker (@schafernaker) on Feb 12, 2018 at 1:28pm PST

Tune into BBC1 at 7.30pm or catch up after the broadcast on iPlayer.

Image: © BBC

Congratulations to Isle of Wight Hidden Hero John Ackroyd on being honoured with the Freedom of Ryde by his hometown local council, Ryde Town council.

It’s the highest distinction the Town Council can give to an individual.

Ryde East councillor Michael Lilley nominated John as he wanted to laud the Ryde resident who has placed both the town and the Isle of Wight on the world stage through his endeavours.

Cllr Christine Hall, who chairs the Town Council’s Honours Working Party, said,

“He is an inspiration, both to the people of Ryde and the Isle of Wight and to our young people.”

Local media coverage
Both the County Press and OnTheWight have celebrated it so far.

Several museums and galleries around the Isle of Wight have now opened their dedicated Hidden Heroes exhibitions.

Artists, curators, historians and more have been busy gathering, making, building and creating to bring you some very special visual treats.

Hidden Heroes at Quay Arts
Running until 24th March Quay Arts in Newport is hosting an exhibition like no other you’ve seen before.

With a focus on the seven headline Hidden Heroes, expect to see some extraordinary and highly-innovative commissioned artworks. From puppet-making to 3D modelling, with one artwork even being controlled through the Internet of Things and your tweets.

The artworks will be on show alongside some precious and fascinating items from the Heritage Service’s collection.

Maritime heroes at the Classic Boat Museum Gallery
Also now open and running until the end of September is the Hidden Heroes exhibition at the Classic Boat Museum Gallery in East Cowes.

Expect to see a wealth of information, objects and photos of ‘Joe’ Carstairs, a hugely eccentric and an openly gay, powerboat racer who set up her own boat yard on the Island in the 1920s. She was known in the 20s as ‘the fastest woman on water’.

You’ll also be able to find out more about many more maritime heroes including Uffa Fox, yacht and boat designer, adviser to the admiralty, friend of the Royals and a renowned Cowes Character.

Queens and smugglers at Carisbrooke Castle Museum
The Carisbrooke Castle Museum Exhibition is also now open and runs throughout the year until 28th October 2018.

The team at this brilliant museum have created new displays to celebrate the diverse Hidden Heroes of the Isle of Wight. Stories include the father of Seismology (the study of earthquakes), intrepid smugglers turned life-saving lifeboat men, people who celebrated and saved the Island’s culture and heritage and those who took a stand for what they believed in, often against the established ways of their time.

And there’s more
There are also many more IW Hidden Heroes events taking place over the Island in the coming weeks, including an exhibition at the Museum of Island History at Guildhall in Newport which is on right now.

Don’t forget there is a series of Hidden Heroes Talks at Quay Arts.

If you missed the Travelling Museum when it toured in October, don’t despair, between Monday 12th and Friday 16th February 2018, the Travelling Museum will be wending its way across the Isle of Wight and spending the day in at least five new locations.

The curators of the Travelling Museum had so much fun touring the Island they can’t wait to get back out on the road again.

Uncovering remarkable stories
The first of its kind in the UK, the Travelling Museum isn’t a dusty old bus with boring objects – get ready for actors playing the part of enthusiastic and funny museum owners, as they encourage you to uncover remarkable stories of kings, inventors, speed freaks and artists, spanning the dinosaur age to the Facebook era, discovering the people who helped make our Island great and some who even helped shape the world.

Visits are anticipated in Newport, Godshill, Cowes, Ryde and Carisbrooke Castle.

Check the What’s On section for exact times and locations nearer the time.

Images: © Lucy Boyton

As you will now know, Isle of Wight Hidden Heroes celebrates remarkable people who have done remarkable things whilst living on the Island and has a whole host of exciting events taking place this year.

Our professionals have already added some their Heroes to the Website (discover them here), so now it’s your turn to share details of the people you feel have done something remarkable whilst on the Island.

The hope is that some of your Heroes might be incorporated into a major exhibition at Quay Arts next month, so you could see the face of your Hidden Heroes up on the gallery wall.

Tell your stories
Do you have a relative or ancestor who has achieved something of note whilst on the Isle of Wight?

Perhaps it’s Auntie Mabel, who pulled her children out from the rubble of a bombed building during the war; or a relative who worked as a midwife delivering babies for 30 years; or the friend down the road who invented something incredible in their garden shed.

Your Heroes can be as wide-reaching as you like. It’s all about unearthing the people who haven’t been acknowledged.

How to do it
To share details of your Hidden Heroes complete the form to share your stories and photos.

You can submit as many Hidden Heroes as you like, don’t feel like you have to hold back. This way, the pride you have in your ancestors can be shared with the rest of the Isle of Wight.

Image: brian-m under CC BY 2.0

There has been tons of Hidden Heroes things hitting the Isle of Wight recently, so we thought it would be worth doing a quick roundup:

County Press
The County Press were kind enough to devote their Wight Memories page on the 19th Jan 2018 to the Isle of Wight Hidden Heroes project. Plenty of detail in there – as well as a call for the public to submit their own Hidden Heroes.

Style of Wight Magazine
Style of Wight magazine also gave the project a double-page spread.

Look out for IW Hidden Heroes leaflets
Look out for the IW Hidden Heroes leaflets at your favourite Island venues.

To synchronise with the media coverage, we’ve had 30,000 leaflets printed up to give a background on the IW Hidden Heroes project and the first seven Heroes. Of course, there are lots more to come too.

If you run a venue (shop, business) and want to have them available to your customers, just get in touch and we’ll see what we can do about getting them to you.

 

Over the coming weeks experts in their fields will be presenting informative and illuminating talks about some of the remarkable people who have done remarkable things on the Island.

There’s something for everyone, from dinosaur bone hunters to tech-heads, from aristocrats to the Annals of the Poor. Learn more about the fascinating lives of the Hidden Heroes from those with a passion for their subject.

Where and when
All talks take place at Quay Arts Centre in Newport between 7.30-10pm and entrance is just £5. The bar will be open for soft, alcoholic and hot drinks.

• 17th January – Dinosaur Isle Curator, Martin Munt, on Dinosaur bone hunter, Rev William Fox
• 22nd January – Our very own Hidden Hero, Andy Stanford Clark with Innovation begins at home
• 31st January – Manager of IWC Heritage Service, Richard Smout, on the stories of Jane Squibb and Elizabeth Wallbridge from Annals of the Poor
• 14th February – Historian, John Medland, on last owner of the Isle of Wight, Isabella De Fortibus
• 21st February – CANCELLED DUE TO UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES (Jan Toms on Pauline Cranstoun)
• 1st March – Rosemary Joy on Rev Charles Paterson, kept a log of work that might otherwise have gone largely unnoticed
• 8th March – Local historian, Brian Greening, on inventor, John Dennett
• 14th March – Mei Trow on Christopher Rhodes & Captain George Brigstocke
• 28th March – Hidden Heroes panel discussion – the historians reconvene to discuss and debate the hidden heroes of the Isle of Wight past and present.

Major exhibition
As well as the series of talks, there’ll be a major exhibition on Isle of Wight Hidden Heroes at Quay Arts between 10th February and 24th March.

All are welcome to the launch on 10th February between 2-4pm.

Find out more by visiting our What’s On Page.

Image: anthonyalbright under CC BY 2.0

This coming weekend (18th-19th November), Islanders and visitors can find out more about Isle of Wight Hidden Hero, Reverend William Fox, at Dinosaur Isle’s Blast from the Past event.

This free, two day event, brings with it a great opportunity to see some of the fossils discovered by our fascinating Hidden hero, Reverend Fox.

Reverend Fox worked with the vicar in Brighstone in the late 1800s and was notorious for his passionate fossil hunting.

The Natural History Museum has over 500 specimens donated by Rev Fox and he has more dinosaurs named after him than any other person in the country.

Meet the experts
Curator of the museum, Dr Martin Munt, said,

“All are welcome and will be able to see the fascinating displays at the museum and meet local ‘prehistory’ enthusiasts. As well as fossil collectors there will also be local archaeologists and metal detector groups showing off their finds.

“A particular highlight this year will be the work of local model maker Andrew Cocks, who has made models for both Dinosaur Isle and other museums – including for the Etches Collection, the museum of Jurassic marine life, which will also be exhibiting on the Sunday.”

There will also be activities including face painting and replica fossils on both days.

Those thinking of furthering their studies will be able to find out about educational opportunities from both the universities of Southampton and Portsmouth.

Evening event
There will also be an extra highlight on Saturday evening at the museum, with talks including on the work of Charles Darwin, by University of Southampton scientist Neil Gosling.

Booking for the talks is essential, tel: 404344.

There will be a small fee for the evening event, which includes food.

Great to get support from the BBC on the launch day for the Travelling Museum tour – A big thank you to everyone there!

First off a live slot with Julian Clegg on the Radio Solent breakfast show at 8:20am, which couldn’t have been at a more perfect time for half term.

We got to chat about the whole of the Hidden Heroes project, a couple of the heroes and a chunk of the Travelling Museum idea – plus Julian very kindly read out each of the dates and locations over the rest of the week. Perfect.

Happily Radio Solent covers a huge area over the South, servicing a population of over 1.8m – they have 263,000 listeners a week.

Web coverage from the Beeb too

This was backed up by the BBC’s Web team publishing details to their Live Website later too – including no less than two linked to the IW Hidden Heroes Website.

This site covers the whole of the ‘South’ region, including Berkshire, Oxford, Hampshire and Dorset.

They Tweeted to their 52k+ followers a couple of the photos (Thx for those Lucy Boynton!) along with a link to the IW Hidden Heroes Twitter account.

A touring museum is bringing #IsleOfWight history to life this week, with actors highlighting the extraordinary lives of 7 @iwhiddenheroes pic.twitter.com/OvsmOcTmIm

— BBC Radio Solent (@BBCRadioSolent) October 24, 2017

Four hours later, we got a second bite of their Twitter-cherry, as they were kind enough to Tweet out the Hidden Heroes logo and link to their Web coverage.

Dinosaur hunter among those celebrated as Isle of Wight 'heroes' https://t.co/Df5xx9XkFe pic.twitter.com/U7vl8nIlhh

— BBC Radio Solent (@BBCRadioSolent) October 24, 2017

Image: © Lucy Boynton

We all know there is something very special about the Isle of Wight. It has long been home to remarkable people, who have done remarkable things.

Isle of Wight Hidden Heroes is a new project that shines a light on those who have achieved innovative, fascinating, life-changing or awe-inspiring things whilst on the Island. The launch sees seven Isle of Wight Museums and Galleries come together in partnership to help strengthen a sense of pride in the place we call home.

Hidden Heroes tell the story
Starting with the story of seven Hidden Heroes – rather than ‘heroes’ in the life-saving sense of the word, they are people who have innovated, held seats of power during difficult times, inspired those around them or are just someone who does things differently.

Through these initial seven Hidden Heroes we delve into the past to bring them to life and tell the story of the Isle of Wight, from the Dinosaur Age right through to the Facebook Era.

Lots to see and do
There are many activities planned over the coming months, reaching out to Island residents through school workshops, sessions with community groups; a Website and social media; the ability for the public to nominate their own Hidden Heroes; as well as an exhibition at Quay Arts in February 2018.

The first two events are taking place this October half-term, The Travelling Museum and Museums at Night at Dimbola Museums and Galleries.

This half-term – Step aboard The Travelling Museum
Island families are in for a treat this coming October half-term, when the Travelling Museum will be setting-up in a town near you.

The first of its kind in the UK, the Travelling Museum isn’t a dusty old bus with boring objects – get ready for actors playing the part of enthusiastic and funny museum owners, as they encourage you to uncover remarkable stories of kings, inventors, speed freaks and artists, travelling from the dinosaur to the modern age, discovering the people who helped make our Island great and some who even helped shape the world.

Visiting five town centres across the Isle of Wight during the October half term (24th-28th October), The Travelling Museum is a free experience open to all, bringing some of the greatest Isle of Wight museums to you. You’ll even get to hold some of the fascinating objects on the bus!

Discover captivating stories and contribute your own. It’s not just us telling you about our Hidden Heroes, we want you to come along to The Travelling Museum and tell us about your Hidden Heroes from the past, either from your community or family.
See you on the road!

Programme:
Open daily between 10am-5pm

• Tuesday 24th October – West Wight Sports Centre, Freshwater
• Wednesday 25th October – St James’s Square, Newport
• Thursday 26th October – King’s Square (by Waitrose), East Cowes
• Friday 27th October – Central Car Park, Ventnor
• Saturday 28th October – Minghella Square, Ryde

This October half-term – Museums at Night comes to the Island
Have you ever wondered what happens in a Museum after it closes? For a magical night-time adventure, explore Dimbola Museum and Galleries this half-term by torch-light.

Actors will guide you through the museum, as you discover the fearless warriors, incredible inventors and amazing artists who’ve lived on the Isle of Wight. This is a very special opportunity to learn more about the Island’s tremendous history like never before.

Museums at Night takes place on Saturday 28th October – 7pm – 9pm (FREE ENTRY).

Suitable for all, but primarily aimed at 7 – 13 year olds.

Created by the Ventnor Exchange for Dimbola Museum and Galleries and the Hidden Heroes project.

Image: eepaul