Baby Mindful -
Orleans House Gallery

Baby Mindful was one of many arts engagement programmes I designed and managed at Orleans House Gallery as part of my role in the Learning Team.

 

In response to statistical evidence on the need for more mental health support for new and expectant parents in the borough of Richmond, I developed Baby Mindful specifically with this audience in mind.

 

After commissioning mindfulness teacher Sam Weerasinghe (www.sammantra.com) we collaborated to build a site-specific, collection-inspired mindfulness course tailored specifically to suit new parents and their babies, pioneering the use of mindfulness in a museum space with this early-years audience.

 

The sessions took place weekly, in 8-week-long courses in the baroque Octagon room at Orleans House Gallery. The gallery’s architecture, collection, grounds, history, and current exhibitions were incorporated into the practices, and sessions included meditation practices, mindful movement, mandala making, mindful drawing, walking mindfully, and mindful eating.

 

Baby Mindful has appeared in studies and journals in the UK and internationally. You can read more about Baby Mindful here:

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- Museum of London Early Years Toolkit 

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- GEM Case Studies 25

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As part of my role managing the project I: 

 

- Decided how to evaluate the sessions and designed feedback forms, including evaluation scales and participatory evaluation activities. These needed to combine the information we wanted to capture with the information required for the funders.

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- Reported to the funders - Richmond Community Learning Fund.  

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- Oversaw the running of the project, including facilitating the sessions. 

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- Recruited and managed volunteers. 

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- Marketed the sessions and managed the budget. 

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- Secured repeat funding to continue the project.

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- Disseminated project learning across the sector. 

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