‘The opening of the Museum isn't the end, it's the beginning’

"The opening of the Museum isn't the end, it's the beginning" - A quote from one of the curators we met at the Young V&A in July 2025. They were speaking about how all of the development, research, co-curating, collecting, and producing doesn't end once the building opens; it only just begins. From there it gets refined, tweaked, and revisited over and over as audiences and attitudes change.

I hadn't visited the Young V&A or the Museum of Childhood, as it was known before, so visiting for the first time with SPARK! allowed me to see it through multiple lenses, my own, my museum lens, and a young person's lens.

Walking up to the Museum was when I first realised how a Museum looks is really important; I've been spoilt walking through the beautiful Oaklands Park and working within Oaklands House but Spark! commented on how the Young V&A actually looks like a Museum, whereas the Museum of Chelmsford doesn't, though we both reside within a Victorian building. I have found this strand of thinking fascinating, and though there's nothing we can do about the beautiful Victorian House we work within, perhaps we can use this to change the visitor perception of us before they've stepped inside. What does a Museum look like?

I think a lot of Museums are shifting what their collection looks like, shifting the perspectives and stories they tell to be more representative of their local communities. The way the Young V&A began approaching this was simple in theory; they wanted to showcase the history of childhood, with all elements either made by children or created collaboratively with them. From photos sourced from the community, colour samples chosen by focus groups, and even the font designed by young people - the whole Museum is being rebuilt with this new focus. Over 22,000 schoolchildren, teachers, Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND), and community groups, families and local people helped shape the project.

My highlight was the play gallery for babies up to 3 years old. It's a mini-Museum created in such a thoughtful way by working alongside families with babies - sounds mad, I know, and here’s how they did it; To create this the Museum wanted to discover what sounds, textures and colours babies found important, so they gathered families to consult with and the families told the museum what the babies enjoyed, words like sparkly, and shiny came out on top. So now the Museum has a list of words they can use, and they looked at the collection and matched those words. All of the objects chosen are in cases at ground level, there are pillars of colour, and textured areas as well.

Overall the visit was brilliant, the Museum's continued journey of co-development and creation is really inspiring. I'll be keeping a close eye on how they continue to develop and what events they're putting on, as of February 2026 they have some fascinating workshops for babies and toddlers. Look them up!

Written by Maxine Dempster (she/her), Community Engagement Officer at the Museum of Chelmsford, which is owned and manged by Chelmsford City Council.

Maxine is an Ignite Chelmsford Partner and a Collecting Our Future project partner.

Collecting Our Future is part of the Young Cultural Changemakers Programme, produced by Culture Chelmsford and SPARK!, in collaboration with and funded by Arts Council England, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford City Council, Chelmsford College and Chelmsford For You.