Black British Style Exhibition Tour Summative Evaluation Report Black British Style Exhibition Tour Summative Evaluation Report June 2007 Nicky Boyd Museum Learning and Evaluation Consultant Nicky Boyd/Museum Learning and Evaluation Consultant 1 Black British Style Exhibition Tour Summative Evaluation Report Contents Page 1.0 Executive Summary 3 2.0 Introduction 5 3.0 Summary of findings 6 3.1 Exhibition questionnaires (data from Birmingham, 6 Leicester, Manchester and Sunderland) 3.2 Workshop questionnaires (data from Sunderland, 22 Birmingham and Bradford) 3.3 Personal meaning maps relating to the exhibition 29 and the workshops (data from Bradford) Nicky Boyd/Museum Learning and Evaluation Consultant 2 Black British Style Exhibition Tour Summative Evaluation Report 1.0 Executive Summary Please see summary of findings for all data (quantitative and qualitative) for the touring exhibition and the workshops. There follows some significant conclusions picked out by the evaluator (percentages have only been used where the total number = 100 or more): 119 people out of a total of 385 knew that Black British Style was from the V&A in London (31%) 72 people out of a total of 212 knew the exhibition was from the V&A in London before they visited that day (34%) 336 people out of a total of 412 spent up to 30 minutes in the exhibition (82%) 85 people out of a total of 421 were between the ages of 20 and 24 (20%) Out of 424 people, 260 came with other people (61%) and 164 came alone (39%) 65 people out of 245 said they devoted their free time to art and design (27%) 72 people out of 418 were students (17%) 45 people out of 96 said that the exhibition had inspired them to find out more about the subject e.g. • Black British history in the city of Leicester • Curious about the style of Black British people in general • Fashion history • Logos and labels 63 people out of 97 said that the exhibition had encouraged them to visit the V&A because…. • (The exhibition is) clear, informative and well presented • The V&A is already somewhere that I enjoy visiting Nicky Boyd/Museum Learning and Evaluation Consultant 3 Black British Style Exhibition Tour Summative Evaluation Report • Children found it interesting 40 people out of 59 rated their enjoyment of the workshops a 5 on a scale of 1 to 5☺. 35 people out of 56 felt that the workshop had totally met their expectations e.g. • Expectations were met. Young women thoroughly enjoyed dressing up and being the centre of attention 36 people out of 60 said that they knew nothing about the V&A 46 people out of 64 said they would come to another exhibition organised by the V&A. Comments included… • yeah because I had a good experience with this one • yes I am interested in fashion and textiles • Yes. To widen my grandchildren's horizons. Show them what is possible • Yes. Touring exhibitions from V&A high standard and interesting content • Chance to express ourselves positively 23 people out of 61 said that the exhibition would definitely encourage them to visit the V&A in London. Those who did not feel encouraged cited distance, cost and ‘hassle’ to get there as prime factors. Just under a third of people questioned were aware that Black British Style was from the V&A. Just over a third (of a smaller sample) was aware of that fact before they visited the exhibition. This indicates that the origin of the exhibition was not a prime motivation for visitors, although comments indicate that future exhibitions from the V&A would be regarded favourably. Factors against visiting the V&A itself appear to be mainly practical ones, which also indicates that touring exhibitions are a good way to engage visitors who are not within an easy travelling distance of London. The workshops received good feedback overall, both for children and for adults, and the personal meaning maps, although few in number, indicate a very positive experience. A couple of neutral comments indicate that the content of workshops could have been clearer before they began, but overall the workshops appear to have been regarded as successful. Nicky Boyd/Museum Learning and Evaluation Consultant 4 Black British Style Exhibition Tour Summative Evaluation Report 2.0 Introduction The V&A’s Black British Style exhibition looked at fashion and styling across all aspects of black life and culture over the past 50 years. The exhibition was the first of its kind in the UK and highlighted the variety of lifestyles that co-exist in black culture, focusing on dress but also incorporating music, photography and film. The exhibition subsequently toured to the following five venues during 2005 and 2006: Manchester Art Gallery (June-Sept 2005) Cartwright Hall Art Gallery, Bradford (Sept 2005-Jan 2006) Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens (April-May 2006) Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery (June-Sept 2006) New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester (Oct-Dec 2006) Staff at each venue received some quantitative and qualitative evaluation training. Data was collected from visitors to the exhibition and from participants in workshops. These were based around a number of different subjects relevant to the exhibition, for example photography, art such as graffiti or printing, and music. There was some specific data that venues were obliged to gather in order to generate comparable data across all venues. However, as each venue had the flexibility to add other quantitative and qualitative questions the questionnaires varied significantly. Venues were asked to gather at least 100 quantitative sample questionnaires for visitor profiling. They were also asked to carry out qualitative assessments using a variety of questionnaires, observation and depth interviews. Specific criteria were developed in consultation with individual venue staff and workshop managers. While each venue therefore has data specifically useful to it, this has meant that analysis of the data has been difficult. Cross-venue comparisons have not always been possible; the number of responses to specific questions has varied between 47 and 424. Summative evaluation data was returned as follows: • Leicester questionnaire data (quantitative and qualitative) • Birmingham questionnaire data(quantitative and qualitative) • Sunderland questionnaire data (quantitative and qualitative) • Manchester questionnaire data (quantitative) • Bradford questionnaire data (qualitative) • Bradford personal meaning map data (qualitative) Nicky Boyd/Museum Learning and Evaluation Consultant 5 Black British Style Exhibition Tour Summative Evaluation Report 3.0 Summary of findings 3.1 Exhibition questionnaires (data from Birmingham, Leicester, Manchester and Sunderland). Visitors were asked: 1a. Did you know that this exhibition is from the V&A in London? (Birmingham (B), Leicester (L), Manchester (M) and Sunderland (S) 31% (119 people out of a total of 385 who answered this question) knew the exhibition was from the V&A in London (13 out of 50 from Birmingham, 39 out of 96 from Leicester, 12 out of 115 from Manchester and 55 out of 124 from Sunderland). 1b. (If yes) did you know before your visit today? (B, L, M and S) 34% (72 people out of a total of 212 who answered this question) knew the exhibition was from the V&A in London before they visited that day (4 out of 13 from Birmingham, 27 out of 38 from Leicester, 10 out 107 from Manchester and 31 out of 54 from Sunderland). 2. How long did you spend in the BBS Exhibition today? (B, L, M and S) Less than 15 minutes – 37% (157 people out of a total of 421 who answered this question) spent less than 15 minutes in the exhibition(13 out of 50 from Birmingham, 30 out of 96 from Leicester, 52 out of 150 from Manchester and 62 out of 125 from Sunderland). 15-30 minutes – 42.5% (179 people out of a total of 421 who answered this question) spent between 15 and 30 minutes in the exhibition (25 out of 50 from Birmingham, 38 out of 96 from Birmingham, 72 out of 150 from Manchester and 44 out of 125 from Sunderland). 31-45 minutes – 13% (55 people out of a total of 421 who answered this question) spent between 31and 45 minutes in the exhibition (8 out of 50 from Birmingham, 16 out of 96 from Leicester, 17 out of 150 from Manchester and 14 out of 125 from Sunderland). 46-60 minutes – 4% (17 out of a total of 421 who answered this question) spent between 31 and 45 minutes in the exhibition (3 out of 50 from Birmingham, 3 out of 96 from Leicester, 7 out of 150 from Manchester and 4 out of 125 from Sunderland). More than 1 hour – 3 % (13 out of a total of 421 who answered this question) spent over an hour in the exhibition (1 out of 50 from Birmingham, 9 out of 96 from Leicester, 2 out of 150 from Manchester and 1 out of 125 from Sunderland). 3. Age Group (B, L, M and S) 16-17 – 5% (21 people out of a total of 421 who answered this question) were between the ages of 16 and 17 (0 out of 50 from Birmingham, 7 out of 97 from Leicester, 11 out of 150 from Manchester and 3 out 124 from Sunderland). 18-19 – 5.2% (22 people out of a total of 421 who answered this question) were between the ages of 18 and 19 (1 out of 50 from Birmingham, 8 out Nicky Boyd/Museum Learning and Evaluation Consultant 6 Black British Style Exhibition Tour Summative Evaluation Report of 97 from Leicester, 7 out of 150 from Manchester and 6 out of 124 from Sunderland). 20-24 – 20% (85 people out of a total of 421 who answered this question) were between the ages of 20 and 24 (17 out of 50 from Birmingham, 23 out of 97 from Leicester, 24 out of 150 from Manchester and 21 out of 124 from Sunderland).