Time on His Hands: Phil ‘The Clock’ Irvine
The clocks at the VG&M are springing forwards for British Summer Time! In this blog we chat to Phil ‘The Clock’ Irvine who looks after the clocks in our Art and Heritage collections and we take a closer look at some of our interior clocks and his career over the past 60 years.
Posted on: 29 March 2025
Radio Liverpool
Did you know that the world’s first wireless Morse code radio message was sent from the Victoria Building’s Jubilee Clock Tower in Liverpool? Professor Oliver Lodge was one of the early pioneers of radio and this blog charts his time at Liverpool and his revolutionary research on #WorldRadioDay.
Posted on: 13 February 2025
Moving Big Stuff: the Barbara Hepworth sculpture
As an art curator, most of the artworks I look after are fairly portable. Sometimes it takes a couple of people to move something, but often just one. Occasionally however, it takes a specialist team with a radio-controlled crane and a lot of skill. The recent relocation of our prize Barbara Hepworth sculpture was one such occasion.
Posted on: 18 August 2023
The Los Alamos Notebooks (and the stories they could tell)
During the period between February 2014 and May 2018, when our Particle Physics exhibition was in the Tate Hall Museum, the VGM had around 200,000 visitors – so it’s fair to assume that a number of them might have seen the Christopher Nolan film ‘Oppenheimer’ and wondered why they didn’t recognise any of the Liverpool names amongst the characters in the film.
Posted on: 4 August 2023
Linda Stein: Gender Scrambling
To celebrate Pride Month, we’ve invited emerging art historian and curator Oliver Donald to write about our current exhibition, Gender Scrambling, by American feminist LGBTQ+ artist Linda Stein.
Posted on: 23 June 2023
Bernard Meninsky: From Ukraine to Liverpool
Our thoughts are with Ukraine as we enter into Eurovision celebrations in Liverpool. So here is the poignant story of Ukrainian-born Bernard Meninsky whose life as an artist began in this city.
Posted on: 9 May 2023
The Bust of Principal Rendall
To celebrate International Sculpture Day we find out more about the bust of Principal Gerald Rendall that was unveiled 126 years ago on 20 February 1897.
Posted on: 29 April 2023
Jane Herdman: Science and Sewing
Deep within the University’s Department of Earth, Ocean and Ecological Sciences building hangs a portrait of a lady serenely sewing. She is Jane Herdman and the building is named after her. Jane’s story is a mix of love, tragedy, science and, above all, the encouragement of learning.
Posted on: 8 March 2023
Most Lustrous: the ceramics of Julia Carter Preston
At the VG&M we have two objects on display that everybody admires. One is a large bowl and the other a jar topped with a golden fish. They are by the acclaimed Liverpool ceramics artist, Julia Carter Preston, and are gleaming and gorgeous. Let’s find out more about the artist and the historic background to her style and technique.
Posted on: 13 January 2023
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We try to ensure that the information provided on our blog is accurate and that appropriate permissions to use images have been sought.
The opinions in each blog are very much those of the individuals writing.