On August 26–29, in the Lithuanian National Museum’s (LNM) residency space “Kūrybatorija”, located in the Palanga Burmistras Jonas Šliūpas Museum, the final four-day creative residency of the year for educators took place — “Inclusion and Memorable Experiences for the Social Prescription Audience: Seniors”, part of the Marta project.

Educators from the Lithuanian National Museum, the National Gallery of Art, the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania, the Museum of Ethnography, the Šiauliai “Aušra” Museum, and the Vilnius City Museum participated in the training sessions. They met with social partners, developed new educational activities, and tested them with the target audience.

During the training and creative workshops “Visitor Museum Experiences and the Art of Inclusion” led by Claire Bown, a cultural education expert from the Netherlands, the residents deepened their theoretical and practical knowledge on how to create memorable visitor experiences, how to connect with audiences, and how to foster meaningful, valuable, and emotionally engaging relationships between visitors and museums.

Specialists from the Palanga City Care Home, Vaida Bendikė and Agnė Padaigaitė, shared their insights and provided consultations on how to better understand one’s audience and design educational activities that meet seniors’ needs and emotional well-being. They discussed ways to involve seniors in creative tasks, encourage their activity and participation, and help them feel respected and valued.

Under the guidance of mentor Justė Kutkienė, Head of the Education Department at the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, educators participated in intensive practical sessions where they shared experiences and challenges related to working with seniors. Using their newly acquired skills, they developed sensitive, creative, and engaging educational programs for seniors, presented them to their colleagues, and exchanged insights and feedback.

On the final day of the residency, the Šliūpas House became a place filled with smiles, warmth, and positive emotions as the newly created educational programs were tested with residents of the Palanga City Care Home.

Throughout the Marta residencies, educators learned, created, and tested new educational programs, strengthening their professional capacity to build creative dialogue, design memorable experiences, and foster friendships that continue — visible, open, and accessible within the community!

From 2023 to 2025, the Lithuanian National Museum is implementing a centralized museum competency development program “Marta”, designed for professionals from national and state museums. The project is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.