Team Focus: Adam Knowles
Tell us about yourself and your role at Core?
Hi I'm Adam, married with three grown up kids / young adults. We all live in Huddersfield, where I've lived since I was 10. My role at Core is to search out a project’s best stories and think about how to tell these in ways that can capture the interest of a variety of visitors.
How did you first get involved in the industry and what led you to Core?
I’ve had lot of different jobs, from window cleaner to web designer, but I think the combination of 10 years as a freelance graphic designer and then five years as a primary school teacher are the skills that led me to the job I do now. The visual communication of graphics and working out how to get a class of 30 kids to take an interest in the finer points of grammar have left me with a useful skillset that is a real benefit in my role.
What would you say you most enjoy about working at Core?
Variety. One day it could be a site visit to a forgotten mine shaft or a stunning cathedral, the next I can be co-producing content for a new exhibition space or discussing the best way to engage children with a new interactive display.
Highlights or favourite projects from your time at Core?
Some of the best times are towards the end of the first few weeks of a new project, when the ice is broken and you begin to share in the incredible knowledge and passion people have about the collections or landscapes which they are entrusting us with. Sometimes a little daunting, but ultimately rewarding.
What does a typical day’s work look like for you?
Out of the office it can be site visits, getting to know the collections or the areas where we’re working, sometimes hosting workshops with groups of people who are passionate and knowledgeable about their collections and history. When I'm in the office, lots of planning meetings and research, writing and developing plans for the best way to tell all these stories. Actually, I don't really have a typical day!
What do you like to do in your spare time?
I love walking, when I get the chance, out somewhere green and beautiful if possible. I also have a small workshop where I’m beginning to develop some woodworking skills. I also watch loads of YouTube videos to find out how to do the woodworking – you can find just about anything.
What would be your ultimate historical time travel destination and why?
I'm a bit obsessed by chair design, but I don't really know much more than what I think looks nice, so a trip to see Thomas Chippendale’s factory in the mid-18th Century would be a great start to my education.
What projects are you working on at the moment?
At the minute my head is full of facts about the great and the good memorialised in Newcastle Cathedral, trails around the stunning Skell Valley in North Yorkshire, Derby's amazing Museum of Making and Elsecar's newly revealed industrial heritage. Plenty to be going on with.