What is the Museum Standards Program

In December 2011, eleven museums from the East Coast region completed the Museum Standards Program. To celebrate their (and past participants) achievements Museums & Galleries NSW has put  together a video that highlights the strengths, opportunities, and incredible experiences for museums who have chosen to embark on the Program.

An Opportunity to Rethink my Museum

Samantha Sinnayah, 2011 M&G NSW Mentorship Recipient  
Western Plains Cultural Centre (WPCC), National Museum of Australia (NMA) and surrounding regional museums.

As I work alone at the George Hanna Memorial Museum (GHMM), and have done for the past two years, I was seeking to expand and refresh my curatorial practice. Now in its 16th year, the GHMM is running out of traditional historical topics to cover and will need to rethink approaches if meaningful exhibitions are to be developed in the future.

With this goal in mind, I applied for an M&G NSW Mentorship, funded by Arts NSW, at the Western Plains Cultural Centre (WPCC) and the National Museum of Australia (NMA).

At the WPPC I was very interested to see how this local government museum managed to continually engage its community with new perspectives on Dubbo’s history through exhibitions like People Places Possessions: Dubbo Stories, and Dubbo 10- Community Voices. Likewise, I’d hoped that my time at NMA would provide me with ideas on how to approach my future exhibition proposal, a social history of Botany Bay, from Captain Cook to the present day. Covering four local government areas, this will be a larger project than any I have previously researched and curated.

My placement exposed me to the different approaches, issues and responsibilities these institutions faced. One highlight was witnessing collection and curatorial meetings at NMA. As a curator of a museum that focuses on one small local government area, I assumed the NMA just had a wider area over which to cast its net. I had no idea how complex collecting for a nation is and of the issues that come with that responsibility.

I also discovered the importance of making history relevant in collection and curatorial practice. NMA actively collect the ‘past’ as it occurs in the present, and, during a trip to Wagga, I found that staff at the ,Museum of the Riverina also link their historical exhibitions to the here and now. At the GHMM, our exhibitions are tied to celebrating the past, partly due to our strong ties to our local historical trust. Linking the past to the present is certainly something I am going to consciously consider in the future, especially as I attempt to build new audiences.

During the two weeks, I also took the opportunity to visit a number of regional museums between Dubbo and Albury. Having the chance to see a wide cross section of museums in NSW gave me a strong sense of the sector as a whole and my organization’s place in it. On a basic level, it introduced me to the depth of collections across the state and the resourcefulness of some volunteer run organizations. On a deeper level, it is has made me think more strategically about the resources I have available to me. The volunteer run Cootamundra Heritage Centre was very inspirational and has opened my eyes to how I may be able to utilize our local historical trust. 

All in all my mentorship was an invaluable experience. Thanks to the frank conversations I had with museum professionals, and to the wide variety of exhibitions I saw, I gained far more from my mentorship than can be expressed in these condensed paragraphs.

Samantha Sinnayah
 

Volunteer Rusty in front of Cootamundra’s curiosity chest – the volunteer organization’s inexpensive but effective equivalent of the glass and steel chests at the Museum of Sydney.

A 3-d collage about the history of Cootamundra. These dioramas where produced in cigarette tins by Jack Mullins the local newsagent.

Lady Denman exhibition opening

Lillian, Sarah-Jane and Phoebe were delighted to have the opportunity to travel down to beautiful Huskisson for the opening of the There’s a War On! exhibition at the very impressive Lady Denman Heritage Complex.

We arrived to the rousing tunes of war time performed by the local choir that was perched up on the deck of the Lady Denman boat! The music really added to the festive atmosphere of the exhibition and surely evoked many memories for people in the crowd.

The exhibition is housed within the main gallery space and exemplifies the possibilities of presenting touring exhibitions such as There’s a War On! with existing museum collections – in this case, a curated display of Lady Denman’s objects in the joint exhibition entitled Down To the Wire! The Bay and Basin in WWII. Interpretative panels, banners and video footage were shown alongside valuable historical objects drawn from the museum’s collection, allowing an interesting mix of factual World War II information while providing a local perspective of wartime experiences from the surrounds of Jervis Bay and Huskisson.



The exhibition also includes several activities catered for varying audiences, such as war costumes for children to dress up in, and laptops with internet access to the There’s a War On! wiki encouraging individual visitors to contribute their stories and memories from World War II to this public forum. After taking in the exhibition (and the delicious home baking on offer) we were very fortunate that the Curator of the Lady Denman, Graeme Hinton could spare the time to show us around the fabulous new collection management facility that the Museum acquired last year, including climate-controlled storage facilities.



Morgan Sant, President of the Lady Denman Committee (and Standards Program reviewer) also showed us the new theatre/conference room and the fascinating permanent maritime collection on display. There were lots of great stories associated with the collection and we all wished we had more time so we could look around the exhibitions some more. A return journey is definitely on the cards! There’s a War On! and Down to the Wire! are currently on exhibition at the Lady Denman Heritage Complex until Sunday 4 September 2011.

Phoebe and Lillian

Future Plus….. Dreams and Other Ideas – NSW Museums & Galleries Planning Day

Amanda Lawson presents survey research to NSW museum and gallery representatives.

Monday 20th June was a very busy day at Museums & Galleries NSW's office with over thirty people from across NSW coming together to look at future plans for the sector. Representatives from regional galleries, regional museums, volunteer managed museums, state government, cultural centres that incorporate a range of activities including museums, galleries, local history research not for profit organisations, Artist Run Initiatives

The first half of the day was a presentation and workshop by Professor Amanda Lawson (University of Wollongong), Professor Shirley Veitch (Swinburne Universit of Technology), Deborah Ely (Bundanon Trust) and Amanda Reynolds who are part of the team currently undertaking work for Arts NSW on a Strategic Plan for the Visual Arts and Museum Sector for more information on the background to this project, please go to the Arts NSW website here.

The project is being undertaken by a six person team and aims to provide preliminary recommendations to Arts NSW about how best to support the museum and gallery sector over the next 5-10 years, including key priorities and approaches to sector support. Their work has included:

• A literature review of national and international issues and trends
• Phone interviews from key representatives of the industry
• Distributing and analysing a survey with the sector focusing on 10 key areas (provided in online and hardcopy formats to over 600 organisations across NSW)
• Collating written submissions
• Presentation of the workshop on 20 June for feedback on the survey and input into the future of the sector

The final report is due with ArtsNSW on July 15th 2011

Amanda's team received over 200 responses to the survey with the majority being filled out online. The regional community were well represented in the responses with 74% of respondents being from regional areas. Over 30% of responses came from historical societies with museums with a further 20% from museums, just over 10% from regional museums and just under 10% from regional galleries. Over 40% of respondents were managed by volunteer committees, 20% local government, 15% incorporated associations and 5% state government. The majority of respondents were from well established organisations with just under 45% being established between 1961 and 1990. The team has found that there are a variety of needs and focus across NSW, which reflect the diversity of organisations that make up the museum and gallery sector within NSW.

Following Amanda's presentation on the outcomes of the survey the group were divided into four teams and Professor Veitch led a session workshopping a purpose statement for the gallery and museum sector in NSW. This was a really interesting approach to strategic planning that asked participants to step outside their specific organisations and look more broadly at how the museum and gallery sector is perceived and what it should broadly focus on in the next five years. Shirley asked participants to look at:

• Inspirational dream (why we exist)
• Spirit (who we are)
• Beliefs (what we stand for)
• Attributes (our character)
• Greatest imaginable challenge (what we are going to achieve over the next 5 years)
• Focus (what we'll focus on)

The outcomes of this session will feed into the work Amanda et al will present to Arts NSW on 15th July.

Following this, Michael Rolfe presented the preliminary work on M&G NSW's 2012-2014 strategic plan to members of M&G NSW's three reference committees (Visual Arts Reference Committee, Museums Reference Committee and Volunteer Reference Committee), including an outline of the proposed new staff structure. We also presented a series of ideas for possible workshops and seminars over the next three years to get a sense of priority areas for ongoing learning within the sector.

If you would like more information about our future planning please contact Michael Rolfe on 9358 1760 or free call 1800 114 311

National Regional Arts Broadband Forum

Recently I was fortunate enough to be invited to be one of fifty observers to the National Regional Arts Broadband Forum, organized by Regional Arts Australia, at Parliament House, Canberra.

Twenty speakers representing a range of stakeholders including; NBN Co, ABC Television, the tertiary education sector, new media, regional and Aboriginal arts organizations, discussed an open response to the question – How will better access to broadband enable the arts to help build stronger communities?

Much of the conversation centred on the impact NBN services will have on education services and creative enterprise/opportunity. By removing distance and isolation from the equation, clearly, more people will be able to participate either as ‘makers’ or as ‘audience’. In nurturing this ‘market share’, speakers stressed the need for players to partner and connect, to metaphorically create broadband like links, in support of what can be achieved.

The Hon Simon Crean MP, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government & Minister for the Arts also addressed the forum. He strongly articulated arts related broadband opportunity in the context of community cultural, social and economic benefit. His vision of a connected future emphasised the need for arts related participation to be found at ‘intersections’ throughout the community. He unambiguously sees the arts as a major player in regional development, lifestyle and service provision and that this role will be enhanced by the NBN.

In health and education, across local government, within community and social services and throughout the private sector ‘cultural’ intersections already exist. As many readers of this blog know, in regional Australia, museums, galleries, theatres, conservatoriums and Aboriginal cultural centres are often found at the centre of what people do. Programs they run actively seek to connect and ‘tap the talent out there’, a role Crean emphasised in commenting on the two way nature of broadband – the ability to upload shouldn’t be forgotten.

In the not to distant future, Regional Arts Australia will be publishing a more detailed account of proceedings. Hopefully we will be able to publish it (or a link to it) on our website so stay tuned and in regard to the NBN, think big!

Michael Rolfe