IMAGinE Exhibitions Nominations

The 2011 IMAGinE award nominations have closed and as always we have been inundated with entries from throughout NSW. Over the next four weeks we'll highlight the nominees in each category as we warm up for a glamorous night of canapes, wine and awards at the Australian Museum's Terrace Room.

This week we're concentrating on the Exhibitions and Public Engagement. We've had so many nominations we need to split this category in two. This week we're looking at volunteer run organisations and those organisations run by 1-4 paid staff.

Without further ado, here are the nominations:

EXHIBITIONS & PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT - VOLUNTEER ORGANISATIONS

Australian Railway Monument
Stories from former Werris Creek rail employees a well as original footage from the days of steam up until modern day diesel and electric. This theme is believed to be unique in the Australian context and is based on the fact that Werris Creek is the first and last railway town in NSW.



Glenalvon Museum
This was a program of changing displays on local heritage themes whilst interpreting Glenalvon, classic Georgian two-storey town house located in Campbelltown and simultaneously undertaking a progressive upgrading of the room displays to create the experience of life during the last 180 years.


Port Macquarie Historical Society
A series of temporary exhibitions themed to link to local, statewide and national history festivals, other celebrations and visiting exhibitions. Each of the temporary exhibitions also included a public program event, usually an open day with free or gold coin entry and coffee morning with curatorial speaker or other relevant local guest speaker/s.

Port of Yamba Historical Society

A special exhibition, titled Nursery-Rhymes Exposed – Delve Deeper than the Ditty, depicted thirty-one Rhymes. Each was displayed alongside a colourful illustration and information labels explaining background and historical context, sourced from hours of research. Surrounding each was a collection of items. eg ‘Polly Put the Kettle On’ featured a collection of tea-sets and pots; ‘Baa-Baa Black Sheep’ - wool and shearing equipment.



Thredbo Ski Museum

The Kiandra Story which endeavours to display to the visiting public through historical photographs, DVDs, skis, apparel, historic newspaper articles, the rich story of organised alpine skiing beginnings in Australia and arguably ,the world to acknowledge and celebrate the 150th Anniversary of organised alpine skiing in Australia, beginning at Kiandra in 1861.




Willoughby District Historical Society Inc
The Tales of Flat Rock Creek exhibition explores the impact of urban development on a pristine natural environment since the European settlement through the eyes of Willoughby residents. The story is told through three primary themes: the Rugged Landscape to the 1930s; the Ruined valley resulting from industrial waste, the Willoughby Incinerator and the garbage tip that impacted on the downstream landscape, flora and fauna; and its Reclamation, which explores the rehabilitation of the area and restoration of the incinerator as public recreational facilities and a bushland walkway.
EXHIBITIONS & PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT - 1-4 PAID STAFF

Coffs Harbour Regional Museum

The Museum Pop Up was devised when the museum was flooded and closed in March, 2009.It was of vital importance to be able to reassure local residents the collection was in good condition and that their history was intact and was being managed in a responsible way although the objects were in storage. The "Pop Up" museum concept was embraced by the community.


Cowra Regional Art Gallery

The project was the co-curated presentation of the touring exhibition There’s a War On!  World War II at Home . The Cowra component was curated by the Gallery Director Brian Langer and showcased visual art and craft objects, photographs and memorabilia from community and private collections in Cowra that were linked in various ways to the works and curatorial themes of the touring exhibition.




George Hanna Memorial Museum

Audacciousville: the Story of Dacey Garden Suburb’ explored the history of Australia’s first public housing estate. Daceyville, as the suburb is known today, began construction in 1912 and was a product of the first labor government in New South Wales. Unfortunately, due to World War I and a change of government, the finished suburb was a fraction of its planned size.


Glasshouse Regional Gallery

People Of the First Sunrise was a project in partnership with Port Macquarie TAFE, MCA and the Gallery. Over a 9 month period, Aboriginal TAFE students developed a curatorium and selected works from the MCA Collections under the mentorship of Keith Munro, Curator Aboriginal projects, MCA. 24 works by 17 renowned Indigenous artists from eastern Australia were selected exploring current issues about identity and place

Goulburn Regional Art Gallery

GW Bot: the long paddock A 30 YEAR SURVEY is a solo survey exhibition of past and recent work by GW Bot and includes some new work. As one of Australia’s leading artists her printmaking, sculpture and painting is justly exhibited on its own. Bot’s unique visual language and imagery offers alternate ways of viewing the familiar.



Grafton Regional Gallery

The project involved two exhibitions Fire, Form and Fruition Geoff Crispin: a regional practice in clay and An Artist’s Influence on the Collection presented simultaneously in September 2010 at the Grafton Regional Gallery. Form examined the interactions between an artist and local and remote communities with in Australia and overseas. An Artist’s Influence demonstrated the interaction between an artist, Geoff Crispin, working in a regional area and his impact on the collection development of their regional gallery.
Macquarie University Art Gallery

India ─ Past, Present and Abroad provides broad access to the understanding of our multi-cultural nature of Australian heritage, by presenting the perspectives of local photographers and historians on the contribution of Indian culture. Travel photography and newspaper heritage is made accessible for audiences to conduct similar research.



Peacock Gallery

Auburn Youth Art Showcase-"Own it"- An exhibition of works by local young people aged 12-24 during Youth Week and School Holidays ( 1 April to 1 May 2011) at the Peacock Gallery, Auburn Botanic Gardens. The strategies used resulted in the provision of an engaging exhibition and public programming aimed at engaging youth in the arts



UNE Heritage Centre, University of New England
THROUGH THE COLLECTORS LENS - DISSECTING BOOLOOMINBAH exhibition at NERAM exhibition provides an opportunity to use a large `museum standard' exhibition space to explore the diversity of collections held by the university and to introduce them to a general audience. The project was to develop an exhibition which could use scientific and cultural collections to explore a common theme which would be interesting to a general audience

Far North Coast Museums & Galleries

Recently, over three days commencing Monday 22 August, I had the pleasure of visiting a range of museums and galleries based in and around the far north coast centres of Grafton, Lismore and Murwillumbah.

Organised by the far north Coast chapter of Museums Australia, specifically members Marea Buist & Geoff Foley, the trip began dramatically courtesy of Rex Airlines, when my flight from Sydney to Grafton failed to resume after a stopover in Taree.

It was 8pm on the Sunday evening and a subsequent unscheduled mini-bus nightmare had us arriving in Grafton at 2.30 Monday morning. After a brief sleep the day began (again) with a meeting at Grafton Regional Gallery. It was attended by a range of museum & gallery representatives along with the mayor and senior staff from Clarence Valley Council. I was invited to address the meeting, telling those assembled about M&G NSW and its programs and plans for the future. Questions were then fielded on a range of topics before a delightful morning tea and subsequent tour of several impressive volunteer run museums, including Schaeffer House, home to the Clarence Valley Historical Society, Alumny Creek School Museum, the Lawrence Museum and Yamba Museum.

Monday ended with a short drive to Lismore in preparation for another full day planned for the Tuesday. Following an early tour of both the Lismore Regional Museum and the Lismore Regional Gallery another community forum was organized for Lismore Workers Club, commencing at 9.30. I used this event as an opportunity to speak optimistically about the role of volunteer museums, and the essential importance placed on developing audience and programming strategies that embrace and welcome a cross section of the community. It was agreed by all present that good storytelling lies at the heart of any successful museum. This encouraged the conversation to consider effective collection strategies and the adoption of policies that allow de-accessioning.

We also discussed the ‘here and now’ topics of sustainability, the role of local government, involvement of Aboriginal people and the telling of their stories, and opportunities for ‘entrepreneurial spirit’ to support ambition and future growth. Following this enjoyable joust and exchange of ideas I was taken on a tour to Alstonville Plateau Historical Society’s Crawford House Museum (and lunch with their executive), Ballina Naval Museum, Ballina Community Gallery and Bangalow Historical Society Museum (a relocated ex brothel!).

The final day commenced with a tour of the soon to be re-developed Murwillumbah Museum and a meeting with staff and volunteers. This was followed by lunch at the Tweed River Regional Gallery with gallery staff, Tweed Shire Councillors (including the Mayor) and council staff, followed by a tour of the Archibald Prize Exhibition (organised by M&G NSW) which is attracting record numbers to this outstanding regional gallery. Before heading to Coolangatta for the flight home my final visit was to the magnificent site of the proposed Tweed Regional Museum. It overlooks the mouth of the Tweed River, atop Flagstaff Hill, with additional views out to sea and down the coast towards Byron Bay.

In summing up, it was certainly beneficial for me to have had the opportunity to meet so many dedicated volunteers and to be able to listen to their concerns and aspirations for the future. There is no doubt that the volunteer museum sector has its challenges. From my observations those same challenges are met with an equal dose of determination.

Characteristically the regional galleries visited were all placing themselves at the centre of community cultural engagement – incidentally, with many programs and exhibitions produced and planned in partnership with museums.

If I left each of them with one thought it was to ensure that their efforts are characterized by a welcoming spirit, and that they use clear and distinct storytelling and/or entrepreneurial vision, to engage the whole community.

I also emphasized the need to show a united front, to meet collectively and regularly - to share and support each others undoubted and community focused contribution.

Briefing & brainstorming for Bungaree: The First Australian

In addition to some much-loved sunshine and warm weather in Sydney, the first weekend of Spring also marked the beginning of the momentous Bungaree project; a new exhibition being curated by Djon Mundine (OAM), developed by Mosman Art Gallery and toured by Museums & Galleries NSW.

Bungaree: The First Australian brings together 17 major Aboriginal artists to create a contemporary multi-arts response to the historical figure of Bunagree - the first person described in print as being an 'Australian' and commonly known as a mediator between English colonists and Aboriginal people, circumnavigating Australia with Matthew Flinders in 1802.

In an action-packed 3 day residency, the artists were introduced to the story of Bungaree, with guest lectures by Dr John Maynard and Dr Keith Vincent Smith, participated in workshops, brainstorms, and walking tours around Georges Heights to get the creative juices flowing - all on the scenic site of Bungaree's Farm in Mosman, land gifted to him by Governor Macquarie in 1815. Artists present at the weekend residency include Frances Belle-Parker, Karla Dickens, Fiona Foley, Adam Hill, Warwick Keen, Gary Lee, Gordon Syron, Leanne Tobin, Jason Wing, Mervyn Bishop, Aroha Groves, Caroline Oakley, and Peter McKenzie.

Exhibition curator Djon Mundine and artists partcipating in a workshop

It was particularly interesting to hear these contributors share their thoughts about the controversial character of Bungaree and debate the benefits of his involvement in colonial settlement (or lack of!) - What were Bungaree's motivations in befriending Flinders? Which community was he really helping and why? It was also at times incredibly moving to be reminded of the consequent conflicts in control, culture and identity still so prominently faced by Aboriginal people now.

Over the next 12 months, the artists will be working furiously across multiple mediums (including painting, drawing, photography, digital media, sculpture and installation) to develop their artistic response, which will culminate in an inaugural exhibition at Mosman Art Gallery in September 2012 before embarking on a nationwide tour. This is one to watch!

2011 IMAGinE Individual Achievements

The 2011 IMAGinE award nominations have closed and as always we have been inundated with entries from throughout NSW. Over the next four weeks we'll highlight the nominees in each category as we warm up for a glamorous night of canapes, wine and awards at the Australian Museum's Terrace Room.

A strong category this year is Individual Achievements celebrating specific people in our sector who have tirelessly sought excellence and innovation for their museum, gallery or keeping place. Whether volunteer or paid, these ladies and gentlemen have proved to be invaluable and irreplaceable for their organisations and the sector as a whole. 

And the nominees are . . . 


VOLUNTEER STAFF

Glen Johns contributed tirelessly to the museum sector across NSW from the late 1990s through to his death on 31st January 2011. Glen's contribution to the museum sector began with his work with the Boorowa museum in the late 1990s when he moved to Boorowa.

Within museum circles, Glen is probably best remembered as the man behind the Working Spaces  conferences held at St Clements, Galong. As a man who believed anything was possible, Glen approached Museums & Galleries NSW in 2006 with an idea for a volunteer museums conference with "no talking heads" and plenty of practical workshops. In no time, Glen had convinced the major cultural institutions in Canberra to contribute staff to run the various workshops and the Working Spaces conference was born.

Gillian Kelly has shown great leadership as a volunteer Curator working with QDHMS (Society) members and CIT Museum Studies Students with the support of QCC in transforming the Queanbeyan Museum's displays over the last 8 years. Amongst a great deal of work, Gillian has researched, developed, consulted on, planned for and led a team that has set up an average of two new exhibitions in the Museum each year.

Led by Gillian, the volunteer team  has transformed Queanbeyan Museum into a high quality and accessible community facility that tells the many stories about Queanbeyan and its history. Gillian is also a local historian and received an OAM for her contribution to the history group Lacemakers of Calais.

In April 2002, Jill Madew, a long term resident and business woman of Adaminaby, heard the heavy machinery previously used in the construction of the Snowy Hydro-Electric Scheme in NSW would be offered at auction. Under Jill's leadership, a group of Adaminaby residents formed a fundraising committee and in a frantic scramble before the auction, the committee raised $40,000. The money raised by the committee enabled the purchase of eight of the ten items earmarked as most historically important.

With the beginnings of a collection in hand, Jill converted the fundraising committee into a museum committee and set about the long and arduous task of convincing Governments through grants applications and other fundraising endeavours, that the proposed museum was needed as a tribute to one of the engineering wonders of the modern world. Next month, Snowy Scheme Museum Adaminaby opens to the public. 

On moving to Grafton in 1976, Pam Fysh became an active committee member of the Jacaranda Art Society. The society established and presented the annual Jacaranda Art Prize and founded the Grafton Art Gallery which in 1988 became the Grafton Regional Gallery. Since then, Pam's guidance and actions in developing and supporting the gallery in its programs, collections and support groups, and its facilities and equipment has always been positively and diplomatically given.

Pam Fysh has been and continues to be an active advocate for museums and galleries in the Clarence Valley and beyond. Over the last year Pam has worked with the Grafton Showground Trust to upgrade the kitchen of the Barn, a heritage listed pavilion. Pam has been instrumental in gaining a grant of $100,000 through the Community Building Partnership of the NSW Government, gaining the services of an architect pro bono and having the project completed on time.

Christina Webb has had a significant impact on the community-based Thredbo Historical Society since she joined in 2000.

From 2001 Christina undertook the duties of Honorary Secretary/Treasurer. Her work involved correspondence, minutes, membership, accounts, banking, transcription of oral histories, 3 newsletters annually, publicity and archiving of printed material. Between 2000 and 2009 the Society membership increased from circa 60 members to 200. By 2009 the volume of Secretary/Treaurer’s work had increased so much that it was necessary to split the position in three, and Christina was appointed Honorary Museum Administrator/Publicity Officer.

Christina drives half hour drive from her home in Jindabyne to Thredbo in order to open the Museum, an activity which she combines with a ski prior to opening the museum during the winter months.


PAID STAFF

Gavin Fry has been Director of Newcastle Museum since 1999. Since then he has conceived, developed, supervised and brought to completion the redevelopment of the former Newcastle Regional Museum, bringing it firmly into the 21st century as an institution of which the community and the state can be justly proud. Year after year he systematically put in place the building blocks of the project, including the sale of the former museum site, acquisition of the new Museum Storage Facility and successful application to the Commonwealth which resulted in an $8.5 million grant. This was the largest made under the RLCIP nation building program and completed a $23.5 million funding package. 

Gavin is coming to the end of a 30 plus year career in Australian museums, having worked steadily up through a range of significant roles including Senior Curator of Art at the Australian War Memorial, Deputy Director of the Australian National Maritime Museum and Museums Review Consultant for the Department of Defence.

Julie Baird has been Curator of Newcastle Museum since 2002 and Acting Deputy Director since November 2010. Since the closure of the old museum in 2007 Julie has been developing a new suite of exhibitions for the revamped museum and has recruited and led an enthusiastic team to work towards the 2011 reopening. Recruited to Newcastle from her previous role as senior curator at the Australian National Maritime Museum, Julie has become an integral part of the Hunter region museums scene, reorganising and invigorating the Hunter Chapter of Museums Australia, acting as a leader and mentor for the smaller museums in the area.

The new museum's feature exhibition, Newcastle Story, is Julie's work from conception to completion. She provided the brief, worked closely with the architects and designers and led the installation team. The outstanding result achieved in the new Newcastle Museum could not have been achieved without her knowledge, enthusiasm, commitment and passion.

In 2009, Rebekah Schulz, Manager of the Library, Museum & Entertainment for Hurstville City Council, undertook a restructure of the Hurstville Library and Information Services, Penshurst Branch Library and St George Regional Museum to meet 21st century community needs. Rebekah converged the facilities into Hurstville City Library, Museum & Gallery (LMG), a centre of cultural excellence which aims to educate, inspire and engage.

Rebekah has worked on the following major initiatives including the development of Councilor education program, Hurstville’s Community Strategic Plan 2021, The Begin-Again, a Sydney-wide art event with C3West and MCA staff and a successful campaign for the Museum & Gallery to double its opening hours.

Rebekah’s impact on our organisation is evident of her being announced the inaugural winner of HCC's Leader of the Year Award in 2010.

Gary Corbert's twenty-three year career in the museum & gallery sector commenced at Broken Hill Regional Gallery where he worked as an Education Officer. Upon the then Director's resignation, he was subsequently appointed Director - continuing to work towards establishing a strong profile for the gallery, its collections and programs. He also contributed to the museum and gallery sector in various roles including his position as Museums and Galleries Manager at Broken Hill City Council. 

In 2002, Gary instigated the Border Art Prize, which is held at the Gold Coast City Art Gallery and the Tweed River Art Gallery in alternating years. The prize aimed to showcase the wealth of local talent in the Tweed/Gold Coast regions, has become one of the most popular in the region and continues to grow in size each year.

Who will win? Book now for the 2011 IMAGinE awards presentation event!

A Gathering in Narooma

Last week a group of reviewers embarked on the first of their visits to participating Museums in the Standards Program. To round this week of visits up, we put on a workshop in Narooma, which was a great opportunity to get everyone together again and find out how they were getting on.

Sarah-Jane and I took along our friend Clare Power from the National Maritime Museum, whose grant program MMAPSS helped fund the fantastic new exhibition ‘Mainland to Island’ at the Narooma Lighthouse Museum.

We were lucky to have Andrew Gray (RADO, South East Arts) along to talk us through the design of this exhibition during the workshop. It was great for everyone to hear some practical tips on how to put together a professional looking exhibition. We took the opportunity to remind museums that M&G NSW also have grants available at the moment to make this happen.

Another guest speaker was Vanessa Milton, a producer from the ABC Open for the South East region. Vanessa provided a very engaging session on how the museums can get involved with the ABC to showcase their stories.

We are still all recovering from over-indulging in the incredible catering provided by the Narooma CWA, who definitely lived up to their reputation!

UPDATE! It was great to see the workshop get a special mention in the Narooma News!

Andrew Gray from South East Arts talks to Diane Pryor (Bega Pioneer's Museum)
about the new exhibition Mainland to Island

The 2011 Standards Participants

Delicious catering provided by the Narooma CWA

A beautiful day in Narooma for the workshop!















John McGlynn and Kerrie Ruth from Queanbeyan Museum, and Doug Quane from the Queanbeyan Printing Museum with Phoebe.

Loving Lace

Love Lace
Powerhouse Museum
30 July 2011- April 2012

The Iconic Powerhouse Museum's current exhibition Love Lace encompasses the delicate and innovative design of traditional lace and adapted materials that reflect the appearance of authentic lace work.

The exhibition comprises 130 lace works by a total of 134 artists from 20 countries; the artworks are separated into 6 distinct categories showcasing winning entries and highly commended work that went in the running for the Powerhouse Museums International Lace Award. The categories range from traditional techniques to digital media, fashion accessories and student work. There is something for everyone.

Another amazing feature of exhibition is the specially designed free museum app for Iphone and Android users. Simply download the app to your phone and use it to scan the barcodes on the labels next to each artists work. The app provides a more detailed account of the artists work and other relevant information on the artist. 

The Love Love exhibit is a great way to get a firsthand look at artworks on an international scale, the sheer volume of the work will leave you mesmerized by the beautifully fragile details and the astonishing design and craftsmanship of each piece. The breathtaking works and enchanting beauty of the exhibition will leave you with a newfound appreciation for the versatility of lace.

Be sure to check out the Love Lace exhibition at the Sydney Powerhouse running in conjunction with Sydney Design 2011. It's my favorite exhibition this year.

Danielle O'Keefe

Intern, M&G NSW

Jurassic Nights

Giganotosaurus at the Australian Museum

Each Tuesday in August the Australian Museum open their doors after hours for the ‘Jurassic Lounge’. After wandering around at the launch of the winter season last week I can certainly see what all the hype is about. When do you ever normally get the opportunity to look at dinosaur bones, dance in a silent disco, touch various fury animals in taxidermy displays and hold reptiles and insects all whilst still drinking a beer?

Part of the charm is that as a visitor you are left to your own devices, there is no tour or real starting point and you are free to explore whatever parts of the museum you like. After ordering a glass of wine (included in my ticket price), I walked towards the Rituals of Seduction: Birds of Paradise exhibition, which shows off the beauty of various male birds attempting to attract mates within the rainforests of New Guinea and Northern Australia. A spectacular performance of three-feathered dancers accompanied the exhibition nicely. From here I explored and interacted with various displays relating to dinosaurs, taxidermy animals, Aboriginal history, minerals and gems, birds, butterflies and skeletons.


Although all was fantastic, my highlights included dancing with friends to old school hip hop masters Run D.M.C in the silent disco, whilst decorated with way too many glow sticks and being able to hold a real live stick insect, whilst trying to stop it run all the way up my arm and into my hair.

Be sure to make it to the next Jurassic Lounge event on Tuesday 16 August.