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QUEEN VICTORIA MUsEUM AND ART GALLERY

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Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery


To the Minister for the Arts<br />

The Mayor and Aldermen of the Launceston City Council are<br />

pleased to submit, in accordance with the Local Government<br />

Act 1993, the Annual Report for the Queen Victoria Museum<br />

and Art Gallery for the year ended June 2009.<br />

Frank Dixon<br />

GENERAL MANAGER<br />

Launceston City Council<br />

Contents<br />

About the Queen Victoria Museum<br />

and Art Gallery 2<br />

QVMAG Mission Statement 2<br />

Location 2<br />

Admission 2<br />

Opening Hours 2<br />

Contact Details 2<br />

Introduction 3<br />

Museum Highlights 4<br />

Activities 4<br />

Acquisitions 5<br />

The Collections 6<br />

Arts 6<br />

Humanities 6<br />

Natural Sciences 6<br />

Physical Sciences 6<br />

Collection Management 6<br />

Collection Development 7<br />

Collection Research 7<br />

Collection Conservation 8<br />

Community Support 8<br />

Outward Loans 9<br />

Education 10<br />

Highlights 10<br />

Playgroup 10<br />

Museum Learning Centre 10<br />

Animal Loans 10<br />

Exhibitions 10<br />

Information services 11<br />

Exhibitions 12<br />

Inveresk 12<br />

Exhibits 12<br />

Museum Publications 13<br />

Publication Highlights 13<br />

Papers and Articles 13<br />

Newsletters Edited 14<br />

Corporate Support and Special Purpose Grants 14<br />

Grants 14<br />

Sponsors 14<br />

Support Groups 14<br />

Launceston Museum and Art Gallery Foundation 15<br />

Plomley Foundation 16<br />

Volunteers 17<br />

Staff 18<br />

Appendix 21<br />

Appendix 1 21<br />

Appendix 2 21<br />

Appendix 3 23<br />

Appendix 4 27<br />

Appendix 5 28


About the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery<br />

QVMAG Mission Statement<br />

Our Mission is to be a leader in the intellectual and creative<br />

development of Launceston and the State by increasing our<br />

enjoyment and understanding of our natural and cultural<br />

heritage.<br />

Location<br />

QVMAG is located at the Inveresk Precinct<br />

2 Invermay Road Launceston<br />

Admission<br />

Admission to the QVMAG is free.<br />

Entry fees are charged for some exhibitions.<br />

Opening Hours<br />

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery @ Inveresk<br />

Open 10 am – 5 pm daily<br />

All venues closed Christmas Day and Good Friday<br />

Contact Details<br />

PO Box 403, Launceston, Tasmania 7250<br />

Telephone (03) 6323 3777<br />

Facsimile (03) 6323 3776<br />

History Branch<br />

Telephone (03) 6323 3726<br />

www.qvmag.tas.gov.au<br />

2


Introduction<br />

Last year Inveresk had been the focus of much activity with the<br />

transfer of major elements, such as the exbibtions The Great<br />

Dying and Artstart, from Royal Park as well as the opening and<br />

success of Phenomena Factory. This year effort switched to Royal<br />

Park and its transformation. The appointment of Peddle Thorp<br />

Architects initiated a long process of planning, analysis and<br />

exploration which, in consultation with the Museum staff, led to<br />

the gradual emergence of the new QVMAG, on paper if not yet<br />

in the flesh of steel and stone.<br />

The evacuation of the building began—a monumental task given<br />

it had been the focal point of the City’s collections for over 120<br />

years. Structural, safety, heritage and access surveys took place<br />

leading to the appearance of an enormous number of holes<br />

and reports, all of which pointed the way forward. Some were<br />

alarming, revealing the necessity of complete rewiring and roof<br />

replacement, neither of which had been foreseen, but in the end<br />

the project adapted and survived.<br />

Reorganisation continued, the main outcome being the creation<br />

of three streamlined and larger curatorial areas: History, Natural<br />

Sciences and Visual Art and Design, now all of approximately the<br />

same size and large enough to sustain significant coordinated<br />

programs. Jon Addison and Dr Lisa-ann Gershwin were<br />

appointed as permanent full-time curators to History and<br />

Natural Sciences respectively. Advertisements were placed for<br />

two new curators in the Visual and Decorative Arts, bringing<br />

that section up to unprecedented capacity. An interim structure,<br />

approved to support the renovation project, saw Glenda King<br />

assume responsibility for Visual Arts and Design as well as the<br />

new Royal Park exhibitions. The Director stepped in as a ‘caretaker’<br />

for shared services (IT, Library, Conservation and Photography) as<br />

well as History and Natural Sciences now led by their new curators.<br />

While travelling and in-house exhibitions continued to attract<br />

visitors (with a small but welcome rise in visitation to the<br />

QVMAG despite the closure of Royal Park), attention turned to<br />

redevelopment of the 1000 m 2 of the Stone Building at Inveresk,<br />

the re-hanging of Royal Park and the building of the new and reequipped<br />

Planetarium. These projects all made strong progress,<br />

though in most cases their fruits will not be visible until late 2010.<br />

Work on the collections continued with the installation of<br />

major runs of new high-load shelving in the ‘Plant Shop’ at<br />

Inveresk which is being configured to be a major History/<br />

Technology store and an ‘access’ collections area. The roll out<br />

of File Maker Pro 9 (FMP) as the collection database platform<br />

continued and whole collections were switched to the new<br />

format. The digitisation of the Fine Art collections represented<br />

a major advance in this area. Local company Bloo Goo was<br />

commissioned to develop a new QVMAG website specifically<br />

designed to give access to the collections via the FMP platform<br />

as well as making other large digital resources such as oral<br />

histories, publications and collection guides available.<br />

A program to value the entire QVMAG collection was begun by<br />

the noted valuer Simon Storey. Though required by the Auditor<br />

General, the project will bring the QVMAG into line with other<br />

major institutions and be of great value to the Museum in terms<br />

of documentation and collection management. It is expected that<br />

the collections will be valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars.<br />

The year marked a strong recovery of the QVMAG as a source<br />

of valuable information. After a hiatus of over four years, the<br />

Records of the QVMAG were republished and a perusal of the<br />

listed scientific publications in this report will attest to a strong<br />

resurgence in our research output.<br />

This year started with the dreams of the new QVMAG taking<br />

solid form and ended with a diversion of most effort to the<br />

requirements of the new QVMAG in terms of exhibitions,<br />

collections, research and accessibility. The four-year reform<br />

program is entering its final year.<br />

None of this would have been possible without the generous<br />

and unwavering support of the Launceston City Council and the<br />

State Government of Tasmania. Above all we have been most<br />

encouraged by the positive community response to our efforts.<br />

The Friends of the QVMAG and the Launceston Museum and<br />

Art Foundation have been stalwart and active supporters, with<br />

the relaunch of the Art Foundation in June featuring Mr Ron<br />

Radford of the Australian National Gallery being a highlight of<br />

the year. The support of the Grote Reber Foundation, the Plomley<br />

Foundation and the Archer Trust carried us forward too, as did<br />

(as always), the tireless and imaginative efforts of the QVMAG<br />

staff.<br />

Patrick Filmer-Sankey<br />

Director<br />

3


Museum Highlights<br />

Activities<br />

• After experiencing a drop in visitors in 2007–08, the<br />

QVMAG gained a 2% increase in 2008–09. This is a pleasing<br />

result considering the Museum’s Royal Park site has been<br />

closed to the public for refurbishment and several exhibition<br />

spaces at the Museum’s Inveresk site have been unusable<br />

while awaiting further redevelopment. Permanent exhibitions<br />

to close at Inveresk this year include Pacific Encounters—in<br />

preparation for temporary Royal Park collection storage, and<br />

Past Lives, New Beginnings: Migration and Tasmania which<br />

makes way for the new Planetarium development.<br />

• The Collections and Information Services Department<br />

undertook a major consolidation project that saw various<br />

collection areas amalgamated. The Museum’s History,<br />

Oral History and Community History units combined into<br />

History, the sciences—Zoology, Botany and Geology—were<br />

consolidated under the banner of Natural Sciences while<br />

Fine Art and Decorative Arts and Design combined to form<br />

Visual Arts and Design. This was the next stage of the<br />

reconfiguration program that had commenced in 2007–08.<br />

These changes allow increased resources and support for<br />

individual staff members within these teams. Importantly,<br />

they also create curatorial streams that are required for the<br />

major redevelopment projects.<br />

This consolidation also allowed the Museum to considerably<br />

strengthen its curatorial and research resources. A Curator<br />

of History, Jon Addison, was appointed and Dr Lisa-ann<br />

Gershwin joined the Museum as Curator of Natural Sciences.<br />

Within the Visual Arts and Design team curatorial positions<br />

were redefined. Yvonne Adkins was appointed as Curator,<br />

19th Century Australian Art and Bridget Arkless to the<br />

position of Curator, Australian Art 1900–1980. Recruitment<br />

commenced for the two remaining curatorial positions in Visual<br />

Arts and Design; the newly created Curator of Contemporary<br />

Australian Art and the vacant position of Curator of Australian<br />

and International Decorative Arts and Design.<br />

• Following the closure of the Museum’s Royal Park site work<br />

commenced on the de-installation of all exhibition galleries,<br />

activity areas and the relocation of collection stores. In<br />

addition to galleries and collections, many staff are to be<br />

relocated during the renovations. This task, which it is<br />

estimated will take 18 months to complete, will leave Royal<br />

Park mostly vacant for builders and specialists to undertake<br />

the extensive refurbishment of the Museum’s original<br />

heritage site.<br />

• The new financial year saw many members of the Museum’s<br />

staff come together as the Steering Committee for the<br />

Museum’s second major project: the Inveresk Gallery Project<br />

(working title). The group worked to identify the ‘core stories’<br />

of northern Tasmania’s social and natural history and formed<br />

smaller discipline-based working groups to detail those stories.<br />

The project brief followed by the IGP working groups was<br />

an ambitious one, with all the component exhibitions to be<br />

rich in QVMAG collections and to promote cross-discipline<br />

linkages. Preparations for IGP remained in a particularly<br />

strong position as the year concluded and all staff involved<br />

remained focussed on the task of rejuvenating over 1450 m 2<br />

of the Museum’s Stone Building at Inveresk. This new galley<br />

development will allow the public to see many of the Museum’s<br />

iconic collection items on display together. Some of these items<br />

have not been exhibited for many years, and some not at all.<br />

• The third major project for the Museum this year was the<br />

move of the Launceston Planetarium from Royal Park to its<br />

new location at Inveresk. As part of this project, and with<br />

the assistance of the Grote Reber Foundation, the Museum<br />

acquired a Zeiss ZKP3 planetarium projector to replace the<br />

aging ZKP1. This new projector will provide visitors with a<br />

much more engaging experience of the night sky. Early in the<br />

year planetarium staff assembled a new digital all-sky system<br />

called Mirrordome, which will be used to show fulldome<br />

video in the new planetarium. A fulldome video show entitled<br />

Dawn of the Space Age, produced by the company Mirage3D,<br />

and which has been popular in planetariums all around the<br />

world was purchased and this, along with in-house shows<br />

already in production, will allow the Museum to provide shows<br />

specifically designed for a range of different groups.<br />

• Possibly the most ambitious and demanding public event<br />

hosted within the QVMAG@Inveresk this year involved the<br />

filming of two episodes of the very popular ABC television<br />

program The Collectors. Museum visitors were invited to take<br />

part as the live audience and were able to experience the<br />

impressive amount of production work that goes into live<br />

television. The main focus of the shows was the Museum,<br />

its collections and the heritage of the Inveresk site, but<br />

also included were segments on local, northern Tasmanian<br />

collectors. The shows were filmed in late August and<br />

screened in October 2008.<br />

4


• The QVMAG has worked in very close association with<br />

the biennial Ten Days on the Island since 2001. This year<br />

the Museum hosted the sound installation Sirens by Ray<br />

Lee. Sirens found its perfect home in the future temporary<br />

exhibition gallery in the large Stone Building, one of<br />

Inveresk’s raw and undeveloped spaces. The area was totally<br />

blacked-out to create a purely sonic environment.<br />

Acquisitions<br />

• This was another year with significant additions to the<br />

collections. In particular it is important to pay tribute to<br />

the support obtained from the Launceston Museum and<br />

Art Gallery Foundation and the Friends of the Queen<br />

Victoria Museum and Art Gallery who acquired a number<br />

of significant items for the collection. Their continued<br />

commitment to this institution is invaluable. The support<br />

of Mr John Hawkins and Mr John Millwood who both<br />

contributed to the acquisition of an 1830s blackwood sofa is<br />

also gratefully acknowledged.<br />

An interesting possible connection to Samuel Horton,<br />

who settled Somercotes near Ross, Tasmania in 1823, and<br />

whose portrait is in the Museum’s collection, may be found<br />

through this fine Tasmanian blackwood double-ended sofa<br />

dated c. 1830–35. With its restrained curvilinear backboard<br />

surmounted by a compact Prince of Wales feather, the sofa<br />

has an elegance and simplicity of design. There is very good<br />

evidence that this sofa is the matching pair to one already<br />

held by the Museum, received through a generous bequest<br />

of Toni and Peter Bessant of Launceston. Both sofas are<br />

made of blackwood and have identical carved motifs. Their<br />

construction and measurements, down to screw holes,<br />

match at numerous points. Matching sofas from this period<br />

are exceptionally rare and limited in Australia to about four<br />

pairs that are predominantly in cedar. It is thought that there<br />

are no known pairs of blackwood sofas. The exact history of the<br />

sofa is unclear at this point and further research is required to<br />

reveal the histories of both sofas.<br />

• Notable works which entered the collection during this year<br />

included:<br />

Tom Roberts, Ulverstone Beach c. 1928–30, an oil on canvas<br />

on composition board, is a highly significant acquisition<br />

for the Museum as it is the first Tasmanian landscape by<br />

Tom Roberts to enter the collection. Roberts, ‘the father of<br />

Australian landscape painting’ had a binding connection<br />

to northern Tasmania through marriage. His first wife Lillie<br />

Williamson was born in Launceston and his second wife Jean<br />

Boyes lived at ‘Lochmaben’ near Longford. Consequently<br />

he was a frequent visitor to Tasmania where he spent time<br />

painting in the landscape. Small in scale, this charming image<br />

is a fine example of Robert’s late landscape painting. This<br />

was purchased in 2008 by the Launceston Museum & Art<br />

Gallery Foundation.<br />

Well-known Launceston artist, Robyn McKinnon’s<br />

Mr Glover’s Antipodean Garden, 2007 an acrylic on canvas,<br />

is a large landscape painting featuring a big, expansive<br />

view of very small native flowers and plants. The artist has<br />

transposed the detail of the Tasmanian bushland, particularly<br />

its wildflowers, onto canvas in an impressionistic rather than<br />

scientific manner. This work was purchased by the Friends of<br />

the Museum through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery<br />

Foundation, 2008<br />

5


The Collections<br />

The Museum serves as a major centre for the collection,<br />

conservation and exhibition of Tasmania’s natural, historical<br />

and cultural heritage. It collects, researches and disseminates<br />

information in four major areas: Arts, Humanities, Natural<br />

Sciences and Physical Sciences.<br />

Arts<br />

Includes paintings, works on paper and sculpture from all<br />

periods, the historical Australian and international decorative<br />

arts collections, and the contemporary Australian craft and<br />

design collections.<br />

Provides information to a wide variety of individuals and<br />

organisations as well as undertaking research with particular<br />

emphasis on Tasmanian historical and contemporary art,<br />

Tasmanian historical decorative arts and contemporary<br />

Australian craft and design.<br />

Humanities<br />

Includes the collections of Tasmanian documents, photographs<br />

and ephemera that are primarily concerned with the northern<br />

region of the State, as well as the collections of material culture<br />

of Tasmania since European settlement, incorporating the<br />

ethnography, technology and archaeology collections.<br />

Provides information to a wide variety of research workers,<br />

organisations and individuals, as well as undertaking research,<br />

with a particular emphasis on Tasmanian photography, and<br />

industrial and social history. An important area of activity is the<br />

development of the Oral History Collection.<br />

Natural Sciences<br />

Includes the collections of Botany, Geology and Zoology, with<br />

collections mainly of Tasmanian origin but also including<br />

material from mainland Australia and overseas.<br />

Provides information to a number of government agencies,<br />

research workers, community groups and the general public as<br />

well as undertaking research in the taxonomy of invertebrate<br />

fossils in Tasmania and the taxonomy and ecology of Tasmanian<br />

flora and fauna.<br />

Physical Sciences<br />

Includes the Launceston Planetarium theatre.<br />

Provides information on astronomical matters and contributes to<br />

international research programs.<br />

Collection Management<br />

• Substantial progress was made during the year with the reformation<br />

of the Museum’s databases driven by the mutually<br />

supportive aims of increasing collection access, both<br />

internally and externally, and improving the quality of the<br />

data recorded on many aspects of the Museum’s collections.<br />

• A complete review of the paintings database was<br />

commenced. This included an audit of the collection records<br />

and of the paintings held in the collection. This major project,<br />

when completed and accompanied by visual records, will<br />

create a much more functional and accessible collection<br />

database. This will provide a more effective resource to<br />

facilitate the extensive research that will be required as part<br />

of the development of the exhibitions for the new art gallery<br />

at Royal Park.<br />

• Work commenced on the works-on-paper database which,<br />

when completed, will provide a similarly valuable resource.<br />

It will allow greater access to the breadth of the extensive<br />

works-on-paper collections. In hand with the Fine Art<br />

collection database project, significant time was allocated to<br />

work on location records. This work also informed decisions<br />

that were made during the year concerning the new<br />

collection stores that will form a key part of the Royal Park<br />

redevelopment.<br />

• All collection and conservation staff completed File Maker<br />

Pro training during the year in preparation for the changeover<br />

of collection databases.<br />

• The Collections Operations Group continued its work on the<br />

review of the industrial technology collection which ranges<br />

from large machinery from ocean-going vessels to smaller<br />

transport objects such as bicycles. The Group reviewed<br />

and identified items for de-accessioning, rehousing and<br />

commenced work on a re-organisation of the store area to<br />

increase ease of access to the collections for research and<br />

collection management.<br />

6


• Over 7200 collection records were checked for uploading to<br />

OzCAM.<br />

• An assessment of the value of our collection holdings was<br />

begun by Simon Storey.<br />

• Wet Vertebrate Collection was reorganised with mammals,<br />

reptiles and amphibians now stored in taxonomic order.<br />

• Small skeletal material in the Dry Vertebrate Collection was<br />

transferred to more appropriate containers and re-labelled to<br />

improve accessibility and security of material.<br />

• Sorting of mollusc samples collected from Greens Beach by<br />

RH Green and E Buchanan continued.<br />

• Ongoing re-housing, registration and shelving of invertebrates<br />

from Northern River Monitoring program continued.<br />

• Continued program of transferring pinned specimens from<br />

open drawer storage to unit trays.<br />

• Instituted and maintained a program of freezer fumigation to<br />

minimise risk to the dry Botany collection from insect attack.<br />

• Re-housing of part of fungal collection was undertaken.<br />

• Accessioning, registering, databasing and storage of<br />

specimens in the Rock Collection, the A Monger Collection<br />

and the Mineral collection continued.<br />

• An audit of Tertiary and Quaternary material began.<br />

• Audit and re-housing of Bullock Creek and Quaternary<br />

material in the Vertebrate Fossil Collection continues.<br />

• Complete re-housing and organising of the Plant Fossil<br />

Collection was undertaken.<br />

• Two thylacine mounts were conserved, put on protective<br />

mount boards and given secure storage support.<br />

• One Thylacine mount was x-rayed by the Launceston<br />

General Hospital. All mounts have now been x-rayed.<br />

Collection Development<br />

• The Museum’s new acquisition procedures had their first<br />

full year of operation. They have proved an effective tool<br />

in assisting both the curatorial staff and the Acquisitions<br />

Committee with achieving collection development<br />

objectives. All items accepted into the collections this year<br />

are listed at Appendix 3.<br />

Collection Research<br />

• Research on the Thylacine collection was continued. This<br />

included ongoing collaboration with TMAG regarding<br />

publishing part of this research.<br />

• Illustrations were completed of European Red Fox, Vulpes<br />

vulpes, as supplementary material for Skulls of the Mammals<br />

of Tasmania book.<br />

• Research continued on Australian and dangerous jellyfishes.<br />

• Natural Sciences Research Associates continued working<br />

on their respective projects: Bob Mesibov on Millipedes of<br />

Australia; and Andrew Osborn and Nigel Forteath on the<br />

Fauna of Lake Pedder.<br />

• Staff continued their research on various aspects of the<br />

collections. The variety of these projects ranged in subject<br />

from ceramics to jellyfish to thylacines to colonial portraits.<br />

Many staff members are involved in research in preparation<br />

for the upcoming redevelopment of Inveresk’s exhibition<br />

spaces.<br />

• A number of external institutions and individuals were<br />

assisted with their research through access to the Museum’s<br />

collections and information. This year these included<br />

researchers from:<br />

• Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery<br />

• CSIRO Entomology ANIC<br />

• DPIW<br />

• Melbourne University<br />

• Arts Tasmania,<br />

• South Australian Museum<br />

• Landcare Research, Auckland NZ<br />

• University of Tasmania<br />

• Griffith University<br />

• Collections Council of Australia<br />

• Threatened Species Unit<br />

7


Collection Conservation<br />

The Museum’s Conservation section—including Objects, Paper<br />

and Paintings Conservation—was very active preparing items for<br />

exhibitions at both the Inveresk and Royal Park sites. Services<br />

provided by these departments include:<br />

• condition reporting<br />

• relocating objects<br />

• providing advice about environmental control, pest<br />

management, display methods, suitability of display<br />

materials and OH&S issues<br />

• conservation and restoration treatments<br />

• installation of items.<br />

Two major portraits by Conway Hart depicting Mr Samuel<br />

Horton and Mrs Elizabeth Horton were conserved by the<br />

Museum’s Painting Conservation section this year. Samuel<br />

Horton’s portrait was in very poor condition, mainly caused by<br />

water damage and an opened old seam in the canvas. Extensive<br />

treatment included removing the painting from its stretcher,<br />

paint consolidation, surface cleaning, joining and seam with linen<br />

thread and re-stretching. Similarly Elizabeth Horton’s portrait had<br />

severe distortions, tears and creases in the canvas, and it also had<br />

an opened old seam. Treatment included removal from stretcher,<br />

flattening distortions, extensive tear repair, surface cleaning, joining<br />

seam and re-stretching.<br />

• The Museum provides information to other institutions, the<br />

media and the public. Museum staff answer enquiries from<br />

members of the public, ranging from insect identification<br />

to collection enquiries and access requests to more general<br />

questions about the local region.<br />

• The QVMAG has continued to support the Tasmanian<br />

Government outreach initiative which offers advice to<br />

small museums and collections by providing a base for Arts<br />

Tasmania’s Roving Curator program.<br />

• The Museum has provided in-kind support for the Oral<br />

History Association of Australia in hosting and providing<br />

technical support for the association’s conference website.<br />

• The Museum regularly hosts work experience students for a<br />

number of local high schools and colleges.<br />

• Although the Planetarium itself has been closed its staff<br />

have continued to be an important source of astronomical<br />

information. For example, sunrise and sunset data is provided<br />

to newspapers and television stations and astronomical<br />

enquiries have continued to be answered. These include<br />

rising and setting times of the Sun and the Moon for legal<br />

investigations; requests for computations from people and<br />

organisations doing research; and general public enquiries about<br />

the night sky.<br />

Community Support<br />

The QVMAG continues to enjoy successful partnerships<br />

with a number of community organisations. Through these<br />

collaborations Museum patrons enjoy access to an enriched<br />

program of activities in and around the Museum precinct.<br />

These groups include:<br />

• The Royal Society of Tasmania<br />

• Musica North<br />

• The Launceston Historical Society<br />

• The Friends of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery<br />

• TAFE Tasmania<br />

• University of Tasmania<br />

• Arts at Work<br />

• Herpetological Society of Tasmania<br />

• Choose Employment<br />

• Arts Tasmania<br />

8


Outward Loans<br />

The significance of the Museum’s collections is recognised<br />

nationally. Many requests are received from other institutions<br />

each year to borrow items from the collections for exhibition or<br />

research. The Museum acknowledges this as an opportunity to<br />

provide improved access to its collections for a much broader<br />

audience and tries to accommodate these requests whenever<br />

possible. Items which have been on extended loan during the last<br />

year include:<br />

• Copper samovar – Governor’s Residence, Norfolk Island<br />

• Collection of domestic objects – National Trust of Australia<br />

(Tas) Franklin House, Launceston<br />

• ‘A’ Class locomotive – Don River Railway, Devonport<br />

• Heard Island blubber press – Antarctic and Southern Ocean<br />

exhibition, Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart<br />

• Sydney Cove beer bottle – Numismatics exhibition, Tasmanian<br />

Museum and Art Gallery, Hobart<br />

• Exhibition of archaeological Chinese tin mining site material<br />

from Sir Garnet Creek – St Helens History Room<br />

• Model of semaphore – Military Museum of Tasmania,<br />

Anglesea Barracks<br />

• Selection of historical plates detailing community donors of<br />

funds and equipment to the Launceston General Hospital<br />

– Launceston General Hospital<br />

• Selection of 19th century furniture provenanced to the Ford<br />

Family of Highfield, Stanley – Highfield Historic House, Stanley<br />

• Selection of archaeological material from Wybalenna<br />

– Ningenneh Tunapry exhibition, Tasmanian Museum and Art<br />

Gallery, Hobart<br />

• Carved coconut goblet from the hulk Anson – Historic Houses<br />

Trust of NSW<br />

• Truganinni basket – Tayenebe exhibition, Tasmanian Museum<br />

and Art Gallery, Hobart<br />

• Items from Ross Female Factory – Tasmanian Museum and<br />

Art Gallery, Hobart<br />

• Items from Sydney Cove collection – Tasmanian Maritime<br />

Museum<br />

• Bothwell Cup – John Hawkins Lecture, Tasmanian Museum<br />

and Art Gallery, Hobart<br />

• Six Regency inlaid chairs (early 19th century) and a dropside<br />

table (early 19th century) – National Trust of Australia<br />

(Tasmania) Ltd for display at Franklin House, Launceston<br />

• John Coburn, Canticle 1966, a tapestry – Tasmanian Wool<br />

Centre, Ross<br />

• Four individual designs from the Modernage Fabrics texiles that<br />

were designed by Jack Carrington-Smith, Russell Drysdale, Jean<br />

Bellette and Alice Danciger and produced by Silk and Textiles,<br />

Hobart in 1947 – Claudio Alscorso Foundation<br />

The following artworks were also loaned:<br />

John Brack<br />

Portrait of Lindesay Clark 1969<br />

Oil on canvas<br />

Loaned to the John Brack Retrospective, National Gallery of<br />

Victoria, Melbourne, 24 April – 9 August 2009 and the Art<br />

Gallery of South Australia 2 October 2009 – 31 January 2010.<br />

Rosalie Gascoigne<br />

Pub, 1976<br />

Assemblage made from weathered wood, wool, hand-coloured<br />

photo, enamelling, wallpaper<br />

Loaned to Rosalie Gascoigne, National Gallery of Victoria, 19<br />

December 2008 – 15 March 2009<br />

Bea Maddock<br />

Street Reflection<br />

Head II<br />

Running<br />

Boy with a Bicycle I<br />

Cripple II<br />

From the Melbourne Series 1967-68, drypoints 2002<br />

Loaned to Open Air: Portraits and Landscapes, National Portrait<br />

Gallery, Canberra, 3 December 2008 – 1 March 2009<br />

9


Education<br />

The Museum’s Education Section is responsible for the provision<br />

of educational programs to encourage learning opportunities and<br />

enjoyment of our natural and cultural heritage.<br />

Highlights<br />

A Collected View<br />

This initiative is the result of a two-year project undertaken by<br />

the volunteer Gallery Guides in conjunction with the Museum’s<br />

Education Section. The Guides conducted extensive research<br />

which was edited and collated to produce an impressive<br />

publication cataloguing many of the works in the Museum’s<br />

Colonial Art Collection. Since being launched by Tasmanian poet,<br />

Alan Taylor, A Collected View has proven to be a very popular<br />

product, selling well through the Museum Shop.<br />

After School Classes<br />

Another initiative of the Museum’s Education Section this year<br />

was the introduction of a program of after-school art classes.<br />

This program was the result of a perceived gap in after-school<br />

activities available for children in Launceston. The classes were<br />

run by local artist, Lucy Cameron, and Museum Education<br />

Officer, Helene Weeding and were fully booked through Term 1<br />

and 2 in 2009. Both the students and teachers thoroughly enjoyed<br />

the experience with some travelling from as far away as Deloraine<br />

and Lilydale to participate.<br />

Playgroup<br />

With many of the Museum’s exhibition areas closed to the public<br />

during the year, themes for Playgroup were drawn from events<br />

and travelling exhibitions and where possible linked to collection<br />

items. Themes have included: Wildlife of Gondwana; Trains;<br />

Tadpoles and Tails; Rough and Smooth, Bright and Shiny; Music<br />

with a Bang; A Day at the Beach; Japanese Festivals; Mother<br />

Goose Day and Follow the Shape.<br />

Additional sessions have been run for playgroups throughout the<br />

region, including Hadspen, Legana, Early Learning Beauty Point,<br />

Deloraine Primary and Larmenier School.<br />

Animal Loans<br />

The Animal Loans Outreach Program continues to provide a<br />

unique opportunity for school students, childcare facilities,<br />

playgroups and community organisations by offering a collection<br />

of over 200 specimens for hire. Weekend pickup is still the<br />

preferred option for busy school teachers and general public alike.<br />

Drysdale’s Polytechnic Eco/Adventure Guiding students have<br />

toured Animal Loans several times over the past year, generating<br />

encouraging feedback from the unit co-ordinator and resulting in the<br />

students returning to hire loans to assist with assignments.<br />

Exhibitions<br />

ArtStart continues to receive a great deal of support from primary<br />

schools in the north as well as the general public. A wonderful<br />

standard of work has attracted many visitors and, on average, over<br />

100 guests have attended each of the openings.<br />

The exhibitions on show during 2008–09 included In the Eye of<br />

the Beholder, Ideas and Emotions and Hide and Seek.<br />

Art Rage 2008 was opened at the Museum on 20 December<br />

2008 by Michelle O’Byrne, Minister for Environment, Parks,<br />

Heritage and the Arts, and Minister for Sport and Recreation,<br />

with an audience of 180 from all areas of the State. ArtRage 2008<br />

showcased the work of 70 students from 20 secondary schools<br />

Tasmania-wide with the Examiner’s Choice awarded to Madeline<br />

O’Connor from Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston. This<br />

year the exhibition was held in the diverse John Lees Atrium at<br />

Inveresk which provided a wonderful space for visitors to engage<br />

with the work of these talented young people. While on display<br />

in Launceston the exhibition attracted over 1020 students in 54<br />

school groups which represents only a proportion of the total<br />

visitor numbers.<br />

The exhibition also toured again this year and the Museum has<br />

received great feedback from both the Burnie Regional Gallery<br />

and the Tasmanian School of Art in Hobart.<br />

Museum Learning Centre<br />

The Learning Centre has again been well-utilised throughout the<br />

year housing playgroup and school holiday program sessions<br />

as well as providing a break-out space for schools visiting<br />

the site. This year however the space was used by Invermay<br />

Primary School for two afternoons a week whilst the school was<br />

undergoing redevelopment. It was also used as a conference area<br />

and to host a science workshop for teachers.<br />

10


Information services<br />

Maintenance and updating of the Museum website is the<br />

responsibility of the Museum’s Library section. It continued to<br />

receive a large number of hits and improvements continue to be<br />

made to the collection and exhibition information available online.<br />

• Work began on the redesign of the Museum’s website,<br />

with the aim of improving functionality, allowing it to be<br />

more easily updated and, importantly, to present some of<br />

the QVMAG’s collections online. The first of these will be<br />

the Community History photographs, oral histories and<br />

collection guides.<br />

• The Tasmanian multipedes, Australian millipedes websites,<br />

Zoological Project Localities and QVMAG Type Specimen<br />

pages are updated regularly.<br />

• Martin George’s astronomical articles continue to be added<br />

to the site each week.<br />

• Initial planning has begun to prepare an online version of the<br />

very popular community exhibition Past Lives New Beginings,<br />

Migration and Tasmania.<br />

11


Exhibitions<br />

Exhibitions, both Museum-generated (*) and those from other<br />

institutions, enable the Museum to provide access to the<br />

collections, present ideas and stimulate interest in Australia’s<br />

natural and cultural heritage.<br />

Inveresk<br />

Permanent<br />

• Strings across time – Tasmanian Aboriginal Shell Necklaces *<br />

• Aspects of Tasmanian Art *<br />

• Pacific Encounters *<br />

• Blacksmith Shop *<br />

• Transforming the Island: Railways in Tasmania *<br />

• The Great Dying *<br />

• Phenomena Factory *<br />

• Replay>>Sporting Life in Tasmania<br />

• Heritage Trail * including:<br />

• Fenton’s Stables – The Railway Institute<br />

• Weighbridge<br />

• Signal Box<br />

• Signwriters Shop<br />

Temporary and Visiting<br />

• Wildlife of Gondwana<br />

Travelling exhibition from Monash Science Centre,<br />

Melbourne<br />

John Lees Atrium<br />

until 3 August 2008<br />

• Art Start: Reflections *<br />

ArtStart Gallery<br />

until 7 August 2008<br />

• 360 Professions: China Trade Paintings *<br />

Temporary Gallery<br />

until 12 October 2008<br />

• Great Railway Journeys of Australia<br />

Travelling exhibition from Queensland Museum<br />

Mezzanine gallery<br />

12 July – 28 September 2008<br />

• Hidden in Plain View<br />

Travelling exhibition from Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne<br />

John Lees Atrium<br />

16 August – 16 November 2008<br />

• ArtStart: Hide and Seek *<br />

ArtStart Gallery<br />

29 August –16 October 2008<br />

• BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year<br />

Travelling exhibition from Australian Museum, Sydney<br />

Mezzanine Gallery<br />

11 October – 16 November 2008<br />

• ArtStart: In the Eye of the Beholder *<br />

ArtStart Gallery<br />

7 November 2008 – 30 April 2009<br />

• ArtRage 2008 *<br />

John Lees Atrium<br />

20 December 2008 – 26 April 2009<br />

• Spatial Origami<br />

In association with Ten Days on the Island<br />

Entrance<br />

27 March – 5 April 2009<br />

• Sirens Installation by Ray Lee<br />

In association with Ten Days on the Island<br />

Temporary Gallery<br />

27 March – 5 April 2009<br />

• EarthQuest: Outer Space to Inner Earth<br />

Travelling exhibition from Questacon, Canberra<br />

John Lees Atrium<br />

16 May – 31 July 2009<br />

• ArtStart: Ideas and Emotions *<br />

ArtStart Gallery<br />

22 May 2009 – continuing<br />

Exhibits<br />

Foyer exhibits *<br />

• 8 Treasures of the Museum’s Chinese Temple *<br />

• Medical History<br />

• Queen Victoria<br />

• Blacksmiths tools<br />

• Miss Flinders, DeSoutter aircraft<br />

• An Adventurous Spirit - Surveyor James Scott<br />

QVMAG Friends Case *<br />

• Gary Greenwood – Mountain Harp<br />

21 March 2009 – 12 July 2009<br />

• Noticing Nature Corner *<br />

Spring – Eggs<br />

6 September – 30 November 2008<br />

• Summer and Autumn – Charles Darwin in Tasmania<br />

1 December 2008 – 1 May 2009<br />

Winter – Hide and Seek<br />

1 June – continuing<br />

12


Museum Publications<br />

Museum Publications<br />

Publication Highlights<br />

• One of the most significant re-publishing projects of the<br />

Museum was launched on 27 November. Initiated around 10<br />

years ago by the Plomley Foundation, a new edition of NJB<br />

Plomley’s Friendly Mission: The Tasmanian Journals and Papers<br />

of George Augustus Robinson 1829–1834 was published.<br />

The first edition was published in 1966 by the Tasmanian<br />

Historical Research Association. In 1971 the Tasmanian<br />

Historical Research Association published a supplement,<br />

also edited by Plomley.<br />

This new edition of Friendly Mission, co-published by the<br />

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery and Quintus<br />

Publishing, incorporates the corrections and additions that<br />

appeared in the 1971 supplement, together with additional<br />

corrections collated by Plomley over subsequent years.<br />

Further, this edition includes Plomley’s revised version of<br />

‘The Bruny Island mission, 1829’ which corrects previous<br />

omissions and adds extra material such as the journal<br />

of Robinson’s clerk, Charles Sterling. There is also a<br />

comprehensive new index.<br />

• A Collected View, a guide to the art collections of the QVMAG.<br />

• QVMAG research reports will become progressively<br />

available online through the QVMAG website. Scanning and<br />

electronic conversion of these has been commenced.<br />

Papers and Articles<br />

Dean, JC, Forteath, GNR and Osborn, A.W (2008), ‘Marmenuera,<br />

a new genus of leptophlebiid mayfly (Insecta: Ephemeroptera)<br />

endemic to Tasmania’, Memoirs of Museum Victoria 65, pp. 43–50.<br />

Gershwin, L and Zeidler, W (2008), ‘Cladonema timmsii, a new<br />

species of hydromedusa (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from a salt lake in<br />

South Australia’, Zootaxa 1826, pp. 59–68.<br />

Gershwin, L and Gibbons, MJ (2009), ‘Carybdea branchi, sp.<br />

nov., a new box jellyfish (Cnidaria: Cubozoa) from South Africa’,<br />

Zootaxa 2088, pp. 41–50.<br />

Mesibov, R (2008) ‘On millipedes and sense of place’,<br />

The Tasmanian Naturalist 130, pp. 2–9.<br />

Mesibov, R (2008) ‘Redescription of Paurodesmus sjoestedti<br />

(Verhoeff, 1924) comb. n. (Diplopoda: Polydesmida:<br />

Dalodesmidae)’, Australian Entomologist 35(3), pp. 111–119.<br />

Mesibov, R (2008) Millipede salvage in southwest Victoria.<br />

Victorian Naturalist 125(4), pp. 96–103.<br />

Mesibov, R (2009) ‘Revision of Agathodesmus Silvestri, 1910<br />

(Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Haplodesmidae)’, ZooKeys 12, pp. 87–110.<br />

Mesibov, R (2009) ‘A new millipede genus and a new species of<br />

Asphalidesmus Silvestri, 1910 (Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidea)<br />

from southern Tasmania, Australia’, ZooKeys 7, pp. 55–74.<br />

Osborn, AW, Forteath, GNR and Stanisic, J (2008) ‘A new<br />

species of freshwater sponge (Porifera: Spongillidae) of the<br />

genus Radiospongilla from Lake Pedder in Tasmania’, Papers and<br />

Proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 142(2), pp. 39–44.<br />

Smithers, CN, Forteath, GNR. and Osborn, AW (2008) ‘A new<br />

species of Sisyra Burmeister (Insecta: Neuroptera: Sisyridae) from<br />

Lake Pedder, Tasmania’, Australian Journal of Entomology 47, pp 77–79.<br />

Tassell, CB (2008) ‘Upper Ordovician Gastropods from the<br />

Gordon Group, Western Tasmania’, Records of the Queen Victoria<br />

Museum, No. 114.<br />

Turney, CSM, Flannery, TF, Reid, C, et al. (2008) ‘Late-surviving<br />

megafauna in Tasmania, Australia, implicate human involvement<br />

in their extinction’, Proceedings of the National Academy of<br />

Sciences 105(34), pp. 12150–12153.<br />

Gershwin, L and Dawes, P (2008), ‘Preliminary observations on<br />

the response of Chironex fleckeri (Cnidaria: Cubozoa: Chirodropida)<br />

to different colors of light’, Biological Bulletin, 215, pp. 57–62.<br />

Gershwin, L (2008), ‘Morbakka fenneri, a new genus and species<br />

of Irukandji jellyfish (Cnidaria: Cubozoa)’, Memoirs of the<br />

Queensland Museum – Nature 54(1), pp. 23–33.<br />

Gershwin, L and Dabinett, K (2009), ‘Comparison of eight types<br />

of protective clothing against Irukandji jellyfish stings’, Journal of<br />

Coastal Research 25(1), pp. 117–130.<br />

13


Corporate Support and Special Purpose Grants<br />

Corporate Support and Special Purpose Grants<br />

Beyond the ongoing funding received from the Launceston City<br />

Council and the State Government grant received through Arts<br />

Tasmania, the Museum has continued to attract substantial<br />

levels of sponsorship and grant aid toward a variety of projects.<br />

Grants<br />

• Tasmanian Community Trust Fund<br />

• The Plomley Foundation<br />

• The Philip Archer Trust<br />

• Australia Council<br />

• Gordon Darling Foundation<br />

Sponsors<br />

Further support, in both cash and kind, was received from:<br />

• Rio Tinto Alcan<br />

• The Examiner<br />

• Southern Cross<br />

• Ricoh<br />

• Launceston Patchworkers and Quilters Inc.<br />

Support Groups<br />

Friends of the QVMAG<br />

The Friends of the Museum assist and promote the Queen<br />

Victoria Museum and Art Gallery and provide funds vital to<br />

the enrichment of the collections and the development of the<br />

Museum’s potential as a resource for the community.<br />

The management of the Friends is undertaken by the Friends<br />

Committee:<br />

President<br />

Vice-President<br />

Hon. Secretary and Public Officer<br />

Hon. Treasurer<br />

Committee Members:<br />

Mr David Henshaw<br />

Mrs Marissa King<br />

Mrs Sandra Campbell<br />

Mr Andrew Mackinnon<br />

Mrs Judy Morrall,<br />

Mrs Margaret Murray<br />

Mrs Jennifer Taylor,<br />

Mrs Ros Watson,<br />

Mr Stuart Williams<br />

QVMAG Director,<br />

Patrick Filmer-Sankey<br />

Immediate Past President<br />

Mrs Jill Dearing<br />

An active membership of 1159 individuals were involved in the<br />

QVMAG Friends in 2008–09. Members were offered a variety<br />

of activities and benefits through initiatives of the Friends<br />

Committee. Special events included a talk on Aboriginal Shell<br />

Necklaces presented by Lola Greeno and a tour to Burnie to visit<br />

Creative Paper, Hellyers Road Whiskey Distillery, Burnie Regional<br />

Art Gallery and its Friends, and the Pioneer Village Museum.<br />

Through relationships established with the Northern Branch<br />

of the Royal Society of Tasmania, Musica North, Tasdance and<br />

Ten Days on the Island added benefits for members were also<br />

offered. These provided members with access to a stimulating<br />

range of extra lectures, concerts, performances and artist’s talks<br />

at special discount prices.<br />

Under the editorship of the President, David Henshaw, the<br />

Friends News was published quarterly. This newsletter<br />

keeps members up-to-date with progress on the Museum’s<br />

redevelopment projects at both Inveresk and Royal Park, behindthe-scenes<br />

activities, volunteer opportunities, staff changes and<br />

details of current exhibitions.<br />

This year the Friends became more actively involved in the<br />

organisation of the popular Morning Coffee Lecture Series<br />

with the President acting as the host and the Committee, in<br />

consultation with the Museum’s History Department, becoming<br />

involved with the selection of speakers.<br />

14


Support for the Museum’s Gallery Guide Program was provided<br />

to allow five representatives to attend the biennial national<br />

conference of the Australian Association of Gallery Guide<br />

Organisations.<br />

The work Mr Glover’s Antipodean Garden 2007, by Launceston<br />

artist Robyn McKinnon, was acquired by the Launceston<br />

Museum and Art Gallery Foundation with funds donated by the<br />

Friends in 2007–08 for acquisitions of Tasmanian contemporary<br />

art. A further donation of funds ($18,000) was made by the<br />

Friends this year to the LMAGF to assist in its fundraising for the<br />

development of the art collections ready for the opening of the<br />

Museum’s new Art Gallery in 2010.<br />

Launceston Museum and Art Gallery Foundation<br />

The Launceston Museum and Art Gallery Foundation<br />

(formerly the Launceston Art Foundation) was<br />

established in March 1985 to ensure that the best<br />

traditions of Australian art and Tasmanian cultural<br />

heritage were accessible to the Tasmanian community.<br />

In 1998 a Trust was established to accept taxdeductible<br />

donations on behalf of the Foundation.<br />

Patron<br />

Chairman<br />

Treasurer<br />

Secretary and Public Officer<br />

General Committee Members<br />

Kenneth von Bibra<br />

Mrs Sandra Campbell<br />

Mrs Lynne Stacpoole<br />

Mr Patrick Filmer-Sankey<br />

Mrs Anne Holyman<br />

Mrs Beatrice Chapman<br />

Mr Leigh Myers<br />

Dr Keith Adkins<br />

David Henshaw (from May 09)<br />

David Kent (from May 09)<br />

The support of the redevelopment of the Royal Park site of the<br />

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery as a new art gallery<br />

for Launceston continued to be the focus of the Foundation’s<br />

activities in the past year.<br />

To this end the Foundation acquired ten works, by Tasmanian<br />

artists or of Tasmania, from historical to contemporary:<br />

• an acrylic on canvas by Robyn McKINNON, Mr Glover’s<br />

Antipodean Garden, 2007 which was acquired with funds<br />

from the QVMAG Friends donation made in 2007-08<br />

• four silver gelatin prints from the series Portrait of A Distant<br />

Land, 2005 by Ricky MAYNARD:<br />

i) The Healing Garden, Wybalenna, Finders Island,<br />

Tasmania<br />

ii) Death in Exile<br />

iii) Vansittart Island, Bass Strait, Tasmania and<br />

iv) Coming Home<br />

and from the auction held at Somercotes in December 2008:<br />

• Tom ROBERTS,<br />

Ulverstone Beach c. 1928–1930<br />

Oil on canvas on board<br />

• Edith HOLMES<br />

Mother and Child c. 1955<br />

oil on canvas<br />

• Edith HOLMES<br />

Blue Lagoon, Red Ochre Beach, Frederick Henry Bay, Tasmania<br />

oil on canvas<br />

• Tom ROBERTS<br />

Ulverstone Beach c. 1928–30<br />

oil on canvas on composition board<br />

• GG ROSSITER<br />

Tamar River from Rosevears, Tasmania - Sunrise<br />

oil on board<br />

• a Blackwood sofa, c. 1830 by an unknown maker.<br />

The acquisition of the sofa was made possible by the<br />

generosity of Mr John Millwood and Mr John Hawkins.<br />

In a year when the community was significantly affected by<br />

the global financial crisis, early plans were put on hold to carry<br />

out a major fundraising appeal for the Foundation. The mission<br />

became one of re-establishing the profile of the Foundation<br />

in readiness for a fundraising appeal once a more appropriate<br />

financial climate returned.<br />

A special function was held to strengthen relationships with<br />

previous donors and attract a new group of people, currently<br />

associated with the arts or with businesses, that were likely to<br />

support the Foundation. While this function took place on 9 July<br />

2009, it is included in this annual report as the project consumed<br />

the energy of the Foundation for most of the year. The focus<br />

15


of the evening was a talk made by the Director of the National<br />

Gallery of Australia, Mr Ron Radford AM. A display of recent<br />

acquisitions made by the Foundation provided the backdrop<br />

for a cocktail party which followed. The venue of the function<br />

was the QVMAG at Royal Park, which allowed the 181 guests to<br />

appreciate the significant heritage features of the building which<br />

will be highlighted in the redevelopment of the new Art Gallery.<br />

The Foundation acknowledges the contribution of the QVMAG<br />

staff to the success of this event.<br />

The Foundation greatly appreciates the continued support of the<br />

QVMAG Friends and Emeritus Professor Coleman O’Flaherty<br />

and the contribution this year of the Launceston Patchworkers<br />

and Quilters Inc.<br />

To reflect its support of the new Art Gallery the Foundation was<br />

rebranded and a brochure explaining the future direction for the<br />

Foundation was also published.<br />

Plomley Foundation<br />

This was established in 1984 through the generosity of the noted<br />

historian Mr NJB (Brian) Plomley, with the express intention<br />

of encouraging research into Tasmania’s natural and cultural<br />

heritage. The Foundation has had a profound impact upon the<br />

Museum’s research, collection management and acquisition<br />

capabilities.<br />

The Foundation funded the following projects in 2008–09:<br />

• The completion of a long-term project which saw the<br />

publication of a new edition of NJB Plomley’s Friendly Mission.<br />

A joint research project with the University of Tasmania’s<br />

Community, Place and Heritage Research Unit which<br />

will lead to a publication studying the correspondence of<br />

Adolphus Schayer.<br />

16


Volunteers<br />

Volunteers are an integral part of the Museum and provide<br />

support in many areas. A lively volunteer program has continued<br />

during 2008–09. This program allows the Museum to achieve<br />

many objectives which would not otherwise be possible.<br />

Seventy-seven Museum volunteers have provided over 550 days<br />

work this year.<br />

Museum volunteers are engaged in many projects which vary<br />

from researching and cataloguing collections to working with<br />

staff to design and build modules for the interactive science<br />

exhibition Phenomena Factory. Volunteers also provide an<br />

engaging series of public talks through the Museum’s Gallery<br />

Guides and provide support for Museum staff in the promotion<br />

of Friends activities, assisting with School Holiday Programs and<br />

conservation work.<br />

History<br />

Pat Ahearn, Jenny Barker, Wendy Devlin, Jenny Gill, Esme Jones-<br />

Dye, Rosalie Kelly, Ann Power, Paul Richards, Monissa Whiteley.<br />

Library<br />

Anne Lucadou-Wells, Kelly O’Grady<br />

Natural Sciences<br />

Viv Buckley, Jeff Campbell, Peter Duckworth, Doug Ewington,<br />

Helen Fisher, Colin Hingston, Leslie Hingston, Helen Jones,<br />

Win Kershaw, Margaret Patterson, Craig Reid.<br />

Physical Sciences<br />

Karenne Barnes, Peter Brake, Peter Daalder, Martin Harvey.<br />

Conservation (Objects)<br />

Sue Allright, Olive Bull, Jim Carroll, Jim Collier, Peg Pedley,<br />

John Van Tienen<br />

Conservation (Paper)<br />

Olive Bull, Melissa Smith<br />

Education<br />

Emma Allen, Joanna Brown, Ned Breward, Betty Clayton,<br />

Trish Clemons, Suzanne Creese, Karolyn Davidson,<br />

Christine Hannan, Peter Hynes, Louise Jolly, Alice Ryder,<br />

Margie Stackhouse, Rebecca Stewart, Sue Stevenson, Pat Traill,<br />

Shirley Watson, Nan Woodward<br />

Exhibitions<br />

Jim Carroll, Nick Cummings, Wen Nurmet, Hank Van Tienen<br />

Friends Services<br />

Pat Ahearn, Shirley Anthony, Jenny Barker, Judie Gardner, Coralie<br />

Griffiths, Brenda Harrison, Gill Ireland, Joan Jacks, Helen Jones,<br />

Mi Suk Lee, Pixie Lowe, Maureen Mann, Vera Manton, Margot<br />

Martin, Margaret Mullins, Audrey Partridge, Alan Peacock, Helen<br />

Scott Young, Jan Vincent, Beverley White, Elizabeth Weeks<br />

Gallery Guides<br />

Trish Alexander, Barbara Bullard, Rosemary Butler, Lyn Henshaw,<br />

Tricia Roberts, Annie Robinson, Janet Tomlinson, Pat Traill,<br />

Ros Watson, Shirley Watson<br />

17


Staff<br />

* Denotes part-time staff<br />

Director<br />

Patrick Filmer-Sankey, BSc<br />

Planetarium and Physical Sciences Manager<br />

Martin George, BSc (Hons)<br />

Collection and Information Services<br />

Manager<br />

Glenda King, DipFA<br />

Visitor Programs and Services Manager<br />

Paul Bishop, BFA, DipT<br />

Administration<br />

Friends and LMAGF Coordinator<br />

Kaye Dowling, BSc<br />

Marketing Officer<br />

Belinda King<br />

Research Officer<br />

Ann Teesdale*<br />

Administration Officer<br />

Karan Williams<br />

Conservation<br />

Curator of Conservation (Objects)<br />

Linda Clark, BSc, BA<br />

Associate Conservator (Objects)<br />

Michael Smith, DipFA<br />

Curator of Conservation (Paintings)<br />

Mar Gomez Lobon, B.appSc.<br />

Curator of Conservation (Paper)<br />

Jucara Quinteros de Farias, MA (Conservation<br />

Cultural Materials - Paper)<br />

Technical Officer (Paper)<br />

Tamara Hollister, BFA*<br />

Education<br />

Education Administrative Officer<br />

Lauren Dean, BFA*<br />

Education Officer<br />

Tammy Edmunds, B.Ed*<br />

Outreach Program Officer<br />

Ros Jordan*<br />

Playgroup Co-ordinator<br />

Daphne Mitchell, Dip.Ed*<br />

Education Officer<br />

Helene Weeding, MFAD, B.Ed, Dip.ATE,<br />

Ass. Dip.FA, TTC*<br />

Exhibitions<br />

Exhibition Officer<br />

Jeff Burgess, BA (VA)*<br />

Graphic Artist<br />

Jane Guy, AssDipGraphicDesign*<br />

Photographer<br />

John Leeming<br />

Photographic Assistant<br />

Shirley Leeming*<br />

Exhibition Officer<br />

Roy Mathers<br />

Exhibitions Manager<br />

Craig McCormack, CertTaxidermy<br />

Exhibition Officer<br />

Tony Mitchell*<br />

Exhibition Co-ordinator<br />

Alisanne Ramsden<br />

Graphic Design Coordinator<br />

Renée Singline, DipGraphicDesign<br />

History<br />

Curator of History<br />

Jon Addison, BA (Hons), MA<br />

Curator of Community History<br />

Rhonda Hamilton*<br />

Collection Manager<br />

Louise James, DipEd*<br />

Technical Officer<br />

Shirley Leeming*<br />

Reference Officer<br />

Ross Smith<br />

Project Officer<br />

Barbara Valentine, ALA*<br />

Information Services<br />

Information Technology Officer<br />

Chris Arkless, BA, AssocDipBusiness<br />

(Computing)*<br />

Information Technology Officer<br />

Mark Gordon, BAppComp, GradDipSci (Hons)*<br />

Library<br />

Library Coordinator<br />

Kaye Dimmack, CertLibtechStud, ALIATec,<br />

GradCertMusStud<br />

Natural Sciences<br />

Curator of Natural Sciences<br />

Lisa-ann Gershwin, BSc (Hons), PhD<br />

Research Officer, Zoology<br />

Tammy Gordon, BSc*<br />

Research Officer, Zoology<br />

Judy Rainbird, CertTaxid*<br />

Research Officer, Zoology<br />

Craig Reid, BSc (Hons)*<br />

Collection Officer, Geology<br />

Annette Vains*<br />

Physical Sciences<br />

Curator of Physical Sciences<br />

Martin George, BSc (Hons)<br />

Planetarium Assistant<br />

Chris Arkless, BA, AssocDipBusiness<br />

(Computing)*<br />

Visitor Services<br />

Site Operations<br />

Wayne Chatwin<br />

Bookings and Administration Officer<br />

Lauren Dean, BFA*<br />

Museum Shop Officer<br />

Christine Gleeson<br />

Visitor Services Coordinator<br />

Craig Williams, BSc<br />

Visitor Services Staff<br />

Linda Bryan*<br />

Paul Cooper*<br />

Lauren Dean, BA*<br />

William (Bill) Evans, BFA, GradDipFA, BPA<br />

(Music)*<br />

Annie Fischer*<br />

Ros Jordan*<br />

Shirley Leeming*<br />

Matthew Loone, BA (Hons), Cert 2 Tourism*<br />

Cara Massey*<br />

Sandra Maxwell, BA*<br />

Heather McInnes, Dip.ArtCraft.Design *<br />

Jai Patterson, MA (AusHist)*<br />

Emma Pennicott, BA (Hons)<br />

Judy Rainbird, CertTaxid*<br />

Julieanne Richards, BA, DipEd*<br />

Alison Rush, BCA<br />

Alan Sharp*<br />

Kim Simpson, BM, BA<br />

Louise Thrush* BFA,<br />

Cinnamon Whatley, DipSocSci*<br />

Nick Wylie*<br />

Stephen Wright*<br />

Visual Art and Design<br />

Curator, 19th Century Australian Art<br />

Yvonne Adkins, BA (VA), GradDipFA*<br />

Curator, Australian Art 1900–1980<br />

Bridget Arkless, BA, GradDipMusStud*<br />

Associates<br />

Honorary Research Associate<br />

Ralph Bottril, Mineralogist<br />

Honorary Research Associate<br />

Jill Cassidy, BA (Hons), DipEd<br />

Honorary Research Associate<br />

Mark Davis<br />

Curator Emeritus / Hon Research Associate<br />

Bob Green AM, Hon DSc<br />

Honorary Research Associate<br />

Professor Nigel Foreteath,<br />

Research Associate and Curatorial Specialist<br />

Bob Mesibov, BA, PhD*<br />

Honorary Research Associate<br />

Professor Andrew Osborn<br />

Honorary Research Associate<br />

Chris Tassell, AM, BSc (Hons), MSc<br />

18


Staff Community Activities<br />

Yvonne Adkins<br />

Member, Musica North Chamber Music<br />

Committee<br />

Linda Clark<br />

Cultural Heritage Practioners Group of<br />

Tasmania – membership committee<br />

Australian Institute for the Conservation of<br />

Cultural Material (Tasmania)<br />

Kaye Dimmack<br />

Treasurer, Museums Australia Tasmanian<br />

Branch<br />

Patrick Filmer-Sankey<br />

Member, Council of Australian Museum<br />

Directors; Member, Tasmanian Cultural<br />

Collections Sector; Member, Fox Eradication<br />

Taskforce; Member, Council of Heads of<br />

Australian Fauna Collections<br />

Martin George<br />

Member, Astronomical Society of Tasmania<br />

Incorporated; Member, Astronomical<br />

Society of Australia; Member, Education<br />

Subcommittee, Astronomical Society of<br />

Australia; Past President, International<br />

Planetarium Society; Chair, International<br />

Relations Committee, International<br />

Planetarium Society; Member, International<br />

Astronomical Union; Member, Tasmanian<br />

Churchill Fellowship Selection Committee<br />

Jane Guy<br />

President, Tasmanian Herpetological<br />

Society; Committee Member Reptile Rescue<br />

Incorporated<br />

Michael Smith<br />

Treasurer, Australian Institute for the<br />

Conservation of Cultural Material (Tasmania)<br />

LCC OH and S Committee Member (Museum<br />

staff representative)<br />

Mar Gomez Lobon<br />

Secretary, Australian Institute for the<br />

Conservation of Cultural Material (Tasmania)<br />

Glenda King<br />

Member, Management Committee, Return of<br />

Indigenous Cultural Property, Department of<br />

Communications, Information Technology and<br />

the Arts, Canberra<br />

Renée Singline<br />

Member, Australian Graphic Design<br />

Association<br />

19


Museum Statistics 2007–2008 2008–2009<br />

Total Museum attendances 102 826 104 755<br />

Website visits 1 369 713 1 625 357<br />

Outreach activities 915 1025<br />

Touring exhibitions unknown unknown<br />

Animal loan program 1166 993<br />

Planetarium 2979 closed<br />

Education 9892 16 542<br />

Public enquiries 10 143 9940<br />

No. of exhibitions / displays mounted 18 9<br />

No. of exhibitions toured 2 2<br />

No. of visiting exhibitions mounted 5 6<br />

No. of public programs 118 137<br />

No. of donations 52 62<br />

No. of items added to collection databases 3433 4656<br />

No. of volunteers 70 77<br />

No. of volunteer days 600 552<br />

20


Appendix<br />

Appendix 1<br />

Freedom of Information<br />

The Tasmanian Freedom of Information Act 1991 applied to all local<br />

government sectors in Tasmania from 1 January 1994. The position<br />

authorised to make decisions under the Act, relevant to Museum Records,<br />

is the Curator, History. No requests for access were received during the year<br />

2008–2009.<br />

Appendix 2<br />

Acquisition Code and Policy<br />

The Acquisition Code requires that both the Code and Policy be reviewed<br />

every two years. The revised Code and Policy as adopted by the Launceston<br />

City Council 21 February 2005 are set out below.<br />

Acquisition Code<br />

1. Museums and art galleries have a very distinctive role in<br />

collecting, preserving, researching and communicating to the wide<br />

community, students and scholars original evidence of our natural<br />

and cultural heritage.<br />

2. The origins of the collections of the Queen Victoria Museum and<br />

Art Gallery date back to the middle of the nineteenth century.<br />

Since that time, they have developed as an important component<br />

of Tasmania’s and Australia’s natural and cultural heritage.<br />

3. The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery will make<br />

acquisitions consistent with the Museum’s mission, which is:<br />

To be a leader in the intellectual and creative development of<br />

Launceston and the State by increasing our enjoyment and<br />

understanding of our natural and cultural heritage.<br />

4. The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery’s collections are<br />

made for the following purposes:<br />

(a)<br />

(b)<br />

(c)<br />

To be an archival record of:<br />

• the artistic heritage of the people of Tasmania<br />

• the material culture of the peoples who now and<br />

previously inhabited Tasmania and adjacent lands<br />

• the living and past faunas and floras of Tasmania and<br />

adjacent lands and seas<br />

• the minerals and rocks which make up Tasmania<br />

To be a source of material for researching the fields of art,<br />

decorative arts and crafts, Tasmanian history, archaeology,<br />

ethnography, geology, zoology and botany.<br />

To be a source of materials and ideas for educational programs,<br />

particularly exhibitions.<br />

5. The Launceston City Council, as owner of the Queen Victoria<br />

Museum and Art Gallery, will adopt and publish a written<br />

statement of its acquisition policy in respect of works of art and<br />

museum specimens. This policy shall be reviewed at least once<br />

every two years. Acquisition outside the stated policy shall only be<br />

made in exceptional circumstances.<br />

6. The Council supports the principles of the UNESCO Convention on<br />

the means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export<br />

and transfer of ownership of Cultural Property, 1970, acceded to by<br />

Australia in 1990.<br />

7. The Council will not acquire, whether by purchase, gift, bequest or<br />

exchange any work of art or object unless the responsible officer is<br />

satisfied that the Museum can acquire a valid title to the specimen<br />

in question, and that, in particular, it has not been acquired in,<br />

or exported from, its country of origin (and/or any intermediate<br />

country in which it may have been legally owned) in violation of<br />

that country's laws.<br />

8. So far as biological and geological material is concerned, the<br />

Council will not acquire by any direct or indirect means any<br />

specimen that has been collected, sold or otherwise transferred in<br />

contravention of any national or international wildlife protection or<br />

natural history conservation law or treaty of Australia or any other<br />

country, except with the express consent of an appropriate outside<br />

authority.<br />

9. If appropriate and feasible, the same tests as are outlined in<br />

paragraphs 5 and 6 above will be applied in determining whether<br />

to accept loans for exhibitions or other purposes.<br />

10. The Council recognises the need for cooperation and consultation<br />

between museums and art galleries with similar or overlapping<br />

interests and collecting policies, and will seek to consult with<br />

such institutions both on specific acquisitions where a conflict of<br />

interest is thought possible, and, more generally, on defining areas<br />

of specialisation.<br />

Acquisition policy<br />

1.0 Introduction<br />

1.1 The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery has a special<br />

responsibility to preserve and exhibit material evidence of the<br />

natural and cultural history of Tasmania. The Museum’s collecting<br />

policy recognises this as its primary responsibility. However, in<br />

some limited areas a better understanding of Tasmania’s natural<br />

and cultural heritage will be provided by the acquisition of material<br />

from beyond the State. For this reason as well as for historic<br />

reasons, the Museum already has significant collections of material<br />

from beyond Tasmania. Such areas are very closely defined in the<br />

Acquisition Policy.<br />

1.2 In developing its collections, the Museum will:<br />

• reflect the cultural diversity of Tasmania<br />

• reflect the histories and experiences of Tasmanian<br />

culture within a national and international framework<br />

• seek to research, document and maintain the<br />

collections to the highest standards resources permit<br />

• seek to make the collections accessible through<br />

exhibitions, loans, publications and on-line collection access.<br />

1.3 The suitability of all objects proposed for acquisition will be<br />

assessed against stated selection criteria as appropriate for each<br />

collection area. In acquiring objects for its collection, the Museum<br />

shall consider items for which it can adequately care and store<br />

and which are not beyond recognisably achievable conservation<br />

requirements.<br />

21


1.4 The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery recognises the<br />

need to describe the significance of the objects in its collection<br />

using a consistent and widely accepted methodology. As part<br />

of the acquisition process, each object entering the collection of<br />

the Museum will be considered in terms of its historic, aesthetic,<br />

scientific and social values to determine how its meaning is<br />

understood by people and by communities. The Statement of<br />

Significance will consider:<br />

• historic significance<br />

• aesthetic significance<br />

• scientific, research or technical significance<br />

• social or spiritual significance<br />

In addition, significance will also be determined by considering:<br />

• provenance<br />

• representativeness<br />

• rarity<br />

• condition, completeness, intactness<br />

• interpretative potential<br />

1.5 Deaccessioning Policy<br />

The Museum's policies and procedures for deaccessioning objects<br />

from the collection are outlined in a separate policy document<br />

entitled: Deaccessioning Policy.<br />

2.0 Collections<br />

The Museum’s collections are managed in eight collecting areas:<br />

• Natural Sciences<br />

• Fine Arts<br />

• Decorative Arts and Design<br />

• Tasmanian History<br />

• Comparative Cultural<br />

• Community History<br />

• Architectural and Engineering Drawings<br />

• Rare Books<br />

2.1 Natural Sciences<br />

Natural sciences within the Museum cover five distinct areas, each<br />

with their own collection goals and spheres of specialisation. These are:<br />

2.1a Zoology<br />

Comprehensive collections of Tasmanian vertebrate and<br />

invertebrate fauna with specialist research collections from<br />

the remainder of Australia and beyond in molluscs, spiders<br />

and mammalian ectoparasites.<br />

2.1b Botany<br />

Comprehensive collections of Tasmanian plants, including<br />

significant historical holdings.<br />

2.1c Geology<br />

Mineral and rock collections from throughout Tasmania<br />

with important comparative material from interstate and<br />

overseas.<br />

2.1d Palaeontology<br />

A significant collection of fossils from Tasmania and<br />

important vertebrate fossil material from elsewhere in and<br />

beyond Australia.<br />

2.1e Astronomy<br />

Meteorite and tektite material (as part of the Geology<br />

collections).<br />

Subject to nature conservation interests, the Museum will continue to<br />

collect all kinds of evidence of Tasmanian geology, flora and fauna for<br />

display, study, reference and educational purposes. It is expected that the<br />

primary source of such material will be controlled and properly documented<br />

field collecting by Government Agencies, Museum staff and research<br />

associates. However, acquisition (by purchase if necessary) of important<br />

private or historic collections of Tasmanian natural science material of all<br />

kinds (including records) is of great importance.<br />

Individual specimens or collections of material from elsewhere in Australia<br />

will be acquired for education, exhibitions and research where they enable a<br />

better understanding of Tasmania’s natural history.<br />

2.2 Fine Arts<br />

The fine art collection has three principal components, each of<br />

which has its own distinct collection policy. These components are:<br />

2.2a Tasmanian Colonial Art<br />

This collection documents the artistic heritage of Tasmania<br />

through paintings, works on paper and sculpture. In this<br />

context, ‘Tasmanian’ is considered to include work by<br />

Tasmanian artists regardless of the subject of the painting<br />

and work depicting Tasmanian subjects by any artist.<br />

2.2b Modern and Contemporary Australian Art<br />

This collection documents the history of Australia’s<br />

postcolonial art of aesthetic value through paintings, works<br />

on paper, sculpture and multi-media. Particular emphasis<br />

will be placed on the achievements of Tasmanian artists.<br />

The Museum has a small but significant collection of<br />

International paintings and works on paper. This collection<br />

will be maintained.<br />

2.2c Frames<br />

Frames are collected either in their own right or in<br />

association with the item inside the frame. For the most<br />

part, frames are not collected in their own right but are<br />

generally associated with the item they surround.<br />

2.3 Decorative Arts and Design<br />

The Decorative Arts and Design collection has four principal<br />

components, each of which has its own distinct collection policy.<br />

These components are:<br />

2.3a Contemporary Craft and Design<br />

This collection aims to document and promote<br />

understanding of the evolution of contemporary craft<br />

and design in Australia since 1945 in all media. Particular<br />

emphasis will be placed on the achievements of<br />

Tasmanian practitioners. The importance of this collection<br />

is emphasised by the fact that it is the principal such<br />

collection in Tasmania.<br />

Emphasis will be given to collecting objects, which illustrate<br />

in an exemplary way innovation in design, construction, and<br />

use of materials and technologies.<br />

2.3b Tasmanian Decorative Arts<br />

This collection is a special component of the Museum’s<br />

history collection and documents the material cultural<br />

heritage of Tasmania with particular reference to ceramics,<br />

furniture and woodwork, textiles and costumes with<br />

significant aesthetic value.<br />

2.3c Australian Decorative Arts<br />

This collection documents the evolution of Australian<br />

decorative arts, particularly through ceramics and textiles<br />

with significant aesthetic and cultural value. The collection<br />

focuses primarily on objects designed and made in<br />

Australia pre 1945.<br />

22


2.3d International Decorative Arts<br />

This collection documents in particular the development<br />

and evolution of British, European and Asian decorative<br />

arts through ceramics, textiles and costumes of significant<br />

aesthetic value. Consideration will be given to the work of<br />

international practitioners post-1945 where their work has<br />

had a critical and identified influence and/or impact on the<br />

development of Tasmanian and/or national craft and design.<br />

2.4 Tasmanian History Collection<br />

This collection documents the material cultural heritage of the<br />

Tasmanian community with particular reference to threatened<br />

ways of life and the northern region of the State.<br />

2.5 Comparative Cultural Collection<br />

This collection consists of cultural material from communities and<br />

societies from beyond Tasmania and provides a resource for the<br />

Museum’s education and exhibition programs.<br />

2.6 Community History Collection<br />

The Community History collections document the cultural heritage<br />

of the Tasmanian community and reflect the island’s diverse and<br />

changing ways of life with particular reference to the northern<br />

region of the State.<br />

2.6a Photographs<br />

This collection is a comprehensive visual record of<br />

Tasmania from the 1840s and includes all photographic<br />

formats from daguerreotypes onwards. A small<br />

component of film and video supports the visual record.<br />

2.6b Manuscripts<br />

This collection has two principal components: manuscripts<br />

collected as single items and collections of textual records<br />

created or acquired by an individual, family or organization.<br />

It also includes a comprehensive collection of 20th<br />

century Tasmanian ephemera.<br />

2.6c Oral History<br />

This unique collection consists of recorded interviews,<br />

which document the achievements of Tasmanians in the<br />

20th century, and beyond.<br />

It also includes a small component of recorded music.<br />

2.7 Architectural and Engineering Drawings Collection<br />

This collection documents the built and engineering heritage of<br />

Tasmania through drawings and specifications.<br />

2.8 Rare Book Collection<br />

This collection includes books with specific historical or cultural<br />

value, books of aesthetic importance or with a significant<br />

provenance<br />

Appendix 3<br />

Major Acquisitions for 2008–09<br />

Purchases<br />

History<br />

Pharmacist’s sample box from Benneworth’s Pharmacy<br />

Natural Sciences<br />

Fossil femur from dinosaur Maiasaura from The Stone Company, Boulder,<br />

Colorado, USA<br />

Visual Arts and Design<br />

Unknown maker, Tasmania<br />

Sofa, c. 1830<br />

Blackwood, Acacia melanoxylon<br />

Purchased through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery Foundation with<br />

the assistance of Mr John Hawkins and Mr John Millwood<br />

Robyn McKinnon<br />

Mr Glover’s Antipodean Garden, 2007<br />

acrylic on canvas<br />

Purchased through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery Foundation with<br />

the assistance of the Friends of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery<br />

Tom Roberts<br />

Ulverstone Beach c. 1928–30<br />

oil on canvas on board<br />

Purchased through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery Foundation<br />

Edith Holmes<br />

Mother and child<br />

oil on canvas on board<br />

Purchased through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery Foundation<br />

Edith Holmes<br />

Blue Lagoon, Red Ochre Beach, Frederick Henry Bay, Tasmania<br />

oil on board<br />

Purchased through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery Foundation<br />

GG Rossiter<br />

Tamar River from Rosevears Tasmania - Sunrise<br />

oil on board<br />

Purchased through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery Foundation<br />

Ricky Maynard<br />

The Healing Garden, Wybalenna, Flinders Island, Tasmania<br />

from the series Portrait of a Distant Land, 2005<br />

silver gelatin photograph<br />

Purchased through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery Foundation, 2008<br />

Ricky Maynard<br />

Death in Exile<br />

from the series Portrait of a Distant Land, 2005<br />

silver gelatin photograph<br />

Purchased through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery Foundation, 2008<br />

Ricky Maynard<br />

Vansittart Island, Bass Strait, Tasmania<br />

from the series Portrait of a Distant Land, 2005<br />

silver gelatin photograph<br />

Purchased through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery Foundation, 2008<br />

Ricky Maynard<br />

Coming Home<br />

from the series Portrait of a Distant Land, 2005<br />

silver gelatin photograph<br />

Purchased through the Launceston Museum & Art Gallery Foundation, 2008<br />

Donations<br />

History<br />

Miss Leonie Ransom<br />

Collection of material relating to Mary and Edith Ransom, including Edith<br />

Ransom’s MBE, Mary Ransom’s OAM, and the suitcase she used as a nurse<br />

at Flinders Island<br />

Mr AJ Perkins<br />

Collection of signwriters’ brushes used at the Inveresk Railyards<br />

23


Mrs Helen Wing<br />

Plywood caravan used in the 1930s for holidays in northern Tasmania<br />

Mr Tony Styles<br />

1948 Tasman Shields Trophy for best and fairest awarded to footballer Harry<br />

Styles.<br />

ISPT Industrial Superannuation Property Trust<br />

Lamplighter’s ladder from the Launceston Gasworks c. 1860–96<br />

Mineral Resources Tasmania<br />

Two ore carts<br />

Mr Rick Von Stieglitz<br />

Turret lathe<br />

Launceston Benevolent Society Inc.<br />

Launceston Benevolent Society Seal & Lever Press, post 1894<br />

Dr John Ball<br />

‘No Pulp Mill’ sign used in protest<br />

Launceston Art Society<br />

Additions to existing CHS Series (CHS 106)<br />

Tasdance<br />

Additions to existing CHS Series (CHS 18)<br />

Library<br />

Dept. of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra<br />

Book—Australian convict sites: World Heritage nomination<br />

Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts,Canberra,<br />

ACT, 2008<br />

George H Bryan<br />

Book—A guide for dogmen and crane chasers, New South Wales.<br />

[NSW Dept. of Labour and Industry], [Sydney], 1973<br />

Philip McElwee<br />

Book—A locomotive handbook: for the guidance and instruction of drivers,<br />

firemen and cleaners<br />

Transport Department Tasmania, Railway Branch, Tasmania<br />

Philip McElwee<br />

Book—Tasmanian Government Railways: rolling stock 3’6” gauge<br />

[Tasmanian Government Railways]<br />

Philip McElwee<br />

Book—Tasrails 70’s, Tasmania. Transport Commission<br />

Marketing Productions, Bondi Junction, NSW, 1971<br />

Philip McElwee<br />

Book—Working time table for passenger, mixed and goods trains and motors<br />

over all lines, for the guidance and exclusive use of officers and employees, ANR,<br />

Tasmanian Region<br />

Australian National Railways, [Launceston, Tas.], [1978]<br />

Philip McElwee<br />

Book—Instructions to running-gear repairers etc., Tasmania. Government<br />

Railways<br />

John Vail, Government Printer Tasmania, [1928]<br />

Philip McElwee<br />

Pamphlet—Centenary celebrations February 7th to 14th, 1971: first train,<br />

Launceston and Western Railway Company, February 10th, 1871, TGR<br />

Tasmanian Government Railways, [Tasmania], [1971]<br />

Philip McElwee<br />

Pamphlet—What the railways are doing! TGR<br />

Transport Commission, Hobart, [1954?]<br />

Philip McElwee<br />

Pamphlet—Travel by Tasman Limited: Tasmania’s luxury train, Transport<br />

Commission<br />

[Tasmanian Government Railways], [Hobart]<br />

Philip McElwee<br />

Pamphlet—Tasmanian Government Railways<br />

Philip McElwee<br />

Pamphlet—Tasmanian railway lines: historical data<br />

Ivan Heazlewood<br />

Book—Sesquicentenary of the Wesleyan Chapel – Whitemoor, 1857-2007, Ivan<br />

C. Heazlewood<br />

Ivan C Heazlewood [Whitemore, Tas.], 2007<br />

Dept. of Premier and Cabinet, Hobart<br />

Book—Garnaut Climate Change Review draft report: June 2008, Ross Garnaut<br />

Dr BA Meidell<br />

Book—Nationalnyckeln till Sveriges flora och fauna. Mangfotingar.Myriapoda<br />

[Encyclopedia of the Swedish flora and fauna: Nordic Myriapods], G<br />

Andersson, BA Meidell, U Scheller, J-A Winqvist, et al.<br />

ArtDatabanken, SLU, Uppsala, Sweden, 2005<br />

John Neale<br />

Book—Old Launceston, John Neale<br />

Stenlake Publishing, Ayrshire, UK, 2001<br />

Quintus Publishing<br />

Book—Reading Robinson: companion essays to Friendly Mission, Anna<br />

Johnston & Mitchell Rolls (eds)<br />

Quintus Publishing, Hobart, 2008<br />

Ross Smith<br />

Pamphlet—Giant military wallchart<br />

Your Family Tree, [UK], [2008]<br />

Mike Nash<br />

Book—Investigation of a survivors camp from the Sydney Cove shipwreck, Mike Nash<br />

Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, 2004<br />

Mike Nash<br />

DVD—H.M. Sydney Cove [footage of 1991, 1992 and 1993 site excavations]<br />

Parks & Wildlife Service, Tasmania, [Hobart]<br />

Mike Nash<br />

Book— [Sydney Cove shipwreck – published and unpublished reports and<br />

documents]<br />

[Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts], [Hobart], [2008]<br />

Mike Nash<br />

Book—The Sydney Cove shipwreck survivors camp, Mike Nash<br />

Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, 2006<br />

Mike Nash<br />

Book—The history and archaeology of the Sydney Cove shipwreck (1797): a<br />

resource for future site work, Shirley Strachan<br />

Dept of Prehistory, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National,<br />

Canberra, 1986<br />

John McPhee<br />

Book—”Personal recollections” of the Right Reverend Robert William Willson,<br />

D.D. (First Bishop of Hobart Town) with a portrait of His Lordship and an<br />

introduction on the state of religion in Tasmania, prior to the year 1844,<br />

Thomas Kelsh<br />

Davies Bros, Hobart, 1882<br />

Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program<br />

24


John McPhee<br />

Book—Excursions and adventures in New South Wales: with pictures of<br />

squatting and of life in the bush: an account of the climate, productions, and<br />

natural history of the colony, and of the manners and customs of the natives, with<br />

advice to emigrants, &c., John Henderson<br />

W. Shoberl, London, 1851<br />

Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program<br />

John McPhee<br />

Book—Our antipodes, or, Residence and rambles in the Australasian colonies,<br />

Godfrey Charles Mundy<br />

Richard Bentley, London, 1852<br />

Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program<br />

John McPhee<br />

Book—Three essays: on picturesque beauty; on picturesque travel; and on<br />

sketching landscape, William Gilpin<br />

T. Cadell and W. Davies, London, 1808<br />

Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program<br />

John McPhee<br />

Book—Bland stenaldersmanniskor i Queenslands vildmarker, Eric Mjoberg<br />

Albert Bonniers Forlag, Stockholm, 1918<br />

Donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program<br />

WD Booth Estate<br />

Book—Ricky Maynard: portrait of a distant land, Keith Munro<br />

Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney, [2007?]<br />

Paul Cuniffe<br />

Book—Iona National Airways: Ireland’s first commercial airline, Michael<br />

Traynor<br />

Michael Traynor, Dublin, 2005<br />

Smithsonian Institution<br />

Book—Smithsonian at the poles: contributions to International Polar Year<br />

Science, Igor Krupnik, Michael A. Lang & Scott E. Miller (eds)<br />

Smithsonian Institution Scholarly Press, Washington, D.C., 2009<br />

Elizabeth Parkes, Elizabeth<br />

Book—Thomas Diprose and Elizabeth Children Diprose of Kent and Van<br />

Diemen’s Land, Elizabeth Parkes & Jean Doggett<br />

Elizabeth Parkes, Lindisfarne, Tas., 2008<br />

Trevor L Holton<br />

Book—As they saw it, Trevor L Holton<br />

[unpublished work], 2008<br />

Erike Behrisch Elce<br />

Book—As affecting the fate of my absent husband: selected letters of Lady<br />

Franklin concerning the search for the lost Franklin expedition, 1848-1860, Elce<br />

Behrisch (ed.)<br />

McGill-Queen’s University Press, Montreal and Kingston, 2009<br />

Marika Kocsis<br />

Book—Risk assessment for object conservation, Jonathan Ashley-Smith<br />

Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, 1999<br />

Marika Kocsis<br />

Book—The Penguin archaeology guide, Paul Bahn (ed.)<br />

Penguin Books; Penguin Putnam, London ; New York, 2001<br />

Devonport Maritime Museum & Historical Society Inc<br />

Book—Annie Cocker: colonial artist and historian, 1857-1939, Faye Gardam<br />

Devonport Maritime Museum and Historical Society Inc., Devonport, Tas.,<br />

c. 2005<br />

Dr R Mesibov<br />

Reprint—‘A new millipede genus and a new species of Asphalidesmus<br />

silvestri, 1910 (Diplopoda, Polydesmida, Dalodesmidea) from southern<br />

Tasmania, Australia’, Robert Mesibov<br />

ZooKeys 7, 2009<br />

Dr R Mesibov<br />

Reprint—‘Redescripton of Paurodesmus sjoestedti (Verhoeff, 1924), comb. n.<br />

(Diplopoda: Polydesmida: Dalodesmidae)’, R. Mesibov<br />

Australian Entomologist, 35(3), 2008<br />

Natural Sciences<br />

Dept of Primary Industry and Water, Fox Eradication Branch<br />

Specimens—Symmons Plains Fox carcasses with additional material<br />

(specimen and paper based) relating to these specimens.<br />

Dept of Primary Industry and Water, Fox Eradication Branch<br />

Specimens—First portion of collection of Fox-DNA-positive scats collected<br />

in Tasmania by DPIW.<br />

Doug Ewington<br />

Specimens—Rocks, fossils and minerals from personal collections and many<br />

publications from personal library.<br />

Bob Mesibov<br />

Specimens—Approximately 200 specimen lots for arthropod collection.<br />

Northern River Monitoring Program (2007).<br />

Specimens—Several thousand vials of freshwater invertebrates, sorted and<br />

identified at least to family.<br />

Andrew Osborn and Nigel Forteath<br />

Specimens—Freshwater Sponge type material from Lake Pedder.<br />

Visual Arts and Design<br />

Clyde McGill<br />

True stories iv: as we walked, 2008<br />

screenprint, monoprint and etching on paper<br />

Print Council Member’s Print<br />

Gay Hawkes<br />

Whalebone Bench, Sommers Bay, 2004<br />

driftwood, whalebone<br />

AW Eustace (mountain views) oil paint on a gum leaf<br />

AW Eustace (landscape) oil paint on a gum leaf<br />

Gladstone Eyre (landscape) oil<br />

Gladstone Eyre (landscape) oil<br />

Richard Nichols (emus) oil<br />

Unknown Artist (portrait of a young soldier) gouache and watercolour<br />

Bequest of Mrs Antonietta Bessant<br />

Marika Kocsis<br />

Book—The elements of archaeological conservation, JM Cronyn & WW<br />

Robinson<br />

Routledge, London ; New York, NY, 1990<br />

Collections Council of Australia Ltd<br />

Book—Significance 2.0: a guide to assessing the significance of collections,<br />

Roslyn Russell & Kylie Winkworth<br />

Collections Council of Australia Ltd, SA, 2009<br />

25


Appendix 4<br />

Special Purpose Operating Statement<br />

This special purpose statement of revenue and expenses is prepared<br />

from the accounts of the Launceston City Council and should be read in<br />

conjunction with the audited financial statements for the year ended 30<br />

June 2009.<br />

The accounts of the Launceston City Council are prepared in accordance<br />

with Australian Accounting Standards and the Local Government Act<br />

1993. Under the Accounting Standards it is a requirement that grants are<br />

recognised as revenue in the year in which they are received or when the<br />

Council obtains control over the assets comprising the contributions, but<br />

the related expenditure can occur in a later period.<br />

Launceston City Council Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery<br />

Special purpose statment of revenue and expenses for the year ended 30 June 2009<br />

2009 2008<br />

$ $<br />

TRADING ACTIVITIES NET SURPLUS 43,324 60,681<br />

GRANTS & DONATIONS<br />

State Government Grant 1,188,600 1,154,000<br />

Funded Projects Net Surplus/(Deficit) 1,906 (13,846)<br />

Plomley Foundation Net Surplus/(Deficit) (8,428) 58,676<br />

GRANTS & DONATIONS NET SURPLUS 1,182,078 1,198,830<br />

OTHER OPERATIONAL REVENUE 3,647 9,523<br />

TOTAL REVENUE EXPENSES 1,229,049 1,269,034<br />

Operating Activities 3,706,285 3,668,805<br />

Internal Service Charges 252,331 197,560<br />

Depreciation 608,335 528,644<br />

TOTAL EXPENSES 4,566,951 4,395,009<br />

LCC CONTRIBUTION 3,337,902 3,125,975<br />

26


Appendix 5<br />

Public Activities and Special Events<br />

July 2008<br />

Monday 7<br />

Royal Society Lecture Series: Silt and the Tamar<br />

River with Geoff Brayford, Director, Water and<br />

Sewerage Services, Launceston City Council<br />

Attendance 63<br />

Friday 11<br />

Official opening of Great Railway Journeys of<br />

Australia by Federal Member for Bass, Jodie<br />

Campbell<br />

Attendance 141<br />

Wednesday 16<br />

Playgroup: Wildlife of Gondwana with Daphne<br />

Mitchell<br />

Attendance 14<br />

Wednesday 23<br />

Guides Choice of the Month: Great Railway<br />

Journeys of Australia with Tricia Roberts<br />

Attendance 36<br />

Morning Coffee Lecture with Patrick Reilly,<br />

Former CEO of J Boag and Son<br />

Attendance 50<br />

August<br />

Monday 4<br />

Royal Society Lecture: From Poverty to Nobel<br />

Peace Prize Nomination with Dr Terry Hannan,<br />

Consultant Physician, LGH<br />

Attendance 34<br />

Friday 15<br />

Official opening of Hidden in Plain View – the<br />

Forgotten Flora, a touring exhibition from the<br />

Royal Botanical Gardens with guest speaker<br />

Dr Teresa Lebel<br />

Attendance 74<br />

Saturday 16 – Sunday 24<br />

Scinema Festival of Science Films 2008<br />

Attendance n/a<br />

Wednesday 20<br />

Playgroup: Trains with Daphne Mitchell<br />

Attendance 34<br />

Tuesday 26<br />

Filming of an episode of the ABC’s The<br />

Collectors<br />

Attendance 138<br />

Wednesday 27<br />

Guides Choice of the Month: 360 Professions:<br />

China Trade Paintings with Trish Alexander<br />

Attendance 34<br />

Morning Coffee Lecture Series with artist,<br />

teacher and gallery owner Jill Ferrall<br />

Attendance 56<br />

Friday 29<br />

Official opening of ArtStart: Hide and Seek<br />

by Mrs Sandra Campbell, Chairman of<br />

the Launceston Museum and Art Gallery<br />

Foundation<br />

Attendance 43<br />

September<br />

Monday 1<br />

Royal Society Lecture: Climate Change: Science<br />

vs Politics with Dr Nick Towle<br />

Attendance 53<br />

Monday 8 – Friday 19<br />

School Holiday Program<br />

13 Sessions<br />

Attendance 249<br />

Wednesday 24<br />

Guides Choice of the Month: Circa September<br />

2001 2002 and Belonging 2002 by Denise<br />

Campbell with Lyn Henshaw<br />

Attendance 40<br />

Morning Coffee Lecture Series with Examiner<br />

journalist Alison Andrews<br />

Attendance 98<br />

QVMAG Friends AGM<br />

Royal Park<br />

Attendance 73<br />

October<br />

Monday 6<br />

Royal Society Lecture: Stress and the Brain in<br />

Health and Disease with Dr Adrian Bradley<br />

Attendance 59<br />

Wednesday 15<br />

Playgroup: Rough and Smooth, Bright and Shiny<br />

with Daphne Mitchell<br />

Attendance 30<br />

Official opening of Wildlife Photographer of the<br />

Year, a travelling exhibition from Australian<br />

Museum, Sydney with Philip Kuruvita,<br />

M.Photog III<br />

Attendance 68<br />

Wednesday 22<br />

Guides Choice of the Month: Sunset and<br />

Mount Direction from Moonah by Edith Holmes<br />

with Annie Robinson<br />

Attendance 30<br />

Morning Coffee Lecture Series with Jill<br />

Dearing<br />

Attendance 56<br />

November<br />

Friday 7<br />

Official opening of ArtStart: In the Eye of the<br />

Beholder by Patrick Filmer-Sankey<br />

Attendance 81<br />

Monday 10<br />

Royal Society Lecture: Gambusia in the Tamar<br />

River: how can we eradicate this pest? with<br />

David Maynard, AMC<br />

Attendance 37<br />

Wednesday 19<br />

Playgroup: A Day at the Beach with Daphne<br />

Mitchell<br />

Attendance 40<br />

Wednesday 26<br />

Guides choice of the Month: Launceston from<br />

the Westbury Road by Frederick Strange with<br />

Rosemary Butler<br />

Attendance 36<br />

Morning Coffee Lecture Series with Ailsa<br />

Bond<br />

Attendance 64<br />

Thursday 27<br />

Friendly Mission Book Launch by the Hon<br />

Michelle O’Byrne<br />

Attendance 102<br />

Friendly Mission book launch<br />

Lecture by Prof Henry Reynolds<br />

Attendance 70<br />

December<br />

Thursday 4<br />

Friends Christmas Party<br />

Attendance 139<br />

Saturday 20<br />

Official opening of ArtRage 2008 with<br />

Michelle O’Byrne Minister for Environment,<br />

Parks, Heritage and the Arts<br />

Attendance 180<br />

January 2009<br />

Monday 12 – Friday 23<br />

School Holiday Program<br />

14 sessions<br />

Attendance 252<br />

Wednesday 21<br />

Playgroup: Music With a Bang with Daphne<br />

Mitchell<br />

Attendance 24<br />

February<br />

Wednesday 18<br />

Playgroup: Bugs & Grubs with Daphne Mitchell<br />

Attendance 29<br />

Wednesday 25<br />

Guides Choice: ArtRage 2008 with Pat Traill<br />

Attendance 75<br />

Morning Coffee Lecture with Ned Terry<br />

Farmer and Oral Historian<br />

Attendance 40<br />

27


March<br />

Sunday 1<br />

Launch of new QVMAG Art Guide, A Collected<br />

View with Tasmanian Poet, Alan Taylor<br />

Attendance 63<br />

Royal Society Forum on Darwin’s visit to<br />

Hobart<br />

Attendance 110<br />

Wednesday 4<br />

Weekly After School Art Class<br />

Attendance 15<br />

Thursday 5<br />

Friends’ Preview of Tasdance’s performance<br />

KELP<br />

Attendance 7<br />

Wednesday 18<br />

Playgroup: Japanese Festivals with Daphne<br />

Mitchell<br />

Attendance 39<br />

Wednesday 25<br />

Guides Choice: Four-fold blackwood painted<br />

screen, 1889 by Amelia Burrows with Janet<br />

Tomlinson<br />

Attendance 33<br />

Morning Coffee Lecture with Roderick<br />

Thirkell-Johnston AM<br />

Attendance 62<br />

Saturday 28<br />

Official opening of Spatial Origami, in<br />

association with 10 Days on the Island<br />

Attendance 40<br />

April<br />

Thursday 2<br />

100 hours of Astronomy lecture and viewing of<br />

the night sky with Martin George<br />

Attendance 65<br />

Friday 3<br />

Spatial Origami a talk by Helen Norrie, School<br />

of Architecture and Design<br />

Attendance 19<br />

Saturday 4<br />

Shell Necklace Making in Tasmania – a<br />

presentation by Lola Greeno<br />

Attendance 75<br />

100 hours of Astronomy lecture and viewing of<br />

the night sky with Martin George<br />

Attendance 110<br />

Monday 6<br />

Royal Society Lecture Series The Social History<br />

of Iodine Deficiency in Tasmania & Derbyshire,<br />

UK with Paul Richards<br />

Attendance 63<br />

Wednesday 22<br />

Guides Choice: Hyde Park 1925 by Roy de<br />

Maistre with Rosemary Butler<br />

Attendance 28<br />

Morning Coffee Lecture with Annie Greig,<br />

Director Tasdance<br />

Attendance 56<br />

Friday 24<br />

Friends Tour to Burnie<br />

Attendance 29<br />

May<br />

Monday 4<br />

Royal Society Lecture Series: Jellyfish: a<br />

leisurely journey of wonder with Dr Lisa-ann<br />

Gershwin<br />

Attendance 46<br />

Wednesday 13<br />

Special preview of Earthquest by competition<br />

winners<br />

Attendance 101<br />

Thursday 14<br />

Official opening of Earthquest, a touring<br />

exhibition from Questacon, the National<br />

Science Centre, Canberra with Brendan<br />

McMahon, Bureau of Meteorology<br />

Attendance 52<br />

Wednesday 20<br />

Playgroup: Mother Goose Day with Daphne<br />

Mitchell<br />

Attendance 38<br />

Friday 22<br />

Official opening of ArtStart: Ideas and<br />

Emotions<br />

Attendance 100<br />

Wednesday 27<br />

Guides Choice: ‘Jimmy possum’ chair,<br />

early 20th century, Tasmania, 1982 by Gay<br />

Hawkes with Shirley Watson<br />

Attendance 48<br />

Morning Coffee Lecture with Bertram (Snow)<br />

Thomas of North Down<br />

Attendance 79<br />

Playgroup: Mother Goose Day with Daphne<br />

Mitchell<br />

Attendance 23<br />

June<br />

Monday 1<br />

Royal Society Lecture Series: Barry Cash,<br />

CEO Ben Lomond Water<br />

Attendance 38<br />

Monday 1 – Friday 12<br />

School Holiday Program<br />

11 sessions<br />

Attendance 225<br />

Monday 1 – Sunday 14<br />

Little Big Shots International Film Festival for<br />

Kids<br />

28 sessions<br />

Attendance 459<br />

Wednesday 17<br />

Playgroup: Follow the Shape with Daphne<br />

Mitchell<br />

Attendance 32<br />

Wednesday 24<br />

Guides Choice: Mimosa 1999 by Kerry<br />

Gregan with Ros Watson<br />

Attendance 28<br />

Morning Coffee Lecture with Don Blew<br />

Attendance 52<br />

28

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