Museums & Galleries NSW: Access to Funding: VIM Grants

For more info and video of presentation by Phoebe Arthur click on the following link.

 Museums & Galleries NSW: Access to Funding: VIM Grants: On March 21 M&G NSW, in partnership with the Museum of the Riverina, presented  Access to Funding , a workshop delivering skills to make...

Central Tablands Chapter, M&G(NSW) - AGM 2013 at Rockley

Rockley School of Arts

Central Tablelands Chapter M&G(NSW)

Notice of AGM AT ROCKLEY 

We wish to advise you that the Next Chapter meeting will be held at Rockley on Saturday the 4th Of May 2013. A brief outline and the day’s events are. The members Rockley have planned an enjoyable day for us and I look forward to see you all there. 

Rockley was established in 1851 and flourished between 1860 and 1890, during that period a number of important and substantial buildings were built. 

The whole village is listed by the National Trust. 

As part of the visit there will be a chance to visit some of these remarkable buildings, starting with Buddens Guesthouse, originally the Bank building opened in 1878. We will then be having the meeting and lunch at the School of Arts (opened 1890). At the conclusion of lunch there will be a walking tour of Rockley, some of the highlights include:, St Peter’s Anglican Church 1867, designed by the renowned architect E. Gell, St Patrick’s Catholic Church opened in 1869, Rockley Mill Museum (1862) all of which will be open for the visit. 

Meeting Program 

10.30 Arrive at Buddens Tea Rooms 18 Buddens Street for registration and morning tea
11.00-1.00 AGM and lunch School of Arts, Hill Street
1.00 – 3.00 Walking tour and optional visit to Rockley Mill and Stables museum Cost $25 (Cheques made payable to Rockley Mill Museum
Acceptance and payment for morning tea and lunch please contact
Deidre Robertson
18 Budden Street, Rockley
Tel 02 6337 9279
Email: stay@buddens.com.au

Directions to Rockley from Bathurst, follow signs to Perthville which is south of Bathurst. Vale Road becomes Rockley Road some kilometres on is Rockley. 

The Google map gives good directions if you type in your location and the Rockley as the destination.

Museums & Galleries NSW Collection Documentation and Significance Assessment Grants

Update: The Collection Documentation Grants deadline has been extended to 15 February 2013.

The Collection Documentation and Significance Assessment Grant Program is a new initiative commencing in 2013 to enable community museums and keeping places to bring in specialists to work with volunteers on documentation and or significance assessment of objects and collections.

This is an Arts NSW devolved funding program, administered by Museums & Galleries NSW on behalf of the NSW Government. The objective is to make the collections more accessible. Core projects include identifying significant objects, writing significance statements, cataloguing objects, digitally photographing objects and entering collection information into a database.
Priority is given to collaborative projects involving four or more museums/keeping places; however applications from single organisations will be considered where they can demonstrate a strong case for funding. Ideally, organisations applying for individual project funding will already have undertaken significance assessment of their collections.

Download the guidelines here

AMOUNT AVAILABLE: The amount that can be applied for under this program is a maximum of $7,500.

TIMEFRAME: One round of Collection Documentation and Significance Assessment Grants will be offered annually. No late applications will be accepted.

Applications for must be postmarked on or before Friday 15 February 2013.

Projects must have commenced no later than 31 August 2013 and be completed no later than 31 December 2013.

For further information:
Phoebe Arthur
Museum Sector Programs and Collections Coordinator
t: 02 9358 1760
freecall: 1800 114 311 (regional only)
e: phoebea@mgnsw.org.au

How Yesterday Remembers Tomorrow at Orange Regional Gallery

Last week was filled with busy preparation for the launch of our new touring exhibition, How Yesterday Remembers Tomorrow. Opening at Orange Regional Gallery on Friday 23 March, the exhibition features the works of six contemporary Australian artists and collaborative partnerships who are all past recipients of the Helen Lempriere Travelling Art Scholarship for emerging artists, presenting their early works alongside recent projects to exemplify how an artist's practice develops over time through research, experimentation and refinement.

 Read more . . .

M&G NSW's old computers are seeking loving new owners

Is you PC some old piece of junk you need to hand crank to send an email? M&G NSW is offering their old PCS for bargain basement prices. For only $100 plus freight/transport you can own a fast, beautiful PC with an XP (Service pack 2) Operating System and Office 2003 (Outlook, Word, Powerpoint, Excel) thrown into the bargain.

Please note: Monitors are not included. First come/first served.

If interested contact Michael Huxley on finance@mgnsw.org.au or 02 93399912

Seeking Expressions of Interest for three Membership Committees

M&G NSW convenes several committees to assist in the development of its programs and provide strategic advice and feedback. These committees bring an invaluable breadth of knowledge and experience to M&G NSW.

M&G NSW are seeking expressions of interest for membership on three committees (Gallery Reference Committee, Museum Reference Committee, Volunteer Reference Committee) from 2012. Applications are due 3 February 2012. All applications received will be considered and the final selection will be made by M&G NSW staff. Endorsement from the applicant’s current institution will be sought before candidates are notified by late February 2012.

Terms of reference for each committee and application forms are available on the M&G NSW website.

Keeping Places & Beyond: building cultural futures in NSW

Keeping culture strong through communities was a central theme of the M&G NSW organised Keeping Places & Beyond: building cultural futures in NSW summit, held at CarriageWorks on September 19/20 2011.

In bringing together, for the first time, over 150 people from across the Aboriginal arts, community & professional organisations, NSW cultural institutions, government agencies, the education sector, small business, Elders groups and individuals, the summit’s main aim was to discuss and shape the future for NSW Aboriginal cultural practice, local knowledge, heritage and language. This blackfella/whitefella meeting has been hailed a huge success by nearly all who attended.

People traveled from throughout NSW. Those who arrived on the Sunday could sample Barani Barrabugu, the city’s new heritage walking trails of significant Aboriginal sites or use their complimentary entry to the Australian Museum. Many travelers caught up with the city mobs at the welcome BBQ, put on by the City of Sydney, at Redfern Community Centre in the evening.

The Smoking Ceremony and Welcome Dance in the CarriageWorks main foyer started proceedings on Monday morning. Uncle Max Eulo conducted the ceremony which was followed by a culturally strong performance from the Doonooch Dancers, Yung Nooky (on didj) and boys from the East Nowra Public School. The dancers then led delegates into the meeting place. Delegates were welcomed to country by Auntie Millie Ingram, from the Wyanga Elders Group, Redfern. The cultural program was threaded throughout the two days, with a boomerang demonstration by Laddie Timbery, and performances by The Stiff Gins, Yung Nooky and Emma Donovan and her band.

As for the summit program, it featured presentations from a range of authoritative and informative speakers including; Professor Bob Morgan, Russell Taylor, Djon Mundine, Keith Munro, Beryl van Oploo, Phil Gordon, Dr Sandy O’Sullivan and artist, Jenny Fraser among others. Bob Morgan spoke about cultural identity and emphasized a theme that was to run through other presentations and conversations - that of the importance of self determination, of Aboriginal communities being sufficiently empowered to perform their own cultural maintenance, art form development and dissemination.

I certainly appreciated the opportunity to sit and listen as did many others. Those engaging or looking to engage in the sector made many useful contacts and like-minded approaches to build partnerships. A range of recommendations and suggestions to progress and build on momentum were discussed and agreed upon in the final sessions. They ranged across areas such as Heritage, Digitization, Art & Design, Community Engagement and ongoing connections to Government and other stakeholders. The summit’s reference committee will now give some further thought to these and their final report to Arts NSW will prioritise and chart a way forward. I do think it’s a great testament to the value of the conference that participants were keen to develop an ongoing network to continue to explore the ideas and opportunities raised over the two days, and that there was an expressed desire to meet again in a couple of years time to re-thread the picture with the work and developments in the interim.

The summit was organized and convened by Museums & Galleries NSW with core funding from Arts NSW. It was supported by Aboriginal Affairs NSW and NSW Aboriginal Land Council.


All Photos by Mervyn Bishop

Source: Museums and Galleries NSW- Alert! 28 September 2011

Regional & Public Galleries NSW 2011 Conference

Currency: Resourcefulness, Relevance, Resilience  

30 October - 1 November 2011

Registrations are now open for Regional & Public Galleries NSW (RPG NSW) 2011 Conference which this year will be held at the Glasshouse Arts, Conference and Entertainment Centre in Port Macquarie. This year the conference is themed Currency: Resourcefulness, Relevance, Resilience.

This conference will investigate issues of sustainability for the sector from a triple bottom line perspective, exploring the three pillars of the environmental, financial and social. The program will cover sustainable practice across the range of gallery and museum operations and the conference will be a valuable professional development opportunity for directors, public programs and marketing staff, as well as gallery technicians with an involvement in facility maintenance. Through facilitated discussion and practical workshops, by the end of the conference we aim to have developed a list of strategies, both short and long term, with which to move forward to support the vitality and longevity of the sector.  

Featured speakers include:

• Lucy Neal, UK, co-author of Sustainable Ability report and contributor to The Happy Museum Project.
• Jason Smith, Director at the Heide Museum of Modern Art on sustainable practices at Heide
• Emrah Baki Ulason will present the findings of the recent Lighting and Energy Effectiveness Report carried out by Steensen Varming
• Krista Huebner from The Museum of Contemporary Art on their use of social media and models for audience engagement

• Elizabeth Mead from the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) about audience development strategies and their use of new technology

• Belinda Hanrahan from Hazelhurst Regional Gallery and Arts Centre on sponsorships as strategic partnership
• Jenny Fraser, artist and founder of cyberTribe on Indigenous art online

• Dr Usha-Iyer Raniga, Snr Lecturer, School of Property, Construction and Project Management, RMIT University on building green facilities
• Lis Bastian, formerly of Central NSW Councils (Centroc) and currently Director at Varuna, the Writers’ House, will faciliate an important practical discussion with all the delegates around the issues covered
• Further speakers to be announced

The conference will begin with a welcome drinks, registration and performances at 5.30pm-7.30pm on Sunday 30 October at Glasshouse Regional Gallery.

Download the conference program

Download a registration form

Accommodation
The Observatory is offering a special rate to RPG NSW conference delegates on stays more than two nights. You can visit their website here.
 
Call for Papers
Submissions are now open for papers from RPG NSW members for a session that will look at models for audience engagement.

Download a paper proposal form

Conference Details
When: from 5.30pm Sunday 30 October – 1 November 2011
Where: Glasshouse Arts, Conference and Entertainment Centre, 32 Clarence Street, Port Macquarie, NSW
Conference fees: $270 full price / $220 concession (plus $65 optional conference dinner)
Special offer: concession rate available to organisations that book 2 or more additional staff members
Further information: contact Cassie Charlton pdc@mgnsw.org.au or ph: (02) 9339 99914


Museums & Galleries NSW is presenting this conference in partnership with Regional & Public Galleries NSW (RPG NSW).

Volunteer Initiated Grant Program Now Open!

Museums & Galleries NSW is pleased to announce that the second round of the Volunteer Initiated Museum (VIM) Grant Program is now open for 2011. Applications are now invited for VIM Small Grants (funding up to $1,500) and Development Project Grants (funding up to $5,000), closing: Friday 21st October 2011.

The Guidelines for all VIM Grants can be downloaded from Museums & Galleries NSW’s website (www.mgnsw.org.au).

Closes: Friday 21st October 2011.
Contact: Phoebe Arthur, Sector Development Coordinator on ph: (02) 9339 9913, free call 1800 114 311 or phoebea@mgnsw.org.au to discuss your project and obtain an application form.

Perspex Display Plinths for Sale!

A range of perspex support plinths used for jewellery display are available for purchase! There are various sizes ranging from 40 x 45 x 9cm to smaller plinths at 15 x 15 x 15cm. All are made from 3mm acrylic perspex, most in frosted white and others in satin black.

In addition, there are a collection of clear thick perspex shelves also available, large sizes at 40 x 178 x 1cm and small sizes at 40 x 118 x 1cm. Prices range from $10 - $35.

Contact: Jasmin Dessmann at e: jasmind@mgnsw.org.au or ph: (02) 9339 9906 for a full list of details or more information.

Source: Museums and Galleries NSW- Alert! 7 September 2011

IMAGinE awards 2011 - inspiring museums & galleries in excellence

The IMAGinE awards are an annual event that strengthen and promote the NSW and ACT museum and gallery sector by celebrating the wonderful institutions, collections, exhibitions, education programs, outreach projects and individuals that make up our industry.

With the awards closing date fast approaching on Tuesday 30 August, now is the time to get those nominations in! Don’t miss out on the opportunity to create great exposure for your organisation and gain recognition amongst the museum and gallery sector. Past awards winners have used their success to gain media coverage, raise the profile of their museum or gallery in their community and as an advocacy tool to funding bodies.

You can nominate for Collection Management, Exhibitions & Public Engagement, Education & Audience Development and Individual Achievement. These categories are broken down into four sections depending on the size of your organisation.

Nomination forms can be downloaded from the M&G NSW website: http://mgnsw.org.au/sector_development/imagine_awards_2011/

Nominations close on Tuesday, 30 August 2011 (nominations postmarked with this date will also be accepted). Winners will be announced at a gala event to be held at the Australian Museum on the evening of Friday 30 September.

The IMAGinE awards are presented by Museums & Galleries NSW in partnership with Regional & Public Galleries NSW, Museums Australia NSW and Museums Australia ACT.

Source: can-notices newsletter

Museums and Galleries NSW Grants

Closing anytime up until 30 September 2011: Volunteer Initiated Museums (VIM) Grants - VIM Skills Initiatives Grants

Provides funding to volunteer museums, museum networks and Keeping Places for regional or state-focused skills development training and networking events. More

The World of May Gibbs

A Museums Australia NSW Tour and Talk.

Courtney Eckler, Nutcote Manager/Curator, will lead visitors through Nutcote, the beautiful harbour-side home of May Gibbs, author of "The Complete Adventures of Snugglepot & Cuddlepie." Located in Sydney's Neutral Bay, it is now a house museum surrounded by delightful gardens.
   
When: Wednesday 6 July 2011 4pm
Where: May Gibbs' Nutcote, 5 Wallaringa Avenue, Neutral Bay
Further information about the location: http://www.maygibbs.com.au/.

For further details including directions and travel options visit:
http://www.museumsaustralia.org.au/site/nswbranchnews.php
To RSVP: contact Paul Bentley, MANSW executive officer, phone: 02 9387 7307
mobile: 0416 121 347, email: pbentley@idx.com.au

Source:  Museums & Galleries NSW - Alert!

Museum Pieces Available by Donation

The Chifley Home museum in Bathurst has been approached by a local citizen who is willing to donate the following pieces to a museum collection.  The pieces are presently housed in Sydney.  They include a Singer electric wool winding machine with spools, an industrial over-locking machine (hand-held wool winding wheel attached), a knitting machine, an early industrial sewing machine, a c.1948 Singer treadle sewing machine, and a Singer boot-maker’s manual sewing machine.
 
Most of the pieces formed part of a cottage industry that thrived during the 1950s and 1960s.  The business was located in a converted backyard shed, in an era when women knitted and orders were picked up by push-bike for local stores.  Wool was wound by hand or machine, neckbands of all shapes and sizes were knitted and inserted professionally using the machinery available.  Beanies, scarves, mittens and jumpers were also produced for the local schools. Colour combinations were very specific and prized. There was a whole generation of satisfied customers.
 
If any museum is interested in part or all of the collection, please contact the owner, Ellen Bennetts on 04 5913 9046.

Source:  Museums & Galleries NSW Alert!

M&G NSW meets the Premier and Arts Minister

The Hon. Barry O’Farrell, Prof Colin Rhodes, Michael Rolfe and the Hon. George Souris.

On Thursday 2^nd June, following representations to the State Government, M&G NSW Chair, Prof Colin Rhodes and I were invited to meet with NSW Premier, the Hon. Barry O’Farrell and Minister for the Arts, the Hon. George Souris in the Premier’s Parliament House office.

The purpose of the meeting was to introduce our organization to the new state government and to advocate for programs and activities provided by museums & galleries throughout NSW. We emphasised the strength & commitment of work undertaken within the sector and championed the significant role local government plays in the provision of such services.

Both the Premier and Minister indicated that they were well aware of the overall value and community wide benefit bestowed by galleries and museums within communities large and small. There was an acknowledgement of how well the sector was served by volunteers and a further acknowledgement that more needs to be done to empower Aboriginal communities through support for cultural knowledge, identity and participation.

I outlined the history of galleries in NSW, noting in particular their century old contribution to regional NSW, and that this history continues to be created out of significant community aspiration. Similarly it was noted that the State’s many volunteer and professionally run museums characterise an innate desire to research history, collect objects and tell stories about people and their lives.

On behalf of all museums and galleries in NSW we thanked the Premier and Minister for their valuable time. We also encouraged them to continue their keen interest in the sector and of course, to visit as many museums and galleries as possible. 

Michael Rolfe 

Source:  M&G NSW Blog