The Penneshaw Maritime and Folk Museum have undertaken a complete overhaul of the displays in the museum’s main exhibition space. Completed in the last couple of months, the new displays were professionally designed and have been put together largely by volunteer members of the museum. Apart from writing the stories for the display, choosing objects and images and undertaking all other curatorial aspects of the display, museum volunteers also virtually gutted and rebuilt the interior of the display room.
The museum is housed in the former Penneshaw School and considerable work was done cleaning, sanding and painting to make the room ready for installation of the new displays. Much of the cost of the display was funded through two History SA Community Museums Program grants.
The new displays follow a number of historical themes important to the history of the Penneshaw region, including maritime history, geology and land settlement. Display panels with images and text are used to tell relevant historical stories while the display cases highlight artefacts that further enhance the stories. The museum intends to regularly change artefacts on display to maintain public interest and to allow for a larger number of items from the museum’s collection to be shown over time.