Month: October 2020

As 2020 progresses into the final quarter plenty is happening in the SA History Network!

Big splash after months of closure

The Tea Tree Gully Museum recently held their first public event in six months, welcoming around 500 people to the outside areas of the museum site only and opening the museum’s latest exhibition ‘Pioneers to Producers’. A hugely successful day! During Covid closure the museum team has been taking the time to paint the entire Old Highercombe Hotel Museum, pack and store collection items, and will now gear up for reinstating the various displays.

History for the very young

In Naracoorte the development of the Children’s Museum at the Sheep’s Back Museum is coming along well with lots of work being done to repair the building and verandah area.  Working with artist Rod Bax, the museum has held community workshops with students, teachers and care givers as part of the process of developing this new section of the museum.  The model native birds (pictured) are the result of one of these workshops.

Aimed at the 0 – 7 years age group the Children’s Museum will include a making space and themed areas where local history can be introduced to the very young in age appropriate ways. From its extensive collections the museum has selected a range of duplicate/unprovenanced objects that will be used for activities such as identifying shapes – a clever entry point for younger audiences.

Boost for family history in Moonta

Meanwhile in Moonta, the Moonta Family History Research Centre is busy responding to recommendations in their recently commissioned Significance Assessment. Extensive organising, cleaning up of spaces and the purchase of a fabulous new compactus are already making a difference to the accessibility of local history archives and images.

Racing towards 150th

Did you know the Onkaparinga Racing Club has an historical collection at the Oakbank Racecourse?  The Racing Club committee is preparing well ahead of time for the club’s 150th anniversary in 2026 and are planning a coffee table style history book. They are also looking into setting up a publicly accessible small museum and running tours of the racecourse site with its heritage listed grandstands, dedicated casualty room and own former police station that operated just on race days!

 

 

A further $42,886 for eight MaC Projects grants was approved last month.  The projects each reflect the priorities of MaC members at the moment and include digitisation, storage, collections management, conservation, web development and audio interpretation.   A great range of projects and many from some of our newest MaC members!

The full list of all project grants supported in MaC Projects round 3 is available here.

Membership of the History Trust’s MaC (Museums and Collections) program is continuing to grow and all community groups that manage an historical collection and/or operate a museum are eligible to join. In July we welcomed Marion Historic Village Museum (pictured) to MaC.

MaC membership is a great way to be recognised as part of the SA History Network as well as being a key source of funds for collections and history projects of many types. MaC program information is available here – where you can also see the current MaC membership list – and interested groups are welcome to contact the History Trust to find out more.