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Minutes of the Tweed River Regional Museum Advisory Committee Meeting held Tuesday 20 November 2012
Venue:
Coolamon Cultural Centre Time:
2:00pm Present:
Cr Barry Longland; David Oxenham (Director Community & Natural Resources); Judy Kean; Peter Budd (Community); Gary Fidler (Community); Sandra Flannery (Community); Faye O’Keeffe (Community); Janet Swift (Community); Joan Smith (Tweed Heads Historical Society); Denise Garrick (Tweed Heads Historical Society);
Helena Duckworth (Uki & South Arm Historical Society); Mary Lee Connery (Uki &
South Arm Historical Society); Max Boyd (Murwillumbah Historical Society); Beverley Lee (Murwillumbah Historical Society).
Apologies:
Cr Michael Armstrong.
Minutes of Previous Meeting:
Moved: Fay O'Keeffe Seconded: Gary Fidler
RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Tweed River Regional Museum Advisory
Committee meeting held Thursday 19 July 2012 be accepted as a true and accurate record of the proceedings of that meeting.
Business Arising:
Nil
Agenda Items:
1. Welcome
David Oxenham welcomed new members to the Committee and also those returning to their role.
2. Election of Committee Chairperson
The meeting discussed options for appointment of a Chairperson, in particular the appropriateness of rotating the Chair or appointing a Chair for part of the four year term of the Advisory Committee.
David Oxenham advised that most Council committees appointed a Chair for the full four year term, with the exception of the Aboriginal Advisory Committee which rotated the Chair.
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Moved: Joan Smith Seconded: Denise Garrick
RESOLVED that Max Boyd be appointed Chairperson of the Tweed River Regional Museum Advisory Committee for the four year term of Council.
3. Schedule of meeting dates for 2013 and schedule of business
The Committee endorsed the meeting dates put forward in the Draft Meeting Schedule for 2013 and agreed that meetings should begin at 2pm.
Meeting dates for 2013 will be as follows:
Thursday 17 January Thursday 21 March Thursday 16 May Thursday 18 July
Thursday 19 September Thursday 21 November
Moved: Mary Lee Connery Seconded: Gary Fidler
RESOLVED that the Agenda format and schedule of business relating to review of the TRRM Strategic Plan, as outlined in the agenda paper, be adopted.
Gary Fidler spoke to the potential for collaboration and cross promotion of Council cultural facilities, including the Tweed River Art Gallery incorporating the Olley Centre, the Tweed River Regional Museum, together with the Heritage Conservation area proposed for Murwillumbah central. He also spoke to the importance of looking at the resources and potential options available for realising Council's vision for the Tweed River Regional Museum facility at Tweed Heads.
4. Museum Director's Report
The Museum Director spoke to the extensive list of proposed de-accessions forwarded to members prior to the meeting. The Director advised that after discussion with Joan Smith, she proposed that artefact 00-080R, Souvenir booklet from Gilltraps Auto Museum, Gold Coast [4987] donated by Ernie Cobb listed on page 18 of the list of proposed de- accessions be removed from consideration and remain in the collection.
The Director spoke to additional proposed acquisitions tabled at the meeting and sought the Committee's agreement to consider these.
The Director spoke to additional proposed de-accessions that were tabled at the meeting and sought the Committee's agreement to consider these.
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Report 20 November 2012
Museum building and development
Collections store
Construction of the collections store was completed in October. Long span shelving and a second mezzanine have been installed. Compactus units will be installed in mid November.
The office area will be functional by early November.
The first uplift of items from the Museum at Murwillumbah to the store (packed boxes) was undertaken on 17th October, the second uplift on 2nd November with weekly uplifts scheduled until early December. The project is on schedule to have the entire collection out of Murwillumbah by early December. (Images of storage facility below taken 22 October 2012)
TRRM Murwillumbah
Detailed design is completed. The project architect is working on final documentation for the call for tenders, due to go out in early November. Council endorsed a call for tenders and adopted a revised budget, including approval of an additional $195,000 toward the project, at the Council meeting on 25th October. The total project budget is now estimated at between $2.8M and $3.2M
The contract for construction of the perimeter retaining wall around the site has been awarded, with work due to begin on site in early November and completed in early December.
TRRM Tweed Heads - Kennedy Drive
The problem of termite activity in Boyd's Shed has been addressed and the Shed reopened to the public following repairs to the floor. Further maintenance involving removal of vegetation from around the Shed has also been programmed. New external signage and an associated tidy up of the front of the RSL Hall has also been undertaken.
Tweed Heads volunteers and Museum staff will be working on a display for the Tweed Heads Civic Centre foyer display case over coming months. This display will replace the Sporting Memorabilia items which were removed due to security concerns.
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TRRM Flagstaff
Nothing further to report since July meeting.
Collections
Assessment and Relocation project, Murwillumbah.
Vital Statistics Cumulative as @ 1/11/2012
Number of volunteers and volunteer hours dedicated to the project
approx 4600 hrs to date
At the moment volunteer teams, 13 volunteers each week are working Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Number of objects assessed
5719 (as at 29/10/12)
This includes tagging and visual assessment on site; checking collected information against databases and other files, and entry of data into detailed 'Relocation spreadsheet' and packing
Number of objects photographed
5719+
Number of boxes packed 260+ boxes of various sizes
Plus 3 crates each measuring 2.4x2.4 in Andy's Removals store.
The vast majority of items at Murwillumbah have been tagged and photographed. Contents of all display cases have been packed and cases disposed of or placed in storage. All items have been removed from walls, tagged and photographed. The contents of 'R' room (the strong room) have been documented and photographed and significant progress made on the radio room.
Members of the Australian Defence Force, Queensland based Joint Logistics Unit, Explosive Ordinance Services, Senior Ammunition Technical Office (SATO), Joint Logistics Unit visited Murwillumbah on Tuesday 16 October 2012 and inspected all grenades and ammunition of provide assurance that all were inert and safe to move.
De-accessioning program
As outlined in my previous report and discussed at the May and July meetings, the detailed data collected at Murwillumbah has provided an opportunity for close physical examination of objects and is helping to identify those without an identifying number, and/or donor names or other information associated with them and/or in poor condition.
Attached is an extensive list dealing with de-accessioning and disposal following the same format as that presented at the July meeting.
Also included for noting, are a number of items that were either not numbered or identifiable, or which had a stocktake or other number, rather than an accession number. These items are not regarded as being accessioned into the collection and are included for information/noting only by MAC members.
Why such an extensive de-accession and disposal list?
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As outlined in previous reports, we continue to find items that are damaged or lacking any details related to provenance, or with no relevance to the Collection Policy or to the Tweed.
Another category of item included in the attached list deals with accessioned items found in the research files.
A 46 page report detailing all items recommended for de-accession was provided to the Committee two weeks prior to the meeting. The report grouped items into the categories and provided a rationale for recommendations. In addition, the following items were tabled at the meeting:
PROPOSED ACQUISITIONS
ARTIFACT DESCRIPTION &
DATE
DONOR REPORT IMAGE
Assorted items from Pat Smith AM associated with her silver medal success representing Australia at the XIII
Commonwealth Games Scotland 1986.
Silver Medal and ribbon;
Blue medal box;
Green hat ribbon with 'Australia' embroidered on it in yellow and an AWBC badge pinned to the ribbon;
Cream wool vest that formed part of the Australian team's Commonwealth Games formal uniform;
Official Games name badge; Framed photo of Pat Smith with medals 1986
Pat Smith Relates to themes of People, sport and culture, as well as Women's history
Motorcycle Jersey Yellow and green motorcycle jersey worn by Jeff Dawson whilst representing Australia in Spain in the 1984
International Six Day Endurance World Championship motorcycle race where he won a silver medal.
800mm x 1500mm 1984
Fay Dawson
Relates to themes of People, sport and culture
Rifle Rifle used by Leo Janis Relates to
Page 6 of 6 Dove when
representing Australia at the London Olympic Games in 1948.
There is a small silver engraved plaque (50mm x 10mm) affixed on the shoulder stock of the rifle, which reads 'Leo Dove 1903 - 1986'.
1120mm x 140mm c.1940s
Enderlin themes of People, sport and culture.
Three pocket badges
Three pocket badges belonging to Leo Dove representing his very successful shooting career.
Includes the pocket badges from the Olympics Games 1948; NSW State Team 1954 and Bisley 1956.
1948, 1954 and 1956 respectively
Janis Enderlin
Relates to themes of People, sport and culture.
Cricket bat Cricket Bat used by Joyce Dalton whilst representing
Australia in Women's Cricket against England in 1958.
Bat has stamped on flat side
'Gunn & Moore Ltd Makers Nottingham England
Treble Spring The "Canon" Gun &
Moore
Short Handle'.
Written in black marker pen on the rounded side of the bat 'Private Joyce Dalton'.
130mm x 860mm c1958
Joyce Dalton
Relates to themes of People, sport and culture, as well as
Women's history
Page 7 of 7 Rosslyn Studio
Murwillumbah negatives, and letters / postcards sent to Anna Smith in the 1950s
1 small box
containing packets of negatives, with the individual packets marked with the Rosslyn Studio Murwillumbah logo.
Images are of assorted events.
Box - 200mm x 110mm x 40mm 1940s and 1950s.
Approximately 70 letters and postcards sent to Anna Smith when she lived and worked in
Murwillumbah dating 1950s.
Bundle of
letters/postcards - 100mm x 50mm x 20mm,1950s
K P Smith (Peter)
Relates to themes of people, events, leisure, sport and culture of the district. As well as more general themes of photography and women's history.
26 inter-connecting B&W photographs of the coastline of Northern Rivers during WWII
26 x interconnecting black & white
photographs from the NES (National Emergency Service) of the coastline of Northern Rivers taken during WWII, depicting strategic locations such as roads, railways, fuel storage etc. The photographs are annotated on the reverse side with detailed information.
Individual photos approx size 165mm x 105mm Early 1940s
Quentin Snow
Relates to themes of natural environment and
topography;
land
development and
environmental change; law and order and the Tweed Region and wars.
PROPOSED DE-ACCESSIONS
ARTIFACT DESCRIPTION
& DATE
DONOR REASON FOR DE-
ACCESSION
DISPOSAL METHOD
IMAGE
Items in the group below are accessioned as indicated.
The recommendation to de-accession is based on each having little or no relevance to Collection Policy criteria.
Individual recommendations regarding disposal are based on criteria in the Collection Policy, i.e. following de-accession, transfer to another collection (e.g. research collection); offer item back to original donor. If
Page 8 of 8 ARTIFACT DESCRIPTION
& DATE
DONOR REASON FOR DE-
ACCESSION
DISPOSAL METHOD
IMAGE
item not accepted back by the donor, item to be sold to raise acquisition funds.
- Typewriter
Remington Chartres Business Services [2442]
unknown Little or no relevance to the collection policy and acquisition criteria. Little or no significance.
Lack of provenance or documentation.
Possible use as prop
Offer for sale.
Dispose of
99-119 Typewriter, belonged to Charlie Kapler snr [2400]
Charlie Kapler jnr
Little or no relevance to the collection policy and acquisition criteria. Little or no significance.
Lack of provenance or documentation.
Possible use as prop
Offer for sale.
Dispose of
04-077 Typewriter:
'underwood' [1577]
Barry Robinson
Little or no relevance to the collection policy and acquisition criteria. Little or no significance.
Lack of provenance or documentation.
Possible use as prop
Offer to donor Offer for sale.
Dispose of
02-027A typewriter: port - working lexicon 80- c1940s [3023]
Max Martin Little or no relevance to the collection policy and acquisition criteria. Little or no significance.
Lack of provenance or documentation.
(Florence Corfield?)
Possible use as prop
Offer to donor Offer for sale.
Dispose of
02-027A typewriter: port - working lexiton 80- c1940s [1578]
Unknown or Max Martin
Same accession number
assigned to two different typewriters at some point in past. Only one typewriter donated by MMartin.
Difficult to
Possible use as prop
Offer to donor Offer for sale.
Dispose of
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& DATE
DONOR REASON FOR DE-
ACCESSION
DISPOSAL METHOD
IMAGE
establish correct documentation.
Neither item has significant provenance.
03-040 underwood - typewriter made in usa
(standard) [3106]
Mbah Tennis Club per Gary Bewes
Little or no relevance to the collection policy and acquisition criteria. Little or no significance.
Lack of documentation
Possible use as prop
Offer to donor Offer for sale.
Dispose of
NK038-98 kettle - iron small [3702]
Unknown Little or no relevance to the collection policy and acquisition criteria. Little or no significance.
Lack of
documentation.
Broken & rusted
Dispose of
01-067 map - new guinea showing advance by Australian &
American forces in WWII [3837]
Harry Williams Enlarged laminated laser mounted on foam core. Little or no relevance to the collection policy and acquisition criteria. Little or no significance.
Lack of
documentation.
Offer to donor Dispose of
86-088C tin - kerosene square [3698]
John Dolan Can is completely rusted. Label and markings no longer visible.
Little or no relevance to the collection policy and acquisition criteria. Little or no significance.
Offer to donor Dispose of
00-015F drum & iron for catching water [3902]
Ron Johansen Drum is very rusted (rim largely
detached) and disintegrating beyond repair.
Contact donor's family.
Dispose of
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Collections Management System (CMS)
Vernon CMS is fully operational. All existing collections data relating to Murwillumbah and Tweed Heads has been transferred to the system. Entry of data collected as part of the Murwillumbah relocation project is also being entered into the system. This information will be crucial as the collection is unpacked and stored at the new facility.
It will be necessary for Historical Society volunteers to continue to use current databases for research purposes at least until the end of this year. However, all databases will be 'read only'.
MD will meet with Historical Society members early in the new year to discuss process and protocols for future data upload. It is proposed that a program of work be developed with Tweed Heads volunteers to consolidate all collections currently in storage there into the new facility by the middle of 2013. Similar work will be undertaken with Uki & South Arm Historical Society members, although the number of items involved is much smaller.
Friends of the TRRM
Detailed information to be provided by Friends President.
Staff update
Kirsty Andrew's appointment in the position of Museum Assistant full time has been further extended to the end of December 2012.
Erika Taylor's contract as part time Museum Collections Assistant has also been extended to the end of December 2012.
Recommendation: That the Museum Director's report be received and noted by the Committee and the proposed acquisitions and de-accessions be accepted.
Moved: Mary Lee Connery Seconded: Sandra Flannery
RESOLVED that the Museum Director's Report be noted, and all proposed acquisitions and de-accessions be accepted, with the exception noted above.
5. Tweed Heads Historical Society Report Report was tabled and circulated.
Moved: Joan Smith Seconded: Denise Garrick
RESOLVED that the Tweed Heads Historical Society Report be noted by the Committee.
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6. Uki and South Arm Historical Society Report Report was tabled and circulated.
Moved: Helena Duckworth Seconded: Mary Lee Connery
RESOLVED that Uki and South Arm Historical Society Report be noted by the Committee.
7. Murwillumbah Historical Society Report President Max Boyd reported that:
He had been undertaking extensive research of the 1915 Council Chambers building in old Council and Municipal minutes.
The Society's quarterly newsletter Timelines was proving very popular. The Society is hoping to secure sponsorship to defray postage costs.
Max indicated that he could not speak highly enough of Council's contribution to the Tweed River Regional Museum at Murwillumbah, including the mezzanine, and was appreciative of Council's commitment to finding additional funds to realise the project. Max acknowledged that Council's commitment to the Museum is second to none and that it is almost certainly the case that no other Council in New South Wales is providing the same level of support for the realisation of a community Museum.
It had become clear during the work undertaken on the collection at Murwillumbah over the past year the extent of damage that poor storage and display had taken on the collection - in many cases completely ruining items.
Max indicated his belief that facilities such as the Museum and the Gallery had the potential to enhance the commercial life of Murwillumbah.
Murwillumbah Historical Society representative Beverly Lee referred to the recent meeting of the combined Historical Societies and the concerns expressed by a number of members about how research and other data would be dealt with in light of the implementation of the new Vernon CMS. Members had also expressed concerns about what role the Historical Societies will play in the future of the Museum.
David Oxenham responded to these concerns by reiterating the importance of the role of the Advisory Committee and of the strategic approach which the Committee had agreed to adopt earlier in the meeting.
General Business:
8. Cultural and Heritage sites
Sandra Flannery spoke to the potential to work across cultural and heritage sites and organisations - Council owned as well as those commercially operated - to achieve something extraordinary for Murwillumbah.
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9. Friends of Tweed River Regional Museum
Gary Fidler spoke to his report (circulated with the Agenda) on the meeting in Brisbane of the Australian Federation of Friends of Museums.
10. Tweed River Regional Museum, Tweed Heads
Fay O'Keeffe raised the issue of use of the car park at the front of the TRRM Tweed Heads.
Use by large buses is interrupting the business of the Museum. Fay also raised the long standing issue of the inadequacy of public toilet facilities at Tweed Heads and provision of facilities for volunteers.
Next Meeting:
The next meeting of the Tweed River Regional Museum Advisory Committee will be held Thursday 17 January at 2:00pm at the Coolamon Cultural Centre.
The meeting closed at 3:15pm.
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT TEAM’S COMMENTS:
Nil.
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT TEAM’S RECOMMENDATIONS:
Nil.
