Collections Management Collections Management: Overview

During the 2013/14 financial year Collections Management procedures and maintenance have been reviewed and improved ensuring alignment with the National Standards for Australian Museums and Galleries to better manage, maintain, store, conserve, preserve and document the City of Townville Art Collection. Growing each year the City of Townsville Art Collection presently holds 2 828 works of art across all media and represents some of Australi’a finest artists.

Focussed efforts in the management of the Art Collection Storage Areas have seen improvements in spacial allocation for artwork storage and efficiencies in cataloguing, access and documentation.

A total of 126 individual works from the City of Townville Art Collection have been exhibited in the 2013/14 financial year. These works have been displayed in 10 exhibitions during the reporting period - including major internal Collections based exhibitions displayed at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery such as the Tim Maguire; The Douglas Kagi Gift, The Line of Fire and To the Islands. A number of works by Shirley Macnamara - renowned North Queensland Aboriginal artist of the Indilandji/ Alyawarre people - were loaned to Flinders University Art Museum and City Gallery, Adelaide, South Australia, for the exhibition Spinifex Country, which was displayed across two sites: Flinders University Art Museum and City Gallery, and the South Australian Museum’s Australian Aboriginal Cultures Gallery, Adelaide in late 2013.

Additional Collection artworks were displayed in the YourSPACE Gallery at Thuringowa Central Library and other spaces within Townsville City Council buildings.

An important cultural resource for the Townsville region works from the City of Townsville Art Collection were the subject of, and included in, various Creative Classrooms programs and activities such as Art-In-A-Suitcase

A total of 88 artworks entered the City of

Townville Art Collection in 2013/14 and through thorough review and implententation of acquisition processes these works have all undergone comprehensive accessioning, cataloguing, valuing, documenting and digitising at point of acquisition.

Work continues on the City of Townsville Art Collection Digitisation Project with a total of 510 individual artworks digitised to industry standrds in the reporting period. In addition a further 1 000+ digital records of inscriptions, condition, verso and other visual records were captured.

Significant investment in the preservation of the Collection was undertaken during the reporting period. A total of 371 works received remedial conservation treatment by specialists from International Conservation Services and a further 86 works from the Works On Paper Collection underwent preservation framing.

Ensuring alignment with guidelines as set-out in the National Standards for Australian Museums and Galleries (NSFAMG), Australian Institute for Conservation of Cultural Material (AICCM) and the International Council of Museums Code of Ethics for Museums (ICOM) Gallery Services has reviewed, revised and updated a number of its core processes. All revised documentation now adheres to the aforementioned industry standards and additionally meets all local governance requirements; abides by international, national and state/territory protocols relating to museum practice, moveable heritage and heritage places; and complies with Australian federal, state/territory and local laws, by-laws and regulations (where applicable).

Whilst a large amount of work has been achieved in this area - namely: Non-Exclusive Licence to Publish And Reproduce, City of Townsville Art In Public Spaces Terms of Reference, City of Townsville Art in Public Spaces Collection, Collection Survey & Condition Report, Artwork Incident Report, Artwork Preventative Conservation and Care, Artwork Internal Loan Contract, Artwork Condition Reports, Image Asset File Format - Gallery Services