The protection and promotion of our heritage and our stories was in the spotlight when Sunshine Coast Council was a finalist in two categories, including achieving an award victory, at the annual Gallery and Museum Achievement Awards.
The event hosted by Museums and Galleries Queensland was held at council’s Mary Grigor Centre in the Bankfoot Heritage precinct which featured in the award win.
Council’s Cultural Heritage Services team received the Sustainability Award for the Bankfoot House Preservation Housekeeping Project and was a finalist for the Project Award for the From the Mountains to the Sea exhibition that was a part of the 50th Anniversary of the Naming of the Sunshine Coast celebrations.
Past individual award winner and Heritage Portfolio Cr Rick Baberowski said the awards provided industry recognition of council’s ongoing commitment to the region’s cultural heritage,
“The responsibility for protecting and promoting local heritage is one our council takes great pride in and we are thrilled to receive Gallery and Museum Achievement Awards,” Cr Baberowski said.
“Receiving one award and being a finalist for another is the icing on the cake in what has been a wonderful year of 150th anniversary celebrations for Bankfoot House and the 50th Anniversary of the Naming of the Sunshine Coast last year.
“I would particularly like to commend our Cultural Heritage Services team and the Friends of Bankfoot House volunteers who, through their common dedication to protecting and promoting our local heritage, made us a contender and then winner of the Sustainability Award.
“This award reflects their collective hard work, passion and expertise.”
Made possible through the Cultural Heritage Levy, the Bankfoot House Preservation Housekeeping Project involved a major conservation clean of the entire house and the introduction of preventative conservation practices.
Both items were essential for the longevity of Bankfoot House and to improving the sustainable practice of caring for the precinct’s heritage buildings and collections.
Cr Baberowski said the award for the From the Mountains to the Sea exhibition recognised not only a great program but the benefits of a collaborative approach to interpreting the region’s heritage to current and new audiences.
“For the first time, our heritage team was able to pull together an exhibition that focused on broad Sunshine Coast historical themes with pieces and stories drawn from multiple museum and private collections,” Cr Baberowski said.
“It included First Nations People and the development of the region to where it is today, stories told through social history, artefacts, didactic and digital interpretation, interactive displays and contemporary art.
“This collaborative approach which included gallery space at USC, enabled our heritage to become accessible to a broader audience in a more interesting and exciting way.
“We aim to continue to facilitate this collaborative and partnerships approach so that our heritage becomes an even more valuable and fascinating part of our perpetual journey to the future.”
The 2018 Gallery and Museum Achievement Awards judging panel comprised Emma Bain, Director, Redland Art Gallery, QLD; Judith Hickson, Curator, Social History, Cultures and Histories Program, Queensland Museum; and John Walsh, Consultant, All Art Services, QLD.
