Step back in time with the Hurstville Museum and Gallery ‘Retales’ Snapshot exhibition which is on display until November 24.
The exhibit contains photographs of the history of commerce and retail shopping in the area and was curated by acting coordinator of cultural services, Clair Baddeley.
Ms Baddeley said that the exhibit draws on a variety of methods to understand and estimate which exhibits will be popular.
“We regularly keep visitor statistics, we promote our programs and events through a range of channels, but also on social media…we measure the traffic associated with promotion of particular events so we can see what’s popular and what’s not,” she said.
“They’re always phenomenally popular with a particular demographic, the images are always shared multiple times through facebook posts.
“We try to strike a balance of what we offer to the public.”
Ms Baddeley said community involvement was central to museum and gallery life.
“We do have volunteers, and people can contact us, they can check on our website or they can ring us,” she said.
“We’re open to the public six days a week, we have at least a volunteer here each day and they help with a variety of tasks.”
Ms Baddeley said the Retales exhibition was a collaboration with the local library.
“The Snapshot Gallery relates to images drawn from the local studies collection at Georges River Council Libraries,” she said.
“We work with them to develop the exhibitions.
“They’re usually a thematic exhibition based on an area of interest of the curator, community or an aspect of the collection.”
The importance of museums and the danger of their disappearance was highlighted by the ABC here with journalist Kylie Message drawing attention to the decline of churches in South Australia and the reduction of museum studies programs in future. Leaving Australia to wrestle with the results.
Lydham Hall Historic House and Museum is a small local history museum located in the bayside council area. It had its monthly opening to the public on October 6. The Museum is run and operated by the St George Historical Society, which has faced their fare share of difficulties and challenges ,from manpower shortages to financial struggles