2009 is an exciting year for the Launceston City Council owned and operated Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG). Located in Tasmania’s north in the centre of Launceston, QVMAG operates from two sites and enjoys a national profile for its collections of Australian colonial art, decorative arts and design, Tasmanian history, and natural sciences.
Not only does 2009 mark the start of the heritage refurbishment of the Royal Park site to restore it to its original glory as an Art Gallery (due for completion in late 2010), many changes are happening at the Inveresk Precinct as that location moves towards housing the Museum’s collections.
Royal Park, a unique Victorian building that opened as Launceston’s museum and art gallery in 1891, is currently closed to the public and undergoing a transformation through a major project being funded by the Launceston City Council and the Tasmanian State Government.
The atmosphere of the original galleries, hidden away as a result of mid-20th century renovations, will now be reinstated and recaptured when heritage features including original skylights, cleristry windows and a mezzanine floor are revealed. It’s also the vision of the architects to create striking new spaces to cater for contemporary art shows and touring exhibitions.
Due to open in late 2010, this will be a splendid new environment to showcase the renowned fine and decorative art collections of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery.
While these renovations take place at Royal Park, it is full-steam ahead for the QVMAG’s Inveresk site, which is appropriate when you consider it once housed the Launceston Railway Workshops. The original structure was retained and incorporated into a striking contemporary architectural design, which opened in 2001 and now features world-class galleries, exhibition spaces and an Academy of the Arts. Permanent exhibitions include the railway workshops, blacksmith’s shop, colonial and contemporary Tasmanian art and a stunning exhibition of rare Tasmanian Aboriginal shell necklaces.
And coming soon to Inveresk will be the newly upgraded Launceston Planetarium and Space Gallery, relocated from its original Royal Park site and to be launched late in 2009 (which is appropriately enough The International Year of Astronomy) with all-new shows for curious stargazers.
By late 2010 visitors will discover, through the wealth of the QVMAG’s fine and decorative art collections, natural and social history collections, Tasmania’s mineral wealth, unique wildlife, their people, their achievements and the challenges that have made the island state and its community what it is today.
