AN historial museum in Port Macquarie, NSW, has been nominated for an IMAGinE award for their collaborative Seniors Festival exhibition 'Where we call home'.
Port Macquarie Historical Museum curator Dr Debbie Sommers described the exhibition as "innovative in its conception and its collaborations".
"The narrative for this exhibition was the phrase 'Where we call home' with the artists asked to create something about where they live, a favourite place or special memory," she said.
"The idea came about through our desire to continue our work on being a Dementia Friendly Organisation and to expand our community reach through inclusive engagement whilst remaining true to collection based story telling.
"We wanted to showcase the creative talents of seniors in our community, to demonstrate that creativity is only limited by imagination and to continue to build a wider local audience for our Museum."
Involving 25 volunteers, the exhibition was funded by a small ($860) Seniors Festival Grant through the NSW Government and attracted an audience of over 1000 people across 6 weeks.
We will be there with our fingers crossed.
- Debbie Sommers
The IMAGinE Awards will be announced on Friday 29 November 2019 at an event at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences in Sydney.
The awards recognise the people who work in museums and galleries across NSW and the contributions they make.
"We will be there with our fingers crossed," Dr Sommers said.
"It would certainly be exciting to add another IMAGinE Award to our collection and if successful to share the award with our community partners."
"Whilst we have won some IMAGinE and other awards in the past, it is important to continue to enter awards like these to seek and gain sector recognition for our work and innovations, and not just rest on our laurels."
