The Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (QVMAG) is a museum located in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. The QVMAG is the largest museum in Australia not located in a capital city.[1]
History
The foundation stone for the original building to house the Victoria Museum and Art Gallery was laid by the Mayor of Launceston, Robert Carter, on 21 June 1887.[2] Alexander Morton, of the museum in Hobart, acted as honorary curator from its opening in 1891 until 1896,[3] with Herbert Hedley Scott assuming the role of curator in May 1897.[4] In 1926 the Launceston City Council amended the name to Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery to avoid confusion with the state of Victoria.[5] Scott died in 1938 and was succeeded as director by his son, Eric Oswald Gale Scott later that year.[6]
Collection and locations
Established in 1891, the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery has a strong reputation[citation needed] for its collection which includes fine exhibitions of colonial art, contemporary craft and design, Tasmanian history and natural sciences, specifically a zoology collection. There is also a special exhibition of a full Chinese temple that was used by 19th-century Chinese tin miners, a working planetarium, and displays related to Launceston's industrial environment and railway workshops.
As part of its work, the QVMAG has published several journals relating to Tasmanian ecology and history. These include Records of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Occasional Papers of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Technical Reports of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery.[7]
^Mercer, Peter, "Morton, Alexander (1854–1907)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 15 April 2021
^Plomley, N. J. B., "Scott, Herbert Hedley (1866–1938)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 15 April 2021
^Rhonda Hamilton (2012). "Scott, Eric Oswald (1899–1986)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 10 May 2022.