Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum

A site plan of the area.
In 1999 grazier David Elliott stumbled over a large fossilized bone on his property near the outback town of Winton, in central western Queensland’s “dinosaur triangle.” The bone belonged to a twenty-metre-long, four-legged dinosaur that lived more than ninety-five million years ago. The discovery was proclaimed as Australia’s largest sauropod find. 

After unearthing hundreds more fossils, David and Judy Elliott lobbied for funding to establish a museum near Winton to display the dinosaur bones. State and federal governments and the local council all chipped in and the architect and building contractor worked pro bono on the first phase of the building program, the reception centre for the museum. A local landowner gifted the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History a mesa or “jump-up.” 

This dramatic, flat-topped outcrop of land rises steeply out of the extended plain, a commanding site. On top of the jump-up, the Elliotts first put up a big tin shed to serve as a workshop where tons of fossils being unearthed in the Winton region are cleaned, sorted and stored. 

The area has yielded the world’s largest collection of dinosaur bones. Next they planned for this small interpretive reception centre that has been built five hundred metres from the workshop. The Elliotts heard about an architect in Brisbane. It would be longer than a year before Cox Rayner took on the project, but when the architects did become involved, they were won over by the Elliotts’ enthusiasm and knowledge ... CLICK HERE TO READ MORE & GO TO SOURCE

Renowned potter Gwyn Hanssen Pigott dies, 77


CLICK HERE TO GO TO SOURCE
BALLARAT born ceramicist Gwyn Hanssen Pigott has died in London aged 77 after suffering from a stroke. The internationally renowned potter was born in 1935, and learnt the craft of ceramics from the ground up. Having received numerous awards including an Order of Australia medal in 2002, Hanssen Pigott was recognised as one of the most distinguished potters in Australia. 

Art Gallery of Ballarat registrar Anne Rowland said the former Ballarat and Clarendon College student travelled across the globe, training and working at leading potteries around Europe. She said Hanssen Pigott was renowned for turning ordinary items into works of art. 

“The styles of her arrangements and the finesse she would bring to making her objects means she will be remembered for a long time,” Ms Rowland said. From today, [JULY 8] the Art Gallery of Ballarat will showcase some of Hanssen Pigott’s work in the upstairs contemporary gallery. The work on display will include a set of inseparable bowls, a teapot, still-life arrangements and a dish spanning between 1978 and 1992.

Saturday, July 6, 2013

Think About This!

Democratic Museum Funding in Toledo



Local voters get one last chance to revive Toledo science museum
BY ALEX M. PARKER   BLADE STAFF WRITER
COSI, which operated in downtown Toledo for more than 10 years, has one final shot to convince voters for support, leaders say.

After failing twice, museum organizers are pulling out all of the stops spending at least $167,200 raised from private donations in a campaign to persuade Lucas County voters to reopen the museum.

Science and technology is the base of our work force. It's where we're going and where our county is going, said Lori Hauser, the museum s director of operations. COSI is around to spark a wonder in science and math and also to get people excited in this field.

Issue 37, the additional five-year, 0.17-mill levy request, would cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $5.21 a year, according to the county auditor. It would bring in $1.25 million annually for the science center s operations, according to levy advocates.

Local businesses such as Owens Corning, First Solar Inc., Xunlight Corp., and BP PLC s Toledo Refinery all said they would not only help fund the levy campaign but would also assist the museum once it opens with new exhibits.

It s a quality of life issue, not just for Toledo, but for all of Lucas County, Maumee Mayor Tim Wagener said.
COSI officials are sticking to a pledge they made during the last levy campaign in 2007 that, if reopened, the museum would have free admission for children from Lucas County on Saturdays, if they are accompanied by an adult.

The museum opened in 1997 and closed in December, 2007.

If the levy does not pass, Ms. Hauser said it would close permanently and its exhibits would be shipped to other museums.

TO GO TO SOURCE  ••• ABOUT THE MUSEUM ••• READ MORE