Internal audience: A key to success

Abstract

The University of Adelaide (founded 1874) is a third oldest university in Australia. It has 23 collections that represent the wide range of its academic research across the arts and the sciences. A central challenge in utilizing these collections is the absence of a comprehensively representative museum. We have developed awareness of the university’s collections through strategic public programs of focused exhibitions, discussion forums and partnership events in a variety of locations. From 2004, the first year of Art & Heritage Collections operations, this program has enhanced key university activities while proving to be of significant interest to the general public. Our core audience at the outset was principally staff with an interest in culture. Students have been harder to entice, but we now attract a growing number – mostly higher degree candidates. The university community has thus provided an engaged audience for events. Further, university staff have come forward as volunteers within Art & Heritage Collections programs, their knowledge of the university proving to be a particular asset. The cycle of staff / audience member / volunteer has proved to be a particularly productive if unexpected aspect of our activities, significantly complementing our wider community outreach. Introduction Founded in 1874 – the third oldest university in Australia – the University of Adelaide has a significant reputation to uphold. The colony of South Australia was founded according to Enlightenment principles and in consonance with this the university has tended to pursue a socially progressive agenda, including for example, the awarding of degrees to women (from 1880) and more latterly reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. An important thread of concern throughout the university’s history has been the fostering of connections between the university and the wider community. This legacy underpins the establishment of the Art & Heritage Collections branch at the university. Established in 2004, with approximately 25 years gap since the previous collection manager was (briefly) employed, yawning gaps were obvious in terms of both collection management practice and public profile. A key challenge is that the university holds some 23 specialized collections but has no central museum, and that even those few collections housed in a museum-like space, are not resourced to present themselves to the broader public as a museum. Leaving 23 collections out on the limb is a significant deficit in marketing to any community. The beginnings The University of Adelaide had no profile to speak of on the collections front in 2004. This was a dilemma for our area as it meant there had been no audience for art and cultural events from within the university, and without a focus of a museum style space, cultural/collection activities had no regularly identifiable location. Art & Heritage Collections devised a cultural program which initially was principally supported only by internal audience – the staff. This internal audience was gathered through personal networks as