It has been a busy year for students at the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation (GCCMC) at the University of Melbourne. We have been learning as much as they can about the art and science of conservation, while also participating in opportunities outside the course. Several groups of students have been visiting the RSL LifeCare War Museum in Narrabeen, NSW, where they were given the opportunity to catalog, conserve and display artefacts from Australia’s military history, while also hearing and recording the stories of veterans who have lived this history for themselves. Students from the GCCMC have also had a hand in a different sort of conservation by working closely with archeologists to clean and categorise finds from the site of one of Melbourne’s gold rush-era shanty towns.
We’ve also recently held the Annual General Meeting for Student Conservators at Melbourne (SC@M), the student association at the GCCMC. At the meeting we discussed and ratified changes to our constitution for the upcoming year. Speaking of our upcoming year, we also have a variety of activities planned, including the GSA Graduate Spring Ball, art tours at the National Gallery of Victoria, guest speakers, student talks and more! Most importantly, our second year students will be presenting their minor theses at GCCMC from 19-21 October, followed by our end of year celebrations.
SC@M encourages all those interested to attend the presentations and support our students. We at SC@M are excited for the upcoming year ahead and the events we have planned for it!