Museum of Perth facts for kids
Atlas Building entrance on the Esplanade frontage with Museum of Perth sign (June 2018)
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| Location | 410 Murray Street, Perth, Western Australia |
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The Museum of Perth is a private, non-profit museum involved with chronicling the social, cultural, political and architectural history of Perth. The museum is currently, as of 2024[update], located in a former telephone exchange building on Murray Street, in Perth, Western Australia.
In 2016 the museum was housed in the Atlas Building, on the Esplanade. In 2024 it moved to the Bon Marché Arcade building, in Barrack Street.
Contents
Beginnings
It began life as a virtual museum on the social media site Twitter in October 2012, created by Dallas Robertson, a museum studies student at Edith Cowan University. It was expanded into Facebook the following year.
Following an online article about the Twitter page from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (Perth) in 2013, Perth City councillor Reece Harley approached Robertson with the view to opening a bricks and mortar version of the museum.
In 2014 the still-virtual museum gained local attention when it led a campaign against the City of Perth to save an art deco factory from demolition, which ultimately failed when a Western Australian state minister intervened to support the local government's decision.
Formation
By July 2015 the Perth History Association was established comprising members Dallas Robertson, Reece Harley, Ryan Zaknich, Ryan Mossny, Richard Offen and Diana Warnock. The not-for-profit organisation subsequently founded the Museum of Perth with Reece Harley as executive director. In October 2015 the Museum of Perth became a reality, with project manager Alysha Worth employed to oversee its establishment. The museum originally operated out of a shared space with cafe Henry Saw on Grand Lane, Perth.
Exhibits
Along with a permanent exhibition on the history of Perth, the museum also contains a micro-cinema and hosts rotating exhibitions on Perth's social history.
The Museum of Perth has also had collaborations with the Town of East Fremantle (Streets of East Freo), University of Notre Dame Australia (Streets of Freo), and the City of Bunbury (Streets of Bunbury) to produce websites about each of those places.
Events
The museum also had been involved in the annual Heritage Perth "Perth Heritage Days".
