CLARE HART

I have been working at the Museum since August of 1999 although my involvement extends over a period of years, attending openings, exhibitions, horticultural practices and working on art pieces associated with the Museum. Where I fit in to the eclectic nature of this place is working in the day to day office administration on Mondays and Tuesdays.

The museum itself fits into my own personal philosophies and at times I also feel like a Living Museum. Why, because I also look after three children, study horticulture, work part-time at CERES environmental park in the nursery, work voluntarily for an arts group called North Arts and endeavour to maintain to a degree my own art practice. I also have an obsession to "collect" which is usually played out with frequent Opp Shop visits and as the Living Museum is essentially a conglomerate of collections, whether it be a collection of oral histories or a collectionof historic or significant sites , it is this essential collection of things about Melbourne's West (I grew up in Werribee - just down the road) that allows me to identify so strongly with my place of work.