Friends of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery upcoming events

Quiz night! (09 Jul 2026)

Thu, 09 Jul 2026 08:00:00 GMT

Quiz night!

This event is a special fundraiser for the Friends.

The Cultural Heritage team at TMAG put together a lot of material for the recent television program that didn’t make it onto the screen, so they’d like to test our knowledge of the museum and art gallery’s collection with a quiz tailored to our more discerning audience.

They are also going to bring along some amazing items from the TMAG collection — many never seen before — and you’ll have the opportunity to see them up close.

Quizmasters will be Head Cultural Heritage Dr Jody Steele and Senior Curator Isobel Andrewartha, and with those two in charge we will have a lot of fun — and learn a lot!

We will be seated at tables of 6 but you don’t need to make up a table to come along. Book for yourself and just advise us by email if you’d like to make up a group with others. You are welcome to invite non-member Friends to come along.

There will be prizes for winners!

Friends members $50, staff members $50, non-members $60

includes food and drinks (you won't go home hungry!)

Geolocation and the landscapes of Derwent Lees (23 Jul 2026)

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 07:30:00 GMT

Geolocation

and the landscapes of Derwent Lees

Join Peter Davies in the hunt for the lost landscapes of Tasmanian-born artist Derwent Lees (1884–1931). Lees’s biography, published last year by Tasmanian archivist and researcher Lynn Davies, contains a catalogue raisonné of over 450 works. As contributor to this team research effort, retired ecological scientist Peter Davies will talk about ‘geolocating’ the scenes of Lees’s over 280 landscapes.

Lees, successful in the early British Modern Art world, features in major public collections in the UK, Australia, USA and Canada, such as the V&A, Tate, NGV, NGA and locally, at Mona. He exhibited only a quarter of his works, with many untitled paintings sold by his wife after his early death following 13 years in psychiatric hospitals. Dealers have invented many spurious titles, confounding his story.

Peter will explain the challenges and excitement of ‘ground truthing’ his landscapes, an effort crucial to rediscovering this.

Friends members $25, non-members $30

includes refreshments

Becoming modern (04 Aug 2026)

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 00:30:00 GMT

Becoming modern

Tuesday 4 August, 10.30am

Meet in Central Gallery, TMAG

Becoming Modern is a survey exhibition exploring the emergence of modernism in Australia during the twentieth century. Most works are from the TMAG collection, and they feature a roll-call of famous Australian artists.

Our tour of the exhibition will be by two of TMAG’s volunteer art guides: this is a great opportunity to not only learn about the wonderful works in the exhibition, but also to see another of TMAG’s volunteer groups in action. The art guides provide art tours three times per week — Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 11am — and explore changing exhibitions as well as the permanent collection.

Our guides on the day will be:

• Penny Carey-Wells, a former lecturer and technician at the School of Art, University of Tasmania, and a practising artist, bookbinder, and graphic designer. Her motto is that ‘Art saves lives’.

• Ann Hughes is, by profession, a social worker and an editor. She’s an enthusiastic volunteer art guide with an interest in many art forms who believes in the importance of the arts for individual and community well-being.

The tour will run for about an hour. At its conclusion, please join us for cake in the members’ lounge.

This is a FREE event and you are welcome to bring non-member friends. Numbers are limited though so bookings are essential.