Queen's Album e-catalogue - Catalog - Page 49
School of Arts, Bathurst
c. 1880
Black and white photograph
State Library of NSW
X981/3
The Victorian faith in knowledge as the key to
progress and prosperity took form in the Free
Public Library and new Australian Museum College
Street wing designed by Colonial Architect James
Barnet in the 1860s. These and other institutions of
State including the Colonial Secretary’s Building—
also designed by Barnet—were part of an ambitious
public works program that reflected and harnessed
the optimism and growth of the Colony. In building
places of learning and discovery—from schools
of arts to major cultural institutions—the State
could ensure that its population was civilised,
sophisticated and able to proudly claim its place
in the British Empire.
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