The City of Port Phillip maintains a substantial collection of heritage items and contemporary artworks which are displayed at the three town halls, in libraries and other council buildings and facilities. Monuments, memorials and public artworks are displayed in streets and parks around the City. Dating from 1855 to the present day the collection includes material relating to the former municipalities of Port Melbourne, South Melbourne and St Kilda, and the amalgamated City of Port Phillip since 1994. The collection demonstrates and celebrates the social, political and artistic development of the City of Port Phillip.

The Port Phillip City Council recognises the importance of the City's cultural heritage as reflected by its arts, artifacts and archives. As the custodian of a public collection, the City embraces the management of its cultural heritage items, according to international museum standards of collection development, preservation and access. The Port Phillip City Collection - Management Policy guides the development, preservation and promotion of the collection. Through the strategic management of the collection, the City is committed to ensuring its ongoing significance for Port Phillip and the wider community.

Providing access to the collection for researchers, local historians and council staff increases the amount of knowledge about the history of the area. Many enquiries and research requests come from people tracing their family history or the history of their house, street or neighbourhood. Architects and designers also utilise the maps, plans and photograph collection.

Acquiring new artworks into the collection directly supports local artists and contributes to the vibrancy of the arts community in the City.

The collection comprises contemporary visual arts, urban or public art, heritage items, and local history research material.

The Port Phillip City Collection contains over 10,000 objects, and reflects the lives of the inhabitants of the City from 1855 to the present day. The collection comprises contemporary visual arts, urban or public art, heritage items, and local history research material. The total valuation of the Port Phillip City Collection as at June 2004 is over $7.6 million.

The Port Phillip City Collection represents the cultural history of the City under the following main collection areas.

Contemporary Visual Art and Urban Art collections

The Contemporary Visual Art Collection comprises art in a range of media, and represents artists connected with, and/or whose work displays themes relevant to, the City of Port Phillip.Generally dating from 1980 onwards, the Contemporary Visual Art Collection includes the former St Kilda Art Collection dating from 1980 to 1994, and some acquisitions of the Modern art movement dating prior to 1980. For the purposes of the collection, contemporary art is defined as art which:

• Is new work which engages with and reflects on current social, cultural and artistic dialogue
• Is made within a time reasonably contemporary to exhibition and purchase, or
• Manifests in a form that responds to the material sources and techniques of its time

The Port Phillip City Collection currently includes over 290 contemporary visual artworks.

The Urban Art Collection comprises over 80 works including permanent and temporary, site-specific artworks, which have been fully or partly commissioned by the City. To find out more about these works, visit the Urban Art in the City of Port Phillip page. 

Heritage collection

The Heritage collection consists of approximately 6000 catalogued items related to the history of the City of Port Phillip, particularly council activities. Items in this collection are grouped into the following categories and date from 1855 onwards: 

• Heritage artworks
• Correspondence files
• Ephemera files
• Heritage furniture
• Maps and plans
• Monuments and memorials
• Photographs
• Plaques
• Postcards
• Societal artifacts (historical objects)
• Weights and measures  
• Mayoral robes and chains

To learn more about the local history of the area and current heritage projects occurring within the City of Port Phillip, visit the Heritage page.

Find out more by visiting the Managing the Collection page.

Discover where to view artworks, visit exhibitions and historical displays, and how to utilise the Local & Family History research service by visiting the Accessing the Collection page.

For more information or further access to the Port Phillip City Collection please use eServices to ask us a question, request information or give us feedback online. If you prefer call ASSIST on (03) 9209 6777 or TTy (03) 9209 6713 and ask for Curatorial Services.