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CITY FUNDS FOR ART GALLERY
The Guardian, 9 April 1984
Swan Hill City Council has decided to give $75,000 for the construction
of a new regional art gallery.
A request for the council to raise an additional $75,000 in loans
was turned down. This decision was made at a special council meeting
last week.
The proposed art gallery is being funded under the Community Employment
Program and will provide jobs for five unemployed people for 32
weeks. The Government contribution is $79,014.
Council’s decision to allocate the money follows some concern as
to whether it had enough available for all projects it wanted to
carry out.
Cr Alan Clark told the council’s last meeting that borrowing more
money would be an excessive encumbrance on the ratepayers.
Following last week’s meeting, the deputy town clerk, Mr David Gleeson,
said council had decided to allocate the money from Grants commission
funds.
He said that of the total Grants Commission funds of $430,000 for
1984 – 85, $160,000 had already been committed, and the remaining
would be put toward the art gallery, extensions to the senior citizens’
clubrooms, the proposed second stage of the swimming pool development
and some miscellaneous projects.
Mr Gleeson said the council could not raise the loan requested as
the site for the gallery was under control of the Pioneer Settlement
Authority.
He said the current regulations meant council could only raise loans
where the body applying was a committee of management, and council
was nominally the controlling agent.
Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement manager, Mr Warwick Turner, said the
remaining money needed for the gallery would be raised through other
sources, including an approach to the Swan Hill Shire Council.
In addition to the city, Government and proposed loan contributions,
$51,762 has been raised through art gallery investments. Mr Turner
said a professional fundraising campaign was also planned.
Construction is expected to be underway within six weeks.
SITE WORKS FOR ART GALLERY
The Guardian, 23 May 1984
After about 19 years of negotiating, Swan Hill’s Regional Art Gallery
is becoming a reality.
Work has begun on the gallery site, adjacent to the Swan Hill Pioneer
Settlement, with the preparation of foundations.
Settlement manager Mr Warwick Turner said the gallery would be funded
partly under the Community Employment Program, and would provide
jobs for five unemployed people for 32 weeks.
He said other funding would come from the Federal Government, Swan
Hill City Council, and the gallery’s own funds.
He said applications had been made to the Victorian Ministry for
the Arts and added the Swan Hill Shire Council would be approached
later.
Mr Turner said the new gallery would house toilet and kitchen facilities,
a sales area, a director's office, art storage and exhibition preparation
areas, and spacious galleries.
He said the gallery had been housed on the P.S. “Gem” for about
19 years, and due to its cramped quarters and lack of facilities,
particularly climate control equipment, had never been able to cater
for important exhibitions.
Estimated cost of the gallery is about $280,000.
ART FINDS A NEW HOME
The Guardian, 15 May 1987
The official opening of the gallery
(extended article unavailable).
Formality was the order of the evening at Swan Hill Regional Art
Gallery’s official opening on Saturday night.
And what an evening it was! More than 400 guests, including several
arriving specially from overseas, watched the Victorian Agriculture
and Rural Affairs Minister, Mr Walker, officially open the gallery.
Mr Walker was deputising for the Premier, Mr Cain, who was unable
to attend.
The opening was the official culmination of more than 3½ years’
work by many Swan Hill identities.
The gallery has not been without its problems.
Controversy has surrounded the $600,000 complex since it began in
1984.
However, all problems were forgotten on Saturday as gallery director
Mr Ern Smith, celebrated with Mr Walker and Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement
Authority chairman Mr Bob Quin at the gallery opening.
The Guardian, 30 March 1984
The most important art exhibition yet to be seen in Swan Hill will be hung, hopefully in the new Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery, in June or July next year.
Director of the gallery Mr Ern Smith said the bicentennial committee had granted the gallery $3,000 to fund the Constance Stokes, retrospective exhibition tour of eight public galleries.
Mr Smith said he is the curator for the exhibition, which the Swan Hill Gallery is organising in association with the Geelong Art Gallery.
He hoped the new gallery would be built in time to house the exhibition, Mr Smith said.
Excited by the prospect of the exhibition, Mr Smith said Constance Stokes, born in 1906 and a contemporary of Russell Drysdale, is one of the most important of Australian artists.
He said she is a major Australian draftsman and has works hanging in State collections and privately throughout Australia.
Dated from the 1930s, 25 works will be shown – ten oil paintings and 15 drawings, he said.
Making the exhibition even more important is the catalogue with the text by distinguished art historian Emeritus Professor Sir Joseph Burke, Mr Smith said.
$800 FOR ARTS PROGRAM
The Guardian, 30 March 1984
Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery has received a grant of $800 from the Victorian Ministry of Arts for its touring program.
Gallery director Mr Ern Smith said he has already begun the program, visiting Swan Hill and Swan Hill North Primary schools with paintings to instil in pupils awareness and appreciation of art.
He said he would extend his touring art gallery visits throughout the Swan Hill Shire and further.
‘NEW’ GALLERY SET FOR EXHIBITIONS
The Guardian, 10 November 1997
Building works are currently in full swing at the Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery, and are due for completion early this month.
To coincide with the official launch of the refurbished gallery spaces this Friday, the gallery is pleased to announce several exciting exhibitions.
The Travelling Exhibitions gallery will feature “Women’s Work Land and Spirit”, a display off 95 works by indigenous Australians Torres Strait Island and Pacific Island women artists and craftspeople.
The exhibition was shown in Beijing in 1995 during the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women.
The works reflect the diversity of indigenous cultures in the region and also of women’s craft practices.
The Permanent Collection Gallery has been created to present a changing display of works from the Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery collection.
It will feature a range of paintings, works on paper, sculpture, textiles, prints and drawings.
The new Community Access Gallery has been created to provide a professional exhibition space for students and professional artists of the region.
It aims to foster artistic excellence within the region by encouraging, motivating and challenging artists, craftspeople and students to produce innovative works of the highest standard and to present them in a professional manner.
The first exhibition to be presented in this space promises to be a diverse, dynamic exhibition showcasing art by students from the Murray Mallee Community Campus of TAFE Koori Art and Design course.
The display will feature paintings, ceramics, prints, sculpture and works on paper by Sandry Walsh, Melinda Walsh, Pauline Murray, Natasha Lea, Travers Roach, Robyn Robinson, Elvie Kelly and Frank Islam.
The Advanced Certificate of Koori Art and Design started in 1993 and is a two-year course which covers painting, printmaking, sculpture, drawing and special electives in cultural studies, Koori art history, ceramics and photography.
The course was designed to suit the needs of the Koori community with flexibility in the delivery of modules, as well as empowering them with the necessary skills to produce and market their artwork.
Course co-ordinator Ian Tully said he was thrilled about the exhibition.
“It is a great opportunity to showcase the students’ work at the end of the year in a venue such as Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery. One of the subject modules covers exhibition management and display, and this exhibition represents a practical application of the skills learnt during the course.
“The students will be curating their own show and will work alongside gallery staff to install the final display. The course has gone from strength to strength since it began, and I am impressed by the integrity of the work and the motivation shown by the students,” Mr Tully said.
The exhibition will also feature a “ponde” (Murray cod), constructed by John Davis and decorated by the TAFE students collectively.