Oh, to live in a country with funding for arts infrastructure…
The NSW Government’s $244 million funding commitment to support the expansion of the Art Gallery of New South Wales will transform the much-loved and historic Gallery into one of the world’s greatest art museums.
Welcoming the landmark announcement made today by Arts Minister Don Harwin, Art Gallery of NSW director Dr Michael Brand said he was delighted with the funds. The expansion will significantly increase space for the Gallery to exhibit art, and is expected to attract two million visitors annually.
“This is a remarkable day for the Gallery and the Australian arts community,” Dr Brand said.
“Our expanded Gallery will deliver an iconic building that combines art, architecture and landscape in an extraordinary way, and in one of the most breathtaking locations in the world,” Dr Brand added.
Combined with government funds of $244 million, the Art Gallery of NSW capital campaign, to be officially launched later this year, will raise $100 million in philanthropic support for the project of which $70 million has been pledged.
The expansion will see more of the Gallery’s iconic collection, worth $1.3 billion, on display. It will improve significantly the State’s ability to attract more major international art exhibitions to NSW.
The Art Gallery of NSW, set in The Domain on the edge of the Sydney CBD, is already a magnificent institution. Sydney (pop. about 5 million), together with the similar-sized Melbourne and with Brisbane (pop. about 2 million, like Vancouver’s) all have outstanding arts complexes, achieved in a country of about 23 million people.
The full press release from the AGNSW is here.
Sydney also has an impressive contemporary art gallery at Circular Quay. Australia’s commitment to the arts is impressive.
They have often used the sandstone facade of the contemporary gallery as a ‘screen’ for light works. And I didn’t mention Canberra in my list of cities with impressive art museums — small, but as the capital city it attracted huge federal funding.
Will we ever know why Michael Audain separated himself from the Vancouver Art Gallery Foundation in 2014, leaving his positions as the organization’s chair, a trustee and the head of the Gallery’s relocation committee, then financed his own beautiful gallery in Whistler?
Australia is light years ahead of Canada in overcoming identity insecurity. They are isolated on all sides by ocean and do not share a border with the most powerful nation on Earth, a border crossed almost as easily as provincial borders by millions, one that is invisible to cable TV channels, and one that offers no hindrance to a lopsided transfer of culture. There are optimistic signs that Canada will come of age with relative economic independence later this century, but we do not have fully mature expression of culture where national and regional identities are dominant, especially at the provincial level where municipal governance is controlled.
The recognition of cultural identity Down Under and its relevance in the funding for the above museums seem to be more about Australian cities than Australia as a nation, though there is little doubt that the uniqueness of being Australian is felt strongly at all levels to the point that a generous level of funding for culture is justified. No one can misconstrue them as polite Americans. In BC we’d rather spend hundreds of millions on a stadium roof, which received a fraction of the criticism than if public funding for a decent art museum was brought up to even just half the cost of the roof. Here, the art museum design process is also lost because it was left to a one-vision stakeholder in the absence of senior government experience in culture beyond revenue from beer, gambling and giving grants to sports. The BC Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development is also responsible for TransLink. That says it all.
Considering the astronomical amount of infrastructure spent in this province since WWII, we could have done a lot better to create healthier cities with better transit, higher quality urbanism, and funding for seriously meaningful arts and culture beyond the token. We do not lack culture; Indigenous culture, as battered as its recent history is, remains one of the strongest and most unique manifestations in the world. Sometimes we nail it hard and right in singular pieces, like Bill Reid’s Spirit of Haida Gwaii and Jade Canoe. Where we fail is in the outward expression of our rich, deep and long history in architecture and city form, with very few exceptions. Culture, history and the building of cities are members of the same family, and the family is constantly evolving.