Newcastle Art Gallery opinion piece

As published in the Newcastle Herald, Saturday 14 December 2024

Newcastle Art Gallery is extremely fortunate to be the custodian of one of the most significant art collections in Australia.  

But with this great honour comes great responsibility, especially when you're creating a new home for more than 7,000 works of art valued at $126 million. 

Since the current building opened in 1977 our collection has grown by over 500 per cent, but until now, the Gallery's physical space hasn’t grown with it.  

For the last two decades, City of Newcastle staff, Councillors and associated stakeholders, as well as countless art lovers from our community and beyond, have contributed their time, expertise, advocacy and financial support in securing the much-needed expansion of our Art Gallery. 

And during the past 12 months it's been incredible to see the Gallery's expanded footprint rise out of the ground, to see walls go up, the roof take shape and the shell of our new exhibition spaces form as we more than double our size. This will enable more of our incredible collection and much-loved icons to be on permanent display. 

But just as a house isn't really a home until you put your own personal touch on it, so too will our finishing touches take time to transform our expanded building into the dynamic, engaging Art Gallery our community and city deserves. 

There are important considerations for getting the building ready, not just for our collection but for major touring exhibitions as well. 

The long-term presentation of works of art requires very specific international standard gallery environmental conditions.  

Gallery lighting as well as humidity and temperature control systems must be installed and tested to provide the optimum environment for the protection and preservation of our collection.  

Lighting also has to be tightly controlled - managing both natural and artificial light levels to ensure the preservation of works of art. 

We need to consider the necessary preparation of Gallery spaces. Freshly painted walls require time to 'off-gas' to prevent air quality risks to works of art. We then need to deep clean the Gallery to remove any remaining construction and atmospheric dust. 

All of this must be carefully considered and put into place - not just to protect our incredible collection - but to make sure that we fully meet international standards and art insurance cover requirements.    

Only once all of this is achieved can we bring our collection home. 

Think about the last time you moved house - the task of getting everything safely packed, into the truck, making sure items fit through the doors. Every work of art’s movement needs to be planned to the finest detail to ensure they are safely moved and appropriately secured for display. 

Multiply that by 7,000 works of art worth $126 million and you would have some idea of the logistical challenge and responsibility we're managing. When received through our international standard loading dock, works of art must be checked, condition reported and registered in our new collection management system. 

Each work of art must also acclimatise inside the Gallery for at least 48 hours before installation can take place. 

While we're busy planning the big tasks, we're turning our attention to the finer details as well - the fixings, hanging systems, cabinetry, exhibition walls and display plinths.  

Some of our works of art such as our much-loved John Olsen ceiling The sea sun of 5 bells 1964 (the only one installed permanently as a ceiling in the world) and two new commissions will be suspended with custom-built, ceiling-mounted armatures. 

All of this is done with extreme attention to detail, care and expertise. 

When it comes to opening our doors, there is also a lot to plan and do so that we can create a wonderful experience for our visitors.  

Market research tells us that when visitors attend cultural institutions, they expect much more than simply seeing art on the walls.  

They want a more enriching, meaningful experience. They expect somewhere to take a break, enjoy a meal, and they want to be able to take a memento of their experience home with them - a catalogue or keepsake to remember their visit.  

The expanded Art Gallery will meet these new expectations, providing a welcoming place for our community to return again and again with their friends and families. It will be an unmissable highlight for visitors to the Hunter and a tourism destination for visitors from afar. 

To facilitate this, we are establishing and testing new IT systems, developing and sourcing bespoke, locally made retail merchandise, while planning our exhibition and events programming. 

We are developing wayfinding signage, designing and printing visitor guides, developing training programs for our dedicated volunteers and staff. 

The list may seem long, but we're making great progress. 

It’s a historic time for our Gallery and we can't wait to welcome our community back into the reimagined Newcastle Art Gallery next year as we deliver a once-in-a-generation project we can all be truly proud of.

Newcastle Art Gallery Director Lauretta Morton OAM