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Earlier this year the Public Galleries Association of Victoria launched Public Galleries: Our Creative Heart at Parliament House – our vision for transformational investment in Victoria’s public galleries. We are seeking greater investment in small to medium galleries in our suburbs and regions – the breeding grounds for emerging artists and the next generation of gallery professionals. However, it is in these essential spaces where we are seeing systemic issues with understaffing, dilapidated infrastructure, a lack of resources for art conservation and programs that are not able to meet demand. You might not see this when you walk into a gallery, because we’re really good at putting on a show. But it’s real.

In Wangaratta, it means part of the gallery has to be closed over the summer because there is no air conditioning. In Swan Hill, it means storage spaces so cramped that curators must decant large portions of the stored collection every time they want to access an artwork. In Castlemaine, it means the threat of closure, because even though we have funds committed for infrastructure improvements, there is not enough operational funding to support staffing. 

Images: Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery's cramped collection store must be decanted with every exhibition changeover. This is a common scenario for many small to medium public galleries across Victoria.

Public Galleries: Our Creative Heart is our response to these issues. Transformational investment will allow our galleries to fully activate their collections, deliver programming that enriches our communities, and create world-class galleries capable of presenting major exhibitions that provide economic returns across the state. 

As cost-of-living pressures grow, the benefits of free cultural experiences for every part of the community, especially families, becomes more important every day. Public Galleries: Our Creative Heart will ensure every Victorian has free access to the visual arts, no matter where they live.

We need your help to continue the Public Galleries: Our Creative Heart campaign. Every donation, no matter how big or small, will help the PGAV secure greater investment in Victoria’s public galleries. 

Your donation today will help our advocacy efforts:

$100 we can produce 150 badges, building awareness of our key campaign messages
$500 we can print 5,000 postcards, enabling gallery audiences to show their support for our campaign
$1,000 we can send an advocacy pack to forty Members of Parliament, vital to increasing government engagement with our campaign
$3,000 we can deliver a Street Poster campaign, growing awareness of our key messages across metropolitan Melbourne
$5,000 will help fund a campaign event in the lead up to the 2024/25 State Budget

We encourage our supporters to consider making a donation – as part of a shared commitment to ensuring Victoria’s public gallery sector remains sustainable.

All donations over $2 are tax deductible.

Image: Opening of Design Fringe at Linden New Art, 2022. Image courtesy of Linden New Art. Photograph: Theresa Harrison Photography.
Our Creative Heart: design by Pidgeon Ward.