Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to let the House know that last Friday the Bendigo Art Gallery opened its new extensions. The project was worth $8.5 million and increased the gallery's size by about a third. There will now be underground storage for the permanent collection.

The gallery was established in 1887 and is one of the oldest in Australia. The new extension will be used for temporary exhibitions and will also showcase some of the gallery's permanent collection. The extensions also have spaces to project on, which allow contemporary and historical works to be displayed. The gallery now has the flexibility to meet the needs of a growing audience and our local community.

The arts are valuable and they are also valuable for our local economy. In 2012, before the extensions, the Bendigo Art Gallery displayed the exclusive Grace Kelly exhibition, and it was a hit with people not just from Bendigo but from all over Victoria. The economic impact on the Bendigo economy was worth more than $16 million. The exhibition ran from March to June.

Investment in culture in Bendigo is a good investment. Cultural tourists are attracted to Bendigo. We are a thriving cultural economy. Just over 9.8 per cent of attendees to the Grace Kelly exhibition were from interstate and a further 0.4 per cent were from overseas. Melbourne residents made up the highest proportion of visitors, and a further 20 per cent of visitors came from other parts of regional Victoria.

I can remember talking to coffee shop, cafe and restaurant owners, and they talked about how people would arrive by train, walk through the town, pop in for lunch and then pop up to the gallery. One owner, Tim Baxter, owner/operator of The Dispensary Enoteca, told me that the only time he is really profitable and really makes money is during excellent exhibitions at the art gallery. That is another example of how important our cultural economy is to other parts of our economy in Bendigo. During the exhibition, he was turning away 20 to 50 people for most lunches and dinners for three months straight.

The Bendigo Art Gallery and its new extension will have a positive impact on our local community. La Trobe University are partnering with the council and the art gallery. Investment in our arts and training is an investment in a creative Australia.

I am proud to have one of the paintings from the Parliament House art collection in my office here in Canberra. It is a painting by abstract artist Roger Kemp. Roger Kemp was born in Bendigo in 1944 and won the Bendigo Art Gallery prize. Roger was born in Long Gully, one of the most impoverished parts of Bendigo. I am proud to have his work in my office here in Canberra and hope that it will be joined by the works of other artists from the Bendigo electorate.

The Bendigo Art Gallery has stimulated and inspired the growth of artists throughout our region. Whether they be students studying one of the new courses at the university or involved the new La Trobe Art Institute—an alliance between the Bendigo Art Gallery, the City of Greater Bendigo and the university—art lovers or artists who have lived in the region forever, the Bendigo Art Gallery is home to them all.

I acknowledge the efforts of the Bendigo Art Gallery board and its director, Karen Quinlan, the City of Greater Bendigo, the former Premier of Victoria, John Brumby, and the former Minister for Regional and Rural Development, Jacinta Allan. Together, they had the vision and foresight to put the money aside in the budget for these extensions.

We welcome everybody to come to Bendigo to enjoy our gallery, to see our new extensions and engage in the exciting exhibitions and programs of 2014. Come help us grow our cultural economy. Next year, we hope that the theatre project will be completed. Again, that is another great state Labor and federal Labor government project. The theatre will be open to you soon.