Lismore Gallery - the final before the future... |

It’s been a year of beginnings and endings – and more beginnings for the Lismore Regional Gallery, writes gallery director Brett Adlington.

This time last year, I’d not long heard the news that funding was successful to construct a new gallery for Lismore. It’s been a mammoth 12 months getting to where we are now. In that time we’ve been blessed with amazing support; seeing $110,000 in donations to the project from the local community; a $500,000 donation from the Margaret Olley Art Trust; and additional funding of $300,000 from the state government to support gallery display infrastructure.

There was then all the finalising of architectural plans and development applications. Building commenced mid-year, and construction has been going according to plan (thanks to some unseasonably dry weather). The architect Dominic Finlay-Jones, and Bennett Constructions, have been fantastic to work with, completely understanding the needs of the Gallery. Today, when I stand onsite, I can see new roofing going on the building and structural steel indicating where the external awning and glass walkway will be going.

The Gallery team have also been very busy planning our programs for when we move, identifying and sourcing fitout needs and getting a grip of running a much larger space!

But perhaps for me, the most momentous moment was recently celebrating our final opening in our current building. To see such a diverse range of people, including so many artists who have been part of or program the last 6 years or so, was an incredibly gratifying feeling.

René Bolten discussing his work with Hilary Herrmann and Kellie O’Dempsey. Photo: Natsky

So what’s next? On February 4th, we’ll be closing the doors one last time. We’ll be inviting people in that day for a final chance to say goodbye, to share a drink and memories of this building that has served the community for so long.

Then, we will be doing an exhaustive audit of the permanent collection (numbering some 1,000 objects) and preparing our move. We’ll still be presenting some regular Peggy Popart sessions offsite, and will be collaborating with RealArtWorks and the Lismore Lantern Parade.

The plan then is to move in to the new facility in June, which includes placing the collections in their new storage locations and installing our opening round of exhibitions (in 4 times the amount of space we currently have). We expect then to open to the public in September 2017.

I’ve been actively sharing progress on Instagram and Facebook, so if you want see what’s going on, look us up!

In the meantime, we have our final round of exhibitions showing here, including stunning painting and drawing by René Bolten, screenprints and drawings by Nathan Gooley, a fun and colourful exhibition, Playroom, by Masato Takasaka and Madeline Kidd, and work by local Bundjalung artist, Adrian Cameron.