Kempsey Shire's art and culture lovers are celebrating Nulla Nulla Gallery's recent upgrade to regional art gallery status.
Nulla Nulla Gallery's regional gallery status means an increased capacity to host a broader range of exhibitions, which is a win for the Kempsey community, who will now have access to a range of creative experiences and art not previously available locally.
Craig Milburn, General Manager Kempsey Shire Council, attended the Nulla Nulla Regional Gallery for the Saltwater Freshwater Arts exhibition opening on Friday afternoon.
"It was an honour to open Kempsey Shire's first ever regional gallery, which has been years in the planning. Congratulations to the staff who have been working so hard on preparing the gallery to take on its new status – it is a credit to them and will be a source of pride for the Kempsey community for years to come," said Mr Milburn.
"It was great to see a successful and well attended launch for the Saltwater Freshwater Arts exhibition, which showcases such stunning art by Aboriginal artists from across our local region."
Annette Young, Museum and Gallery Curator for the Slim Dusty Centre, has been coordinating the upgrades to the art gallery over the past few weeks.
"To become a regional gallery, we had to get the gallery up to a national standard by having proper temperature controls, storage facilities, contracts, insurance for art works and the ability to meet national standards to exhibit and pay artists. It now means that artists can trust us with caring for and exhibiting their art, so it will attract a lot more artists to exhibit at the gallery," said Ms Young.
"To have our first exhibition as a regional gallery be the Saltwater Freshwater Arts exhibition which celebrates the art and creativity of local Aboriginal artists is so meaningful and inspiring."
"In addition, to celebrate the opening, members of the community are being asked to vote for a new logo for the art gallery, with four options created by Council's in-house designer, Mike Kaye."
Ashley Gray, Acting Economic and Tourism Manager for Kempsey Council, sees the benefit to the region, not only for the art gallery, local artists and art lovers, but also as a way of attracting a new kind of visitor to the Macleay Valley Coast.
"Visitors to our region are increasingly sophisticated and are looking to enhance their stay with meaningful creative and cultural experiences," said Mrs Gray.
"Nulla Nulla's regional gallery status not only means that we can offer a broader range of art exhibitions, but we can also attract funding to host artist workshops and even residence programs, which is super exciting."
The Saltwater Freshwater exhibition will run from 9 August until 22 September, with voting for the new logo to stay open for the period of the exhibition.
