The Northern Midlands Council has no public art gallery, yet.
Could the Town Hall in Campbell Town be the home of a public art gallery in the heart of Tasmania?
This would allow Service Tasmania and the Campbell Town Museum and Visitor Information Centre to remain where they now are, and attract more visitors to the museum.
I will explore how this public art gallery could serve rural communities across Tasmania, not only in the Northern Midlands.
A proposed name is Tasmanian Rural and Regional Art Gallery. State and federal grants can be sought, and even pledges in the coming federal election.
Anyone who supports this unique art initiative could join a friends group to help raise funds, and be part of the project.
The Central Coast Council in Tasmania recently secured $2.5 million toward the construction of a museum and art gallery complex in Ulverstone, which will include the Visitor Information Centre, a retail space, café, Science Centre and Planetarium. [1]
This Town Hall Art Gallery could be of service to rural municipalities around Tasmania, where Campbell Town really is in the heart of the farm lands of the island.
There is no rural public art gallery in Tasmania, with major public art galleries being located in cities, so this would be a whole new concept to build on.
Being located in the country, it would be possible to include a sculpture park as part of the project, and there is land in Ross where this can happen. [Fig.1]
Figure 1: View across land in Ross where a sculpture park can be established.
This is our land, 20 acres that was purchased with a view to the development of a sculpture park, to include an artist-in-residence program, with a focus on sculpture.
With 186 convict made stone carvings made in 1836 on the Ross Bridge, Ross would be an ideal location for the sculpture theme with the Tasmanian Rural and Regional Art Gallery.
If the Ross Bridge were a painting, it would be in a major art gallery. Being a fixture in the landscape, we need to improve its presentation where it marches across the Macquarie River.
There is no interpretation installation for the Ross Bridge at present, but there is public land near the bridge where this could be located, and the area developed into heritage parkland. [Fig.5]
Figure 5: Public land in Ross, in sight of the Ross Bridge, which could be dedicated as heritage parkland.
This public land includes colonial era stables, which could be the oldest buildings in the Central Midlands.
This land runs around the Uniting Church, which might also be part of the heritage parklands.
This land connects with around a hundred acres of public land in Ross, where trails are waiting to happen.
The old Police house in Ross, owned by the Tasmanian Government and now empty, could be part of an artist-in-residence program for writers and painters. [Fig.2]
Figure 2: The former Police house in Ross, now empty.
With a view to exhibitions in time going to rural municipalities across Tasmania, all rural Councils can be invited to support the creation of a rural and regional art gallery.
A new regional art gallery opened on the Gold Coast recently, created at a cost of $60,500,000, which demonstrates how much funding can be available for the arts. [2]
Creating a regional art gallery will create employment, and as art projects and exhibitions travel across the rural regions, the employment benefit will also spread.
Since 2016 I have been promoting the creation of a network of footpaths and cycle ways connecting country towns in Tasmania, beginning with a trail from the ferry in Devonport that would run through Campbell Town on its way to Port Arthur. [Fig.8]
Figure 8: Kim Peart at the historic Tacky Bridge in Ross calls for a footpath between Ross and Campbell Town in 2020.
In 2016 I explored the possibility that there could be a longer national trail along the east coast of Australia. [3]
A rural and regional art gallery can also be a catalyst for promoting a footpath network across Tasmania, which could begin between Ross and Campbell Town, as part of creating a wider art experience.
Many people may prefer the most direct route beside the highway, while others may like a scenic country road trail away from the highway, an option explored by the Northern Midlands Council at one time.
Dual options could happen as the trail is extended.
People will walk the roads of Tasmania, even when there is no footpath, seen with German Jakob Penner last March, and Lyons MP Mark Shelton who has twice now walked from Launceston to Hobart. [4]
A footpath and cycle network around rural Tasmania would be a whole new approach to the visitor experience across the island, which could be combined with a mini coach service.
A visitor could book a ride in a mini coach to be dropped off at any point, walk or cycle as far as they wish, and then be collected by the coach at a previously-booked point.
A mini coach service like that would also serve residents of country towns, to go from town to town, or town to city and back again.
As well as bringing visitors to country towns, many enterprises would open along the way, with cafes, craft shops, art galleries, accommodation and bicycle hire.
The rural and regional art gallery and sculpture park can include Aboriginal heritage and history, to understand with respect the ancient culture of this land.
The tragic Aboriginal experience with the Black War in Tasmania was presented as an art exhibition in the Town Hall in Ross recently with Ten Days on the Island, which also shows how country halls can become temporary art galleries.
A rural location offers access to more land, a boon not available in the city, where a sculpture park can be developed.
The national treasure of the Ross Bridge offers a unique opportunity to present an interpretation of these convict made carvings, which are unique in the world.
The rural and regional art gallery could take an interest in the carved art on old graves around Tasmania, which is a rather huge body of carved art, where unique art treasures can be found.
Using the virtual worlds, the rural and regional art gallery can have a global presence, with anyone on Earth being able to visit the virtual art collection.
An example of this is one of my galleries in Second Life, the Snow Gallery, where anyone can visit and explore the art with an avatar. [Fig.10]
Figure 10: The Snow Gallery in the virtual world of Second Life, where anyone in the world can visit via an avatar.
With the virtual world, art classes can be held, and forums presented, which can be accessed by any interested person in the rural communities.
There are now two levels of virtual world. One is a gaming level experience, accessed with a viewer, where fixed wireless internet is the minimum requirement. A simpler form of virtual world which can be accessed with an Internet browser can also be used for isolated places relying on Sky Muster.
The rural and regional art gallery is not dependent on being located in the Town Hall in Campbell Town, but should this be the supported location to launch the project, the vision could then be delivered sooner, as well as save the Town Hall.
There would be a benefit for the health of country people, able to connect with art from anywhere in Tasmania, by visiting the gallery or accessing the virtual world gallery from their home.
What could happen?
There could be a Rural Art Prize created, featuring art from the farms. There could be an annual movie festival, combining art with film.
Anything is possible, when we dare to imagine.
REFERENCES
[1] Infrastructure Projects Stream: Round 2 grant recipients
Australian Government, Business
https://business.gov.au/
Central Coast Council
Construction of the Ulverstone Museum and Art Gallery Complex. The project will build the Ulverstone Museum and Gallery complex that will co-locate the Visitor Information Centre and History Museum and incorporate them with a retail space, café, Science Centre and Planetarium.
Ulverstone, Tasmania
Grant Approved ….. $2,500,000
Total Project Cost ….. $7,500,000
[2] Inspired by organic cells, with some marvellous art on show, the Gold Coast’s new HOTA Gallery is a triumph
Chari Larsson, 12 May 2021, The Conversation
https://theconversation.com/
[3] Moreton Bay to Port Arthur
Kim Peart, 2 March 2016
https://visionross.discussion.
[4] Mark Shelton and StGiles are teaming up for the second time
Brinley Duggan, 22 January 2021, The Examiner
https://www.examiner.com.au/
Kim Peart is a long-time resident of Ross, a writer, a keen aficionado of Second Life, and the founder of Space Pioneers.
