Gallery turns 50

LOCALS are invited to contribute to an upcoming exhibition celebrating 50 years of the Swan Hill Regional Art Gallery.

In honour of the gallery’s 50th year of operation, gallery director Ian Tully is calling for memorabilia to be featured in a one-off exhibition simply entitled ’50’.

“We want to tell the story of the 50 years and hope the community might be able to help tell that story,” he said. 

Mr Tully has spent nearly a decade working at the gallery and said he is keen to display items from the gallery’s early beginnings, particularly old photographs.

The gallery spent the first 20 years of its life on on the second deck of the Paddle Steamer Gem after it was launched in 1966 as part of the Swan Hill Folk Museum — now known as the Pioneer Settlement.

Over the half-century it has grown substantially and now two separate spaces feature monthly exhibitions at the Horseshoe Bend building, constructed in 1987. 

A slew of events centreing on the 50th anniversary are planned for this year, according to Mr Tully.

“In February we’re really going to celebrate the 50 with a lot of entertainment and workshops,” he said. 

“It’s very exciting because it’s all about the next 50 years. We need to acknowledge the past 50 years but we need to look ahead too.”

Drop any old items to the gallery at Horseshoe Bend in the next two weeks and they will be returned when the exhibition wraps up on February 28. 

The opening night of ’50’ will be held on Friday, February 5 in conjunction with the launch of exhibitions by local artists Suzanne Connelly and Jacqui Stockdale.

For more on this story pick up a copy of Wednesday’s Guardian (January 13, 2016).