May 18, 2015
The Wondai Regional Art Gallery is preparing to return home next month, and the Gallery’s volunteers and friends couldn’t be happier.
Since February the art gallery has been operating from the nearby Wondai Town Hall while the South Burnett Regional Council carried out extensive repairs to the century-old station master’s residence that houses the arts complex.
Council staff discovered termites in the building last October, and later found there were drainage problems needing immediate attention, too.
But they allowed the Galley to keep operating as usual until Christmas, before relocating the group’s administration, display spaces and phone lines to the Town Hall in the January break to minimise disruption.
Since February the Gallery has been holding its monthly exhibitions in the Town Hall, using dividers on loan from the Council, several local community groups and service clubs to hang artworks.
Council staff originally expected the upgrade would be completed by the end of April, but as work progressed they discovered a few additional problems that required several weeks of extra work.
Gallery volunteers also took advantage of the upgrade to give the building an internal spruce up, repainting the interior and resanding and lacquering the floors.
Gallery Curator Elaine Madill said she was delighted with the work done by the Council to fix the building’s problems.
“Council were marvelous in working with the art exhibitions we had, then helping us relocate to the Town hall, and then dealing with the termite problem so comprehensively,” she said.
“It’s ready for the next 50 years now.”
SBRC Arts Portfolio chair Cr Ros Heit said she is also very happy about the work.
“The Gallery’s historic building is situated close to the roundabout in Wondai and it’s a wonderful greeting to the town,” she said.
“Dealing with this problem has been a textbook example of how the council and friends of Wondai Art Gallery can work together to achieve a great outcome.”
The Gallery’s current exhibition opened on Friday, May 1 and will be the last in the temporary Town Hall venue.
It features “A Family Affair”, an array of artworks and photographs executed by members of the Postle family; “Tol’d In Paper”, an exhibition of paper tole works produced by Kingaroy paper tole artist and teacher Rosemarie Matthews-Frederick, along with her students; and “Variety”, a collection of works produced by members of the Wondai Art Group on Sundays.
The exhibition will remain on show from 10:00am to 4:00pm daily until May 25, after which the Gallery will relocate back to its home next to the roundabout.
The Gallery’s first exhibition back in three refurbished building will celebrate its opening night on Friday, June 5 at 6:00pm.
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