December 19, 2017
Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, Senator James McGrath, got a first-hand insight into why the Wondai Regional Art Gallery is applying for a $30,000 grant from the Building Better Regions (BBR) fund on Tuesday morning.
Senator McGrath was guest of honour at an informal morning tea held at the Gallery to thank its volunteers and helpers, and travelled from his home in Nambour for the occasion.
Gallery curator Elaine Madill told Senator McGrath the gallery want to expand their kitchen and create extra storage space in the building.
At present, the Gallery is so short of storage space they are using the former Wondai Railway Station to hold some of their materials.
The planned expansion would be a $60,000 project and the Gallery will be contributing half the cost, but they are hoping the Federal Government’s BBR fund will provide a matching contribution.
Gallery staff had stayed up until 11:00pm the previous night finalising an application for BBR’s next funding round, Elaine said, and were hoping they’d hear some good news early in February or March next year.
The Gallery’s last major expansion was The Studio, a $110,000 multi-purpose room built in 2012 with a $30,000 contribution from the Gallery, a matching contribution from the South Burnett Regional Council and a $50,000 grant from the Queensland Arts Council.
In the five years since it opened, this extension had been widely used by both the Gallery and Wondai’s broader community to host everything from workshops to travelling exhibitions from Brisbane’s Gallery Of Modern Art, craft stalls as an adjunct to the monthly Wondai Markets and as a meeting room for local non-profit groups.
Senator McGrath said that as part of his parliamentary duties, he sat on an advisory committee that recommended which organisations should receive BBR grants.
He said all grant applications were initially assessed by federal public servants to ensure they met BBR criteria, and those that did were referred to the advisory committee for selection.
Referring to Tuesday morning’s Cabinet reshuffle by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Senator McGrath said he had asked the Prime Minister that whatever he decided, he wanted to keep his seat on the BBR committee.
This was because the position allowed him to help regional communities get better facilities built, and he enjoyed playing a part in that.
“Naturally, I can’t promise anything,” Senator McGrath said.
“But seeing this Gallery and the enthusiasm that’s here, I have a much better understanding of what you’re proposing and why, and I appreciate the opportunity to see this in person.”
After the morning tea, Senator McGrath was given a tour of the Gallery and its current December-January exhibition, “Focus On The ‘F’ Word” by the Childers Visual Arts Group.
Later, Elaine told southburnett.com.au all the Gallery’s volunteers had their fingers crossed the grant application would be successful.
“This gallery is built in the old Wondai station master’s cottage and it has grown to become an important tourist attraction for the South Burnett, as well as a filling a valuable social role in our region’s community.
“The Council want to convert the old railway station to a Rail Trail use and we agree this would be a good idea, but not before we can build the extra storage space we need to hold all the stuff we have there.”
- Related article: A Studio Space For All
