Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 2003-04

QUEENSLAND GALLERY OF MODERN ART 10 Throughout the year media interest in the project was strong — with more than 50 media stories. The Gallery's Building Development Unit gave a series of presentations on the design and progress of the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art to Trustees, senior staff, interstate visitors, architecture and design students, and regional gallery directors. In May 2004 the Unit also gave a presentation to a delegation of engineers, architects and officials from the Bureau of Cultural Heritage in Zhejiang, China, and, in November 2003, the Unit staffed an information booth at the West End Boundary Street Festival. MAINTENANCE PROGRAM The existing Queensland Art Gallery building underwent a number of refurbishment projects during the reporting period. The Gallery's Watermall escalators were subject to an extensive maintenance program. Airconditioning ducts were systematically cleaned. Selective upgrading of the Gallery’s lighting track system was initiated, and the asbestos fire doors were replaced in January and February. To improve access, sliding doors were installed in the Watermall Cafe and the Gallery Store in June 2004. The Gallery's sewerage pipes were ruptured by construction workers during the renovation of the new entrance to the Queensland Museum, while work on the Cultural Centre Busway caused a series of power failures at the Gallery when Energex workers tested power relays as part of preparations for pile driving. ACQUISITION OF THE WURLITZER ORGAN Since 2001 the Gallery has been investigating the acquisition of a cinema organ for the new cinémathèque's principal cinema. Following successful negotiations in October 2003, a Wurlitzer Opus 2040 was acquired by the Gallery. This acquisition will establish the new Gallery of Modern Art's reputation for quality silent film presentation. A cinema organ will ensure a period ambience for the presentation of silent cinema. It will also allow the exploration of the relationship between film and music, extend the educational focus of the cinémathèque, and provide a unique facility for events and functions at the Gallery of Modern Art. An organ of particular relevance was identified — the Brisbane Regent Theatre's original cinema organ of 1929 which, since 1964, was privately owned by the late Dr Keith King and his wife Betty King. The Regent's three- manual fifteen rank (3/15) Style 260 Special ('Special' in this case denotes the diaphone extension to 32 feet and the provision of a grand piano) is the only 260 model in Australia with a French-style console. Leaving the Wurlitzer factory on 11 March 1929 as Opus 2040, it debuted at the Regent Theatre's opening on 8 November 1929. Restoration and installation contracts were awarded in April 2004, and the Gallery has initiated a fundraising campaign for the Wurlitzer's restoration. Several key milestones in the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art's design and construction were achieved during the reporting year. DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION The Queensland Government awarded contracts to Bellwood Contracting Pty Ltd in July 2003 for the demolition of the site's existing buildings, and to Bovis Lend Lease in September 2003 for the Managing Contract for the project. The Minister for Public Works, the Honourable Robert Schwarten, MP , signed off on the Millennium Arts–Queensland Cultural Centre (MA–QCC) Project's site designation on 15 July 2003. Demolition of the existing buildings was completed on 19 August. Bovis Lend Lease formally started construction work on the MA–QCC Project on 6 May 2004 with the removal of decontaminated soil from the Kurilpa Point site. The new building's construction is scheduled for completion in 2006. As Managing Contractor, Bovis Lend Lease conducted a number of value management workshops throughout the reporting year. The purpose of these workshops was to identify cost savings and to refine the designs of all three sub-elements of the Project (the Gallery of Modern Art, the State Library of Queensland, and the related site infrastructure works). As part of the design and construction phase, the Gallery's Building Development Unit — together with representatives from Bovis Lend Lease and Architectus — conducted site visits to a number of interstate museums, cinemas and theatres to inspect recent building trends and construction and renovation projects. Visits included the Art Gallery of New South Wales' new Asian Galleries (Sydney), the State Theatre (Sydney), Australian Centre for the Moving Image (Melbourne), Ian Potter Museum of Art (University of Melbourne), Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia (Federation Square, Melbourne), NGV International (Melbourne), Melbourne Museum, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (Melbourne), TarraWarra Museum of Art (Yarra Glen, Victoria), and the Regent Theatre (Melbourne). In November 2003 Davenport Campbell opened their Brisbane office as Architectus Brisbane. The Gallery, together with Arts Queensland and the Department of Public Works, continued to participate in community consultations to gain feedback and advice, and to exchange information on the project and its development. Consultations were held with the local business community, the Indigenous community, transport and cyclist groups, and the homeless. In March 2004 Arts Queensland approved the Gallery's recommendation that David Burnett (Curator, Contemporary International Art) be appointed as the Public Art Curator to oversee all public art for the MA–QCC Project. PUBLIC PRESENTATIONS The MA–QCC model was relocated from the Department of Public Works to the Gallery on 24 July to coincide with a meeting of Queensland Cabinet on 28 July 2003. The model has remained on public view in the Gallery's foyer since this date. An online 'webcam' documenting construction progress for the MA–QCC Project was then incorporated into the Gallery's website in June 2004.