Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

The Toowoornba Chronicl e 22 J une 19 82 Joh opens $28m Qld Art Gallery BRISBANE: Premier Mr Bjelke-Petersen, who recent– ly toured Japan espousing his State's development poten- tial , yesterday predicted Queensland would become a leader in all forms of the arts. THE PRESIDENT of the Queensland Art Gallery Trustees, Mr Justice Connolly, the Premier, Mr Bjelke-Petersen, and the Gallery Director, Mr Rooul Mellish, on on inspection tour after Mr Bjelke-Petersen opened the new Gallery .yester- day. The Courier-Mail 22 June 1982 ectures at new gallery TWO FREE public lectures about vis– iting ellhibitions at the Queensland Art Ga£1ery will be given on Fr'il!'i'yiiia Sunday. Professor Michael Jaffe, director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, a world authority on 17th century Eu- · ropcan painting, will speak at the gal– lery auditorium at 7.30 p.m. on Friday.· · He will talk about the Fitzwilliam and its collections. The Courier-Mail art critic, Dr Ger– trude Langer, will deal with the art of Kandinsky in her lecture at 2 p.m. on Sunday. A short film on Kandinsky. ~e shown at tqe gallery at 1 p.m_,i,1frior to the lecture. Mr Bjclkc-Pctcrscn said the S28 million Queensland Art Gallery, which he officially opcnod yester• day, would "reach out to touch the lives of all Quecnslanders enriching their experience in the arts." The Premier said Queensland was poised to become a leader in all forms of the am. "The new Staie Gallery is the firs1 stage within the Queensland Cultural Centre that will eventual– ly locate the P~rforming Arts Cen– tre, the State Library and State Museum," Mr Bielke-Petersen said. The new centre would provide Queenslandcrs more opportunities to sec and enjoy the work of ar– tists and craftsmen from Australia and overseas. "It is appropriate that Queensland, which leads Australia in so many fields of economic endeavour, should also seek to pursue standards of excellence in cultural development," the Premier said. Queensland's Arts Minister Mr Elliott said the gallery was a home for the State's artistic spirit. "It is our St Paul's .•. our Basilica so to speak," Mr Elliott said. The gallery would, over the years, reflect both the best and the worst in Queensland and Australian society. Mr Elliott said there were peo– ple who believed the money spent on the gallery should have been spent on other areas such as roads. "However, that fails to recognise that governments must necessarily cater for the spiritual as well as the physical needs of citizens, for the quality of their lives - not merely their ma.-rial needs." ' 1