Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 5 : Presscuttings, June 1972 - November 1976

• years 1n a teniporary home "FORTY - F'OUR years ls a long time as a temporary home for Queens– land 's art treasures" the director of the Queensland A r t Gallery, Mr James Wieneke, said yes– terday. Looking nround the 70-year-old bulldmg, which four year; ng,> the Fire Brigade ,·c– porled ns n fire hnrnrd. he snld: "Quce1.s– land"s col!ccllon oC vnlunble pnmllug, Is Jn danger of destruc– ·eathc If t ls cont nue housed here. '"It Is vital t h n t somcthIng ls done ns soon ns possible, both for the snfety of the stnff nnd public and the collection." State Publlc Works Depnrtmcnt engineers arc lo begin n major Inspection and repair Job nt the gallery Inter lhLs wePk. Slate Cnblnet de– cided to carry out major repairs and re– house the nrt collection uftcr the trustees chair– man, Sir Leon Trout, reported lo the Educa– tion Minister. Sir Alan Fletcher, t ,at t I e building could collapse In a storm. Mr Wieneke said the tire hazard hnd become acute since power shJrL circuiting during the January rtoods. Old canvasses and wood frames added to the risk. He said that but for the d·adlcaUon ol the staff a number ol valu– able paintings could have been Irreparably damaged when rain en– tered the building In January. Mr Wieneke said the building was built as a concert hall In 1891 and bPrATT'P a tern rarY art gallery In 1930. In State Parliament yesterday the Opposi– tion Leader Mr Houston used the art gallery re– port to launch an at– tack on the Premier, Mr BJelke-Petersen and the Oovernmen~•s "bankrupt cultural poli– cies". Thi! 0 ll p O s I t I on spokesm:i on cultural affnlrs. '.,, r Peter Wood , last nl ~ht , ulled on Sir Alan f'letcher to ex– plain \\"h)' the gnllcry had been allowed to de– teriorate. Q'land art gallery director MR RAOUL MELLISH who has been Assistant Director or the Queens– land Art Gallery ror six years wut take over as Director at the end or this month. He wlll re11laec Mr J . Wieneke who Is due to retire. The appointment was approl'ed by executive council yesterday. Mr Mellish, 46, was educated In Brisbane and is a Fellow ol the Royal Society of Art, London, and a member of the Australian Oal– lerles Association, He wns awarded a C)rnrchlll Fellowship In 1973 to study art gallery administration and spent fll'e months In America nnd Europe. Mr Mellish Is landscape artist.