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

"'SUNDAY MAIL" lrlalNne, Q. Our art stays under wraps a while yet THE Queen1land Art Gallery collection, Hacuated from it1 old ~u1e'!m hame l • at April, i1 unlikely to be 1how11 to tht public •10111 until Hrly neat -:,ear. . _A five -storey . fore escape demanded by the Metropolit~n Fire Brigade 1s o mo1or reason for the delay in opening the tem– porary home of the near $4 million collection in the M.I.M. Build– ing, Anh Street. Rcuhsallon that the air-conditioning could not provide 24-hour protec– tion for Iho works also contributed Lo the delay. The trouble ts Lhat U1e fifth and sixth !tool's or th_e M . I . M . Building, be1111r rented by the State Go,·ernmenL to house the collection until the n ew Ai-L Oallery Is ready. was deslaned u orttce apace. Fire escape p1-o,•tstons a n d a I r-condltioninir suitable for office use were not adequate !or the new role or the two floors in handling larire num• bers or the public and a valuable art pieces. Meeting A 1poliN111&n for the Worlu Mlnlater (1'1r. ::.:~ w":u~d ~tllel~ -n between Worb De• ::=nJ:.:":o•':tt\!:: en an openlnr date. "Our experts wlll be tellln1 the aallery people what will be completed ~~~• •rod l~~\~ebe ~te~ t hey can open," he said, But' irallet·y 'trustees c· 11 u I r ma 11 , 8tr Leon Trou l 1 :-said the tcmpora• ri· gallery probably would :~~~ 1 'fra~~n until early ··we had been hoping to open before Chrt:,lmas buL bec;rnse o! sllorlaGes and oUier prollloms. ll looks like being In the New Year," he said. New hope The former home or the ~•lien· in the •am• bu1ldl11g as lhe Queens– land Museum w•s closed on April:,. ExperL, round that a section or the bulldtllK housing the collecuon waa unsafe. II WU hoped lhen lhat the temporary iallery ,.-ould be open wllhln a few month.• to dl•play the collection until II• 51,M0,000 ne\o' home I• b u I U on the South Brl, bane rherbank, This should be com– pleted by 1978. The spokesman said the ·esllmate ror altering the two floors or the M.I.M. Building was now S124,000 and more than hall had already been spent. Rent !or the Lolal space o! about 1814 square "COURIER MAIL" me1res Is about $70,000 a year. so~r-;v:~i~Sl~er.•:~~ 1 f1~~ escape had been ··sprung on w ·· b)' lhe Fire Bri– gade al a 1"Lo sta;e. The Chlel Fire O!!icer , Mr. V. Dowlln111 con· firmed U1&l the recom– mendation !or the lire escape had been madl? following Inspections by ~~~_,?!!leers "not so Ions "Sir ~n aald that the air oondlllonlnr waa In• adf:~~~ :n/~' ..!!': C1ed with new Ml!DIP• ment. "There may be some way or using this utra equipment In the new irallery,'' he said. UnGYoidable u,'~~ d~~;~Y~hl~\1:nha~! been avoided. "We had to move the paintings Immediately. ''There Is very little suitable space In Brl•· bane and this wu the best anllable and 1tlll 11. "No blame Is attached to anyone !or the delay. ··we a~ naturally dls- 11.ppoint.ed . But It Is Just one or those things." lrlalNne, Qld. & ottery pl~n I N November, 1068, you published my suggestion that the then proposed Art Gallery should be fin– anced bY a lottery es– tablished ror this pur– pose. o ,·u gart )' a u t e pro• pQ<;al. But, I! the Government wholly pays for It, does not tile money required 111\1· nin.tclY come from the tux– puyer\s pocket'! I am noL ngulnsL Lile Cultura.l Centre, for It Is a wortllwhtle proJect nnd ~l~~:.Fc1: h~1~l1°et~~di:,~: U~; 11coplc nnd not for the tow alone. It should be designed for with comn1un1t,· equity and noL at the cxpcm;c of the in d I v I dun I taxpayer. IL should be nn ltSset LO Lile conununity nnd not n hur– dl'n on its rr~ourccs nor n1t exp\olt,nllon ol Its wlllin~– ncs:, to pny. a owe to operate. Let us hope, then. that those re• spanslble for flnrllno funds for this proJrcl will sec the worth or tll<' s11~12estton and sheet llwlr mlrt-Vlcto· r I R n p I' e j u rt I C C s Ion~ '?r~ 0 ~i~ri':n~~l sl~'lr. 1 ':s1rl','.t Holland Park, Change of heart T WAS astounded t.o rend the letter from Mr. J . C. H. Gill , chairman, Queensland Museum Bonrd (C.-M. November 15). , ( J WAS astounded to read the letter from Mr. J . c. H. Gill , chairman, Queensland Museum Board (C.-M. November 15). In thaL teller, Mr. Olli stated lhe MUMUlll " 'IIS delighted with iti Ool'emment's 11roposal, to locate thr new museum at South Brisbanr as parl of tht cultural com1,!ex. Sr\ eral 1non 1hs ni;o the Mubeum Boa rd contac1ed the Brisban• City Council !n regard to po•slble sites for the new museum. /It lhnl 1lme lhC Board was not ut all enthu!ilnstlc a bou1 sugge..tlons to locate the museum at South Br1s– bnnr and were q111tr con .. l'lnred Ll,n L the llesL slle was In Albert Park. Thcu· prererr1ll'e for Al• bert Pttrk was sup1>0rted by :1si•~;~~W 1 bo!:-~d~,e';:;ger~ atatlng that It was not nec– essan' t.o place the museum in the same nrea .,, the t>roposed Art Gallery, M renr;:. ~~r~~ .~1~:~·~. ~lh How dl!!erent this fs to Mr. GIii's lnt.esL announce- ~1n~h;h~tro1;•~~~ ~/:~,~~\ complex1 ls R f111e 011r nnd the StaLe And iL5 1ieo~IC Ahould bene!lL from U1e close Juxtaposition or the main culLural scicnu!lc :n~,fi~I~ educatlonnl In• Why the chairman ol lhe Queensland Museum Board h a• h ad tl1ls sudden change of heart and openly • u P ~ o rt, d the Oooern– ment • elections campal~n gimmick Is a question which only he can answer. - T. J. Ryan, Alderman forTbe Gap. . \ "CHRONICLE" Toowoomba, Qld. $2.Sm B·LOCK FOR QLD ART GALLERY BRISBANE. The Slate Oovornment hu bousht a block of proper– tleo In South Brisbane for II• proposed cuHural com• plex and art 1allery at " price or S2,833,000. The block at present con– tRlns n hotel and several other buildings. Tre11s11rcr Sir Oordon Ch•lk s11ld the Govern– ment Intended to move ~ukkly in an endeavour to complete the cultunl complex within n,·e years, , .S 118 IC abouL sug~estlons to locate the mu.scum nt. Sout h Brls• banr nnd were qultr. con• \'lnccd ttint, the hcst slte \\'ns In Albert. Park. Thc11· prcfcrcnre tor Al• hcrt Park was sup1>0rt.cc1 by " lcaslblllty stud)' Rncl I also recall Board Members titallmr t.hnt It wns not ncr.-– essary Lo place the museum In the same nrca as the proposed Art Onllcry, •• ~~r~s ~~,rf~c s\;\;(~e~l l~o t lt The reaction or the or• dlnnry mortals who would have used nnd run this comple:. \\'115 strongly fav– oura.ble. for they sow that, by /u11dln~ trom the pro· rit.5 or a loltrrl'. they could obtntn I hrlr · in\'olvcmcnt. with, •n equity in, the project wlthnut lhe need to overburdrn t hcn,~rh·cs with addit1om1.! taxation. T1tev al~o snw a possihle chnnc'c or ohtalnlng some tmmcdlnt• rinnnclnl ad• \'Rntugo as writ. It should be desl~ned for total U5e nnd not os n monument to outmortcd conccpls or the relallon– sh!Jl or the Arts to the Pconlc. As R b111ldlng, IL ~hnulrt be an ne~thPtlC gntn nnrl noL Just nnothcr stul£1· nwnt or t.lw hannllty that now pns:-c!. for uc·hl· t(Wtl!l'C'. How dlllcrenl this L< to ~fr. Gill's latest nnnounce– mr nt thn t '·The roncept, tof lhc pror,mwd c11lturnl contolcx , i~ a rtnr one nnct the StnlC' nnrt lls pcopl(• shoulct bcnerll from lhc ·lo~r juxtaposition of lhr. mum cult ural sctcntlf1r Tn thnt lrt1rr, ~1r. 0 t11 n11d publi<· rcincnt1on11l In• stn1rct 1hr Mu:-rum Ooard ~111 1111011~. · ~~~·er~il;';i~~t.~rt pr~·::a~al t.l~ Q1~~~~i~1~:~r1 c~~~~;1~1~ ~~,\\~~ However, the /'atrlclans, who tend to llrn 11 wealthy and somct.tmos snobbish 1s o I a t to 11, raiser! lheil' hi1!1d5 in well-bred. tlll• tut ung horror aL the MIR– gcstlon. bmndl11g 1L as 111· C O 11 re I,. e d nnd Implying th1tt. Lhcrc were overtones 1'hr \otten· will rn ... ur<' tll commun\ty rqult\' nnd ,1cre.-.,1. ,ro, 1 ldrd l! I locntc th{' new museum &t. h n c: h n d this ~urldcn South "Dn:-hnnr n.c. parrmr1r hnnc:e 0f heart.. tine! opr.n lv Lhc culuirnl rompiC'x. · s u p po r t. r rt the Ocl\'rrn- Severnl montlis 1,go the I ment's elections c11111p11l~n Museum Bourd contacted ~11nmlck Is n ~ucstlon the Brisbane Clly Council which onli· he ran • nswr r. tn regnrd to possible sites _ 1'. J, Rvan, Alderman ro~th~h~twtfi~!~,;c~~~· Boarrt ro.r 'I.he GaS,: