Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre, The Cedars and Carrick Hill overhauls put SA’s arts in a different class
High-profile galleries in Melbourne and Hobart will struggle to compete when multimillion-dollar facelifts on Adelaide’s artistic centrepieces create an unrivalled tourist drawcard, an SA MP says.
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Work is progressing to make South Australia the unrivalled art gallery capital of the country, as a Liberal MP has a cheeky dig at some other states’ art offerings.
Boothby Federal MP Nicolle Flint said the development of a $5.5m visitor centre at Carrick Hill, along with the new Aboriginal Art and Cultures Centre at Lot Fourteen and the multimillion-dollar revamp of The Cedars at Hahndorf, would put SA on the map as the most-important arts destination in the country.
“When tourists think about where to go for an art experience in Australia, they will think SA,” Ms Flint said.
She said David Walsh’s private gallery MONA, in Hobart, had become the highest-profile gallery in the nation. But she was not impressed.
“While MONA is an interesting experience, I don’t think it’s a particularly interesting art offering,” Ms Flint said.
She said Melbourne’s offerings, with the exception of the Heide Museum of Modern Art, were typically the usual art gallery formula of general collections.
“Once our galleries are complete, SA will have the most unique and important art offering in the nation, telling the full range of our Australian stories and, most importantly, our Indigenous stories,” she said.
Local architecture firm Ashley Halliday Architects – the team behind Plant 4 Bowden and the Kangaroo Island Air Terminal – has been tasked with designing a multipurpose visitor centre at Carrick Hill, consolidating the cafe, catering services, information centre and gift shop.
It will be a case of old meeting new, with the pavilion – set to be complete by mid-2022 – needing to complement the historic former home of Sir Edward and Lady Ursula Hayward.
Construction of the $5.5m project – $3m of federal cash, $500,000 from the State Government and up to $2m from the Carrick Hill Development Foundation – will begin next year.
Carrick Hill director Tony Kanellos said the new pavilion would be a valuable addition that would help more people discover the attraction.
“Carrick Hill was a bequest to the people of South Australia,” Mr Kanellos said.
“We want more people to know about the Haywards, their history, their collections, their garden and to make the most of this generous gift.”