Controversial plan to move National Art School to the western suburbs

WITH the Powerhouse Museum already on its way out west, Parramatta could be the city’s new cultural hub with a Guggenheim-style art gallery a possibility.

Guggenheim International Gala

PARRAMATTA could soon be Sydney’s new cultural hub, with a Guggenheim-style art gallery one of the suggestions made in a State Government report into arts funding released last week.

The ‘A Plan for Growing Sydney’ document highlighted a cultural precinct in Parramatta as a possibility in the future, along with shifting the National Art School from Darlinghurst out west.

With the Powerhouse Museum already set to move to Parramatta, the report is a coup for western Sydney’s arts community.

Western Sydney is home to one in 10 Australians – yet it receives only 1 per cent of federal arts funding and 5 per cent of state art dollars.

The National Art School has come out in fierce opposition to talks of any move away from Darlinghurst. Director Michael Snelling said the move would end up costing the government more in the long run.

National Art School at Darlinghurst.

“Moving an institution from one place to another is usually a second choice to starting and building one’s own, with community ownership and engagement from the beginning,” Mr Snelling said.

Other recommendations from the Deloitte report include creating a special endowment fund for local artists, committing $300 million for cultural infrastructure in the west over the next five years and building educational opportunities.

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The State Government report, titled A Plan For Growing Sydney, states: “ ... the Government envisages a Parramatta cultural precinct which could have a major new exhibition facility such as a new museum or art gallery as an anchor ­facility and a destination in its own right – western Sydney’s own Guggenheim, MONA or Questacon”.

Parramatta Council is considering a response to some of the suggestions, with a report to be prepared to formally establish a position on the issue.

Plans are underway to relocate the Powerhouse Museum from Ultimo to Parramatta.

A spokeswoman said the council was working with the state government to expand the arts and cultural offerings in Parramatta.

“There is already a firm commitment from the State Government,” the spokeswoman said.

“In addition to the relocation of the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta, an arts and cultural package of $30 million has been allocated for Western Sydney,” she said.

Long-term arts advocate for the western suburbs, Parramatta-based artist Di Turner, said it was good to see increased recognition of the vital role of the arts in the local community.

Di Turner says the report is good news for western Sydney’s art community.

“It’s great to have the arts finally being acknowledged in the western suburbs,” Turner said.

“But what gets built or funded should be accessible for practising artists as well – for making art, not just appreciating art.”

Turner, founder of Parramatta Arts and Clay Inc, which has recently moved to Hunter St, also argued facilities should be permanent, not just pop up.

“Over the past five or six years there’s been a significant lot happen locally, but there’s a lot more to be done,” she said.

She pointed out that Hazelhurst Gallery, in Sydney’s south, managed to combine a regional-level gallery with working spaces for clay artists, painters and sculptors, as well as being a community hub.

“I hope that Parramatta will one day have a dedicated and permanent arts centre, with a variety of studio spaces, accessible to local artists and the community,” she said.