Darebin Council to revive historic Bundoora Homestead Arts Centre

A CASH boost to revive a struggling historic art gallery in Melbourne’s north has been questioned by a ratepayers’ group.

A cash boost will see the revival of the Bundoora Homestead Arts Centre.

A HISTORIC Bundoora art gallery has been thrown a lifeline that could see it become the “heart of the suburb”.

Darebin Council could pump almost $1 million into the Bundoora Homestead Arts Centre over the next four years.

But a ratepayers’ group has questioned the value of “a bailout” for the venue.

Councillors last week approved an extra $135,000 for the struggling centre this year, with a promise to increase funding to $250,000 a year within the next three years.

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If increased next year, the council would pump $885,000 into the venue over four years.

Cr Susanne Newton said the gallery was “in crisis” and in desperate need of cash.

“It could be the heart of Bundoora but it needs more funding to do so,” she said.

A board report presented to council detailed the challenges in operating the gallery and cafe with less than three fulltime staff on a tight budget.

The gallery was forced to close its cafe for lunch because of staffing shortages, causing a “significant drop” in visitors, according to the report.

The cafe has since reopened.

One visitor complained the cafe was “a waste of a lovely location”.

Cr Newton said the cash boost would pay for more staff, better amenities and increased marketing to attract new visitors.

The free gallery, on the site of a former mental hospital, survives on council funding and grants.

It features work by local artists, educational talks and workshops and hosts the biennial Darebin Art Prize.

More than 10,000 guests came through its doors last year for six major exhibitions and 11 small exhibitions.

The board report said visitors were “frustrated” by a lack of marketing for the gallery and called for a social media outreach campaign.

“We are fortunate enough to have highly engaged regular visitors (who) want more people to know about (the gallery) and more people to visit,” the report said.

But Darebin Ratepayers Association spokeswoman Anne Laver said the council should impose conditions on the funding, suggesting that the gallery start charging visitors for special events.

“The cafe is really bad and should be outsourced to a provider with experience,” she said.