Toowoomba council awards $300k business case for art museum to consultants SMA Tourism, which developed Shepparton gallery

The $300,000 business case for Toowoomba’s new art museum will be completed by the firm responsible for an “extraordinary” regional art gallery in Victoria. Here’s how it could look.

A plan to create a new multimillion-dollar art museum for Toowoomba has taken a key stage, with the team that worked on an “extraordinary” regional gallery in Victoria charged with developing the business case for the project.

Consultants SMA Tourism, also known as Simon McArthur and Associates, has been tasked with delivering plans for the proposed Toowoomba Art Museum.

The Sydney-based firm famously worked on the award-winning Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) in Victoria, which was a source of inspiration for key advocates of TAM like councillor Melissa Taylor and art collector Ian Knox.

Shepparton Art Museum design by Denton Corker Marshall short-listed for the Victorian Architecture Awards MUST CREDIT – JOHN GOLLINGS

The new building, which has captured the imagination of Toowoomba’s art community, will replace the existing Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery that has reached the end of its life.

Property services spokesman councillor Trevor Manteufel said Toowoomba was currently unable to host major touring collections due to TRAG’s small size.

“The business case will assess TRAG’s current limitations, including its size and environmental control issues, and explore options for a new or upgraded facility that meets the required standards to attract touring exhibitions and larger installations,” he said.

“The current gallery, which opened at its present site in 1994, is not adequately functioning as a modern, regional facility.

“Contemporary art museums servicing half the Toowoomba Region’s population, and with half the art collection of the current gallery, are on average 5000 sqm.

“TRAG, which is 750 sqm, houses three separate collections of unique cultural heritage that number more than 8,000 items.

“The existing facility is too small to comfortably accommodate touring exhibitions from state and national galleries, and other exhibitions that are toured by Museum and Gallery Services Queensland.”

Ian Knox and Councillor Melissa Taylor with Dejeuner by Emanuel Phillips Fox, circa 1910-11 part of the Lionel Lindsay Collection of Toowoomba Regional Art Gallery, Thursday, July 18, 2024. Picture: Kevin Farmer

Mr Manteufel said the business case would flesh out key elements of the plan like its size, scope, location and potential architectural finish.

“This will cover site selection, design, governance, and funding models that are designed to enhance our region’s standing as an arts and cultural centre and increase the capabilities of the cultural community to create works which reflect our history and comment on contemporary life,” he said.

“Apart from showcasing the talents of our local artists, a new facility will allow Council to appropriately care for our significant art collections so they can be shared with residents and visitors.”

Speaking in July, Ms Taylor said her tour of Shepparton’s art museum had highlighted the need for new facilities in the Garden City.

“The Shepparton Art museum, if I could just pick that up and put it in Toowoomba, it’s exactly how I would envisage it,” she told News Corp.

“It was an extraordinary building that was empathetic to the environment because it was on a lake, it had beautiful outside spaces, but the inside space was beautiful.

“It also had the tourist information centre there as well, so they both fed off each other.”

Private investment is likely to be a key element of the project, with Mr Knox pledging to not only help raise funds for it from philanthropists but also curate a permanent collection of pieces by the late Australian artist Jeffrey Smart.