Gippsland Art Gallery facts for kids
External front façade of the Port of Sale building
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| Established | 1965 |
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| Location | 70 Foster Street, Sale, Victoria |
| Type | Art gallery |
The Gippsland Art Gallery is a cool art museum located in Sale, Victoria, a town about 220 kilometers east of Melbourne, Australia. It used to be called the Sale Regional Art Centre. This gallery is run by the Shire of Wellington and loves to show art that focuses on nature and artworks made by artists from the Gippsland area.
Contents
History of the Gallery
The Gippsland Art Gallery first opened its doors on September 25, 1965. It was known as the Sale Regional Art Centre back then. The gallery was built above the Sale Library. The government helped pay for it with a grant, and the local council also contributed money.
Moving to New Homes
In 1989, the gallery had to move because some old building materials were found in the ceiling. It stayed in a few temporary spots for a while. Then, in 1995, the gallery moved to its current home at 70 Foster Street. This is when it changed its name to the Gippsland Art Gallery.
Between 2015 and 2017, the building got a big makeover. It was updated to have better facilities and more space to show art. The new design was created by FJMT Architects. The improved gallery opened to the public on January 6, 2018.
In 2018, a very important collection of Australian art was given to the gallery. It's called the ExxonMobil Australia Collection. This collection includes many artworks from the 1900s. In 2020, the Gippsland Art Gallery Foundation was started. This group helps raise money to buy new artworks and support future projects.
Cool Past Exhibitions
The gallery has hosted many exciting art shows over the years. Some important ones include:
- From Frederick McCubbin to Charles McCubbin (2008): This show looked at the art of the McCubbin family.
- Lost Highways (2009): This was the first big show for Melbourne artist Tony Lloyd.
- Disappearers (2009): This exhibition explored how artists show missing people in their photographs.
The gallery has also shown works by famous artists like William Delafield Cook, Robbie Rowlands, Kylie Stillman, Sam Jinks, Charles McCubbin, Annemieke Mein, Jane Burton, and Bill Henson. In 2011, the gallery had the first full show of art by a Swiss artist named Nicholas Chevalier. This exhibition later traveled to the Geelong Art Gallery. In 2021, the gallery was proud to host the famous Archibald Prize for portraits.
What the Gallery Shows
The Gippsland Art Gallery is managed by the Shire of Wellington. Since 2018, the director has been Simon Gregg. The gallery is located at the Port of Sale. It displays all kinds of art, from different styles and time periods. However, it especially focuses on art about nature and art made by artists from the Gippsland area.
The gallery has six different areas for exhibitions, covering more than 800 square meters. One special area is dedicated to Annemieke Mein, a textile artist from Sale. The art in this section changes twice a year.
Permanent Art Collection
The Gippsland Art Gallery has a permanent collection of over 3,000 art pieces. These include paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculptures, textiles, woodwork, and metalwork. The collection mainly focuses on the natural world and artworks by Gippsland artists or about Gippsland themes.
Some of the artists whose works are in the collection include:
- Pieter Bruegel the Elder
- Jan Hendrik Scheltema
- Portia Geach
- Fred Williams
- Peter Booth
- Rodney Forbes
- Victor Majzner
- Rosemary Laing
- Tony Lloyd
- Polixeni Papapetrou
- Annemieke Mein
- Charles Rolando
- Bill Henson
- Ann Greenwood
- Andrew Browne
- Sam Leach
The gallery is also home to the Esso Australia Collection of Australian Art. This is a very important group of artworks from the 20th century.
John Leslie Art Prize
The gallery hosts a special art competition every two years called the John Leslie Art Prize. This prize is for landscape paintings. It is named after John Leslie, who was a big supporter of the gallery.
As of 2022, the main prize is $20,000. The gallery buys the winning artwork for its collection. There is also a $1,000 prize for the "Best Gippsland Work," which means the best artwork by an artist from the Gippsland region.
Past Winners of the Prize
Some of the artists who have won the John Leslie Art Prize include:
- David Keeling (2000)
- Vera Möller (2002)
- Mark McCarthy (2004)
- Brigid Cole-Adams (2006)
- Andrew Mezei (2008)
- Jason Cordero (2010)
- Tony Lloyd (2012)
- Shannon Smiley (2014)
- Amelda Read-Forsythe with Under the Storm (2016)
- Vanessa Kelly with Wyatt Brothers Chicory Kiln, Corinella Gippsland (2018)
- Sarah Tomasetti with Kailash from the Air (2020)
- Greg Wood with V34 Reimagining (2022)
- Peter Gardiner with Elephant (2024)
