Redeveloped Shepparton Art Museum set to open

It has been eight months since Shepparton Art Museum (SAM) closed its doors to the public to go under a $1.98 million redevelopment, which will place it as one the leading cultural institutions of regional Australia. As originally planned, SAM is reopening on Friday February 17 with an official ceremony hosted by the Hon. Simon Crean, MP, Federal Minister for the Arts and for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government.

The general public will be able to attend a Launch Party on Saturday 18. The Say hello to SAM community day event will be free and feature tours, workshops and a live drawing performance by Polish-born artist Gosia Wlodarczak.

“The redevelopment of SAM makes our extraordinary art collection more accessible to the public than it ever has been before,” said Greater Shepparton Mayor Michael Polan.

“At the same time, SAM has become a major new tourist attraction and provides many new opportunities for economic development in our region.”

The revamped Art Museum will feature international standard climate control, state of the art LED lighting, six brand new upstairs galleries and a series of new public programs including a workshop with access to a kiln.

“The new workshop allows us to provide an expansive range of education and public programs alongside these major exhibitions,” said SAM acting director Ryan Johnston.

To mark the occasion, two major new exhibitions have been scheduled as part of SAM’s program, Sir John Longstaff: Portrait of a Lady will feature paintings from Shepparton’s favourite local artist on loan from the National Gallery of Victoria, the Art Gallery of NSW as well as from private collections. The Indigineous Ceramic Art Award will display works from 18 artists from all over Australia, from the Tiwi Islands, the Central Desert region to city suburbs and the Torres Strait. SAM’s permanent collection will also be on display on the first floor, which now also houses a brand new special ceramics gallery.

“The redevelopment means we now have the facilities to borrow art from leading national and international collections,” said Johnston.