Salamanca Arts Centre campaigns for Tasmanian Icon status

Home to many artists and arts organisations, Hobart's heritage-listed Salamanca Arts Centre has not received recurrent government funding for over five years.
A heritage-listed former warehouse that is now an arts centre. The photo shows the sandstone which makes up the building, several windows, and a sign reading 'Salamanca Arts Centre' above the main entrance.

One of Tasmania’s most significant cultural institutions, Salamanca Arts Centre is home to 60 individual artists, small to medium arts organisations, and art and design retail enterprises.

Despite its status and its popularity with tourists – Salamanca Arts Centre attracts over 300,000 visitors annually to its galleries, theatres and community events – the Centre does not receive state government funding and has not for over five years.

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Richard Watts OAM is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, a Melbourne Fringe Festival Living Legend, and was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize in 2020. In 2021 he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Green Room Awards Association. Most recently, Richard received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in June 2024. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts