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 is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts