Engaging Art Initiative
Jackie Bailey, BYP Group working with Emma Hill, Bathurst Regional Art Gallery on audience engagement ideas for touring exhibition Montages: The Full Cut 1999–2015.
Engaging Art workshop participants
Madeleine Brady, M&G NSW; Curator, Micheal Do; Anthony Camm, Ararat Regional Art Gallery; and Stephen Payne, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery brainstorming ideas for audience engagement with touring exhibition Soft Core.
Engaging Art workshop participants
Jacquie Riddell, Director of Public Engagement at the Art Gallery of New South Wales presenting to workshop participants.
Our new Engaging Art initiative has launched with an intensive two-day workshop exploring all aspects of developing new audiences and deepening engagement with those you already have.
Four regional galleries from across Australia joined forces at M&G NSW’s offices on 27 and 28 March to share ideas and develop new strategies to engage audiences through two M&G NSW touring exhibitions, Soft Core and Montages: The Full Cut 1999–2015. Ararat Regional Art Gallery (Vic), Bathurst Regional Art Gallery (NSW), Wagga Wagga Art Gallery (NSW) and Wanneroo Library and Cultural Centre (WA) are partnering with us in developing pilot projects aligned with these touring exhibitions. The workshop was a great chance for regional galleries to share their experiences and have space in their very busy schedules to look more deeply at engagement with their regional communities.
"[it was] great to have time to look at public programs a year in advance and have access to the exhibition curators - a real luxury." —Stephen Payne, Manager, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery.
The regional galleries worked with Curator Micheal Do and Artspace Deputy Director Michelle Newton on program ideas for both exhibitions, complimented by tailored audience engagement presentations from Jacquie Riddell (Art Gallery of NSW), Gabrielle Wilson and Patrizia Di Biase-Dyson (The Press Society) and Jo Higgins (Australian Design Centre) along with a morning of conversation with the Museum of Contemporary Art’s Audience Engagement team.
Exciting new programs for attracting audiences were developed by each gallery. Each strategy featured a strong originating idea as well as specific audience targets but at the same time were very different to each other, reflecting the unique communities from which they hailed.
We look forward to bringing you stories on the implementation and impact of these projects at each venue along with a newly developed suite of resources for regional galleries to support and develop public engagement into the future.
Follow Engaging Art on social media with #MGNSWEngagingArt
