Exhibitions Overview

Gallery Services presented 71 exhibitions in the 2012/13 financial year, a year which also saw the conclusion of a major tour of the 2009 Ron McBurnie survey exhibition Metal as Anything along the east coast of Australia. Throughout the tour, Metal as Anything attracted 21,456 participants, including 8,465 in this reporting period. Further, the exhibition attracted significant media and marketing, contributing to the positioning of Townsville as a vibrant cultural destination in the national consciousness. The tour also recorded a budget surplus of $15,268.39.

The 2012/13 financial year saw the final weeks of the Xstrata Percival Portrait Award 2012, and the selection of 32 artworks for display during Strand Ephemera. Significant development towards the successful staging of this major biennial event, which will occur in August and September 2013, was undertaken in 2012/13.

Perc Tucker Regional Gallery presented 18 major exhibitions on its ground and first floors, including exhibitions that increased access to works from the City of Townsville Art Collection, such as Collecting in the Tropics, a selection of the finest acquisitions from the 2011/12 period. Major touring exhibitions of national and international artworks were also presented for the enjoyment of the regional community, with shows such as Perspectives: Jon Cattapan and eX de Medici, Tom Risley: Last and Recent Works, and Afghanistan: The Perils of Freedom 1993 – 2009 all proving popular. The Gallery continued its partnership with local arts and cultural groups such as JCU, Barrier Reef Institute of TAFE, North Queensland Potters’ Association Inc. and the Townsville Art Society to present their annual/biennial exhibitions, while also developing and presenting major exhibitions of locally based and celebrated artists, such as Margaret Wilson, David Rowe, and Carolyn Dodds.

A further 38 exhibitions of predominantly local content were delivered in the Gallery’s Niche, Access, Showcase and Stairwell spaces. Perc Tucker Regional Gallery attracted 49,775 visitors in the financial year, with the largest attendance recorded for any single show being THRESHOLDS, a major restrospective of works by renowned Queensland acstract artist Margaret Wilson, which attracted 9, 568 visitors.

Pinnacles Gallery attracted 40, 504 visitors in the financial year, and presented nine major exhibitions—an increase from the eight presented in the previous reporting period. This included a greater representation for local artists, particularly through major exhibitions by Alison McDonald, members of the PressNorth group, and the implementation of Gallery Services’ Guest Curator Series, which resulted in major exhibitions curated by Steve ‘Pricey’ Price and the NQ Potters’ Association Inc. Pricey’s Townsville is Paradise: Here’s Proof was a fun and frivolous celebration of our region and its artistic talents, while the NQ Potters’ Diversity in Clay was a beautifully presented, thoroughly research and considered exploration of the development of the city’s ceramic collection, and of the ceramic arts in Australia over the last forty years generally.

Exhibitions

Pinnacles Gallery has also continued its strong relationship with Education Queensland and the region’s secondary schools through its presentation of Creative Generations Excellence Awards in Visual Art and Design, and the innovative ArtNOW initiative. The Gallery has also continued to champion contemporary works of art through the new media exhibition Impossible Universe: Now Here, and the monumental sculptural works of Adrian Davis and Lubi Thomas presented in Musing with Materials.

The 72 exhibitions presented by Gallery Services in the 2012/13 financial year is a significant increase in activity from the 65 presented in 2011/12. This increase has resulted from the sustained efforts of both venues, but particularly through the additional exhibition activity resulting from the activation of The Galleria, located in the Riverway Arts Centre foyer. This space has served as a valuable additional exhibition space to showcase local talent. Five exhibitions have been presented at The Galleria in the 2012/13 period, and the community has been supportive of the initiative.

Responding to the needs and wants of the community revealed through the Annual Survey and M&GSQ Guess Who’s Going to the Gallery? Gallery Services has inplemented a number of Exhibition Categories to adhere to the principles of Accessibility, Activation and Advocacy.

It is the aim of the Exhibition Categories to establish transparent, equitable and overarching programs of exhibitions that provide foundations towards realising the Creative Classrooms, Creative Communities and Creative Spaces themes and associated programs.

The Exhibition Categories can be defined by two distinct engagement strategies:

1. exhibitions and special projects developed or sourced for display in the Townsville region - Local Component Exhibitions, Staff Curated Exhibitions, Major Touring Exhibitions, General Touring Exhibitions and Special Projects

2. exhibitions and special projects developed to tour to venues outside of the Townsville region as part of the Regional Touring Program, National Touring Program and International Touring Program