'Gold standard': Mudgee Arts Precinct officially opens with striking exhibition

It's been a long time coming, with the official opening pushed from August due to COVID-19 restrictions. Before that, the building was famously sold back to Council by the NSW Government for $1 with then Member for Dubbo Troy Grant spearheading that process.

As the plans began to emerge, there was some controversy in the community around a proposed name for the centre before Council landed on Mudgee Arts Precinct as the official name.

Whatever you call it, the striking red landmark has been impossible to miss since it was completed, a planned second stage of the project is now underway at the former preschool site on Douro and Short Street which will be transformed into studio spaces for classes and more.

Currently on exhibition are a series of striking works by Archibald Prize winner and Mudgee-native Guido Maestri who was at the opening on Friday and said it was a special thing to be the premiere exhibition at the Mudgee gallery.

"I don't know, I guess it's good for the ego maybe. But yeah, look, I mean, it's lovely, the whole thing [exhibition] is this sort of nostalgic thing about me being born here and coming back after all these years. And you know, bringing my family back here and making this work, which is all about my early childhood. And so it's lovely in that respect to be asked to come and do it in your hometown.

"The the inaugural show is lovely, because you want to - and I think again, that's why I made such a physically large body of work - I wanted to open the open the building with a with a bang. Plus there's not many places you can can house work at this scale.

"It's a rare opportunity to show you works in such a humongous, beautiful new space."

NSW Minister for the Arts, Don Harwin flew into Mudgee for the opening and said the gallery fits Mudgee to a tee. "Mudgee deserves quality arts facilities, there's a really big catchment around Mudgee with a huge creative community stretching down to Kandos out to Hill End up to Gulgong," he said.

"And really, this gallery is going to fill a much-needed gap in cultural infrastructure in this area. It's a high quality art gallery. The finish is magnificent. It's one of the best temporary exhibition spaces that I've seen with any regional gallery."

In his role as Heritage Minister, Minister Harwin also highlighted the successful merging of old and new with the previously unused government building now home to the Mudgee Tourism team.

"I've just seen the final result in the heritage wing of the complex, and it is one of the best adaptive reuses of a local heritage item that I've seen. This is a great project," he said.

Council's General Manager, Brad Cam said the Mudgee Arts Precinct building has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from the public.

"Mudgee Arts Precinct is a state-of-the-art purpose built gallery, providing a collaborative and accessible space, bringing together artists and the community," he said.

"In addition to important gallery spaces, the precinct is the new home of Mudgee Region Tourism and is one of the first impressions our 691,000 annual visitors will experience. It offers community spaces for meetings and workshops, and is a hub to promote, nurture and facilitate participation in art, creativity and cultural activities.

"We know this building was much desired with 52 per cent of residents listing it among their top five projects in 2016."

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