Rocky Museum of Art: where are we up to one year in?

Time has lost all meaning in the Coronaverse so you could be forgiven for not realising that it’s now more than a year since the flurry of announcements about the new Rockhampton Museum of Art, now well and truly under construction in Quay St beside Customs House.

Woollam managing director Craig Percival, State Member for Rockhampton Barry O’Rourke, Federal Member for Capricornia Michelle Landry and Cr Drew Wickerson.

In late July 2019 Rockhampton Regional Council announced local construction firm Woollam would lead the 84-week build. A year in, Woollam’s Craig Percival says works are on track and more than 300 workers have already been part of the on-site works. By the time the new gallery opens its doors, about 800 tradies will have their fingerprints somewhere in the 4700 square metre facility.

‘’The sandstone building façade is from the quarry in Stanwell,” Craig says. “This is exceptionally unique work using traditional stonemasons.

“At the halfway point we are well on schedule and over the next few months we will see the design really starting to take shape.”

“Thanks must also go to the local community for their patience –  together with Council we have been working closely with neighbours to ensure they’re well informed, and their acceptance of our project team in the area is much appreciated.”

The project has hit another milestone with the largest concrete pour: 360 cubic metres (more than 50 cement trucks’ worth) poured in a seven hour operation from midnight to 7am to create the ceiling of the Touring Contemporary (Main Gallery) of the Museum.

The Rockhampton Museum of Art will feature two large flexible gallery spaces, three multi-purpose education spaces, a restaurant and retail space and a function area on the top floor overlooking the Fitzroy River.

When completed, it will be six times the size of the existing gallery and house Rockhampton’s surprisingly vast and significant art collection, including works by Margaret Olley, Arthur Boyd, Russell Drysdale and Sidney Nolan.

100K raised for landmark artwork to celebrate opening

Dale Harding in action in Brisbane.

Internationally acclaimed Aboriginal artist Dale Harding, descendant of the Bidjara, Ghungalu and Garingbal peoples of Central and Western Queensland, will create a landmark artwork to be unveiled at next year’s opening of Rockhampton Museum of Art thanks to a $100,000 fundraising project by the Rocky Art Gallery’s Philanthropy Board.

The fundraising project reached its target in just five months with donations from 20 donors. (That’s an average of $5K each.)

In the commission, Harding will create a work that specifically responds to the architecture of the new gallery.

Rockhampton Regional Council Community Services Portfolio Spokesperson Drew Wickerson thanked the donors for their contributions.

“This commission would not be possible without the generosity of the 20 donors, each of whom are visionaries and leaders. Their philanthropy will bring this major artwork to life. In these unique and economically uncertain times of COVID-19, with people and businesses tightening their belts, I am humbled and proud of these donors for their support of their community and region and of the Rockhampton Museum of Art,” Cr Wickerson said.

“Rockhampton Art Gallery has its founding in philanthropy. In the 1970s the city and region came together to raise tens of thousands of dollars in order to develop an art collection. Five decades on, philanthropy and giving still runs in the veins of Rockhampton Art Gallery and its donors and supporters.”

“These donors are supporting the very best of Australian contemporary art in Rockhampton. With their direct support, Rockhampton Museum of Art’s nationally significant collection will remain relevant to the present day and will help develop Rockhampton into a leading Queensland cultural destination,” he said.

Chair of Rockhampton Art Gallery Philanthropy Board, Dr Leonie Gray said the opening of Rockhampton Museum of Art will present a unique opportunity for our community to recognise, acknowledge and value the rich and powerful history of First Nations people.

“As we welcome the next iteration of our Art Gallery, Rockhampton Museum of Art, we do so on the land of Darumbal peoples. This commission seeks to acknowledge place and Country on which Rockhampton Museum of Art is sited.

“In commissioning this work, we are opening the conversation for people living in our community to have deeper and alternative experiences of Australian Aboriginal culture and their histories. By inspiring and insisting on a greater shared understanding of the culture and true history of First Nations at Rockhampton Museum of Art,” she said.