A day rarely goes by without a visitor commenting on either the ambience, or the physical attributes of the converted Baptist church in Stewart Street Devonport which is home to the Devonport Regional Gallery. With a series of upgrades over the past decade, the Gallery has scrubbed up well and is recognised widely for its high standard of exhibition presentations. At the same time, space restrictions have limited the scope of exhibitions presented annually and while we continue to present engaging curated exhibitions from the DCC Permanent Collection, cutting- edge touring exhibitions and programs it is done within the confines of this beautiful heritage building.
Recognising the needs of the community, visitors to the region and staff Devonport City Council made a decision to fund the extension and relocation of DRG. We are excited to announce that Birrelli Architects have been appointed to finalise the design for the new look DRG which incorporates two major gallery spaces and a third, smaller gallery. Other features include a loading bay and storage spaces at the rear of the building, an education and public programs-workshop space; gallery shop and staff office spaces.
The new gallery will be located in the old Courthouse building adjacent to the Devonport Entertainment & Convention Centre. Initial work on the building will comprise removing false ceilings and walls and opening up closed areas on the ground floor and first floor to facilitate the new design. The gallery spaces will be located on both floors. It is anticipated the gallery will open in early 2018 with an exciting line-up of exhibitions so stay tuned for updates on the design and building phase in our next Living Art installment from DRG.
-Ellie Ray, Director
