Council has received an $82,000 grant through the Regional Solutions Programme to relocate its Art Gallery. The total value of the project is $140,550.
Due to the need to vacate the current building housing the Art Gallery, the grant will be used to relocate the Warrego Community Hall to the Battery Hill Mining Centre. This building is of historical significance as it was the old Mine Manager’s house at the original Peko Mine prior to being relocated to Warrego. Normandy Mining Limited, Tennant Creek Operations, has donated the building to the project.
The project funding will cover the hall relocation costs and renovations so that it can be used as an art gallery. This will include site preparation, carpentry, plumbing, painting, installation of services, air conditioning and climate control to preserve the artwork, a security system and appropriate signage.
The grant will provide a permanent home for the artwork, continuous accessibility to the general public, a facility to host touring art exhibitions and use as a small function centre. It will also create local employment and boost the local economy by improving tourism potential.
The Tennant Creek Town Council has received a grant from the Department of Arts and Museums for the curatorial work associated with preparing and hanging the artwork.
Tourism is a major economic contributor to Tennant Creek with 130,000 visitors annually passing through. The average stay is two nights. A major objective of the local tourist association and other community groups is to provide additional attractions to encourage people to stay longer to increase their spending and improve the local economy.
This will increase new job opportunities at a time when unemployment is high, with a shrinking local economy due to the closure of the local gold mines in 1999. This is the first time in 60 years that there has not been an operating gold mine in Tennant Creek.
The Art Gallery houses paintings, which have won the annual CWA art competition and have been given to the Town Council for permanent public exhibition. The artwork is largely by local artists, reflecting the history of Tennant Creek.
The Battery Hill Mining Centre is an ideal location for the Art Gallery, as it is a large heritage site of 91 hectares overlooking the town of Tennant Creek. The Centre is set in a bush garden, where spinifex pigeons and other birds abound. The Tourist Information Centre is also located on this site. Recently, the museum housing the McLaughlen Mineral Collection was also opened at the site.
