While the outlook for smaller galleries across Sydney might be grim, there are some changes afoot.
If you’ve been in Sydney for anything over a second you’d already know it’s hip-gougingly expensive. While it’s starting to be recognised by those in government that we have an entire generation unable to afford a home, let alone a satisfying quality of life, spare a thought for small galleries and artist-run spaces. These galleries barely get a look at grants from governments and philanthropists, an already limited pool of money, and one that’s contracting quickly.
Bess O’Malley, who founded and curates Newsagency Gallery in Petersham, sees government grants having less and less value anyway, as they are playing catch-up to the business world, and not following what’s happening in the arts.
“You will find with arts and culture government follows business more, they really do need to be advised by the industry because they just don't know.”
One example of this is how the headlines have been occupied by the Art Gallery of New South Wales’s massive Sydney Modern extension, yet just in Sydney there are over 60 other galleries looking for a slice of the funding pie. These small galleries have been hit by the combined pressures of a tightening art market, gentrification, and most significantly, skyrocketing rents across Sydney. To compound these effects, funding from the Australia Council for the Arts, the peak arts funding body in Australia, has been significantly cut during the current Coalition government, hitting smaller galleries hardest.
The outlook for many of these places is grim. Only in August, Watters Gallery, one of the oldest commercial galleries in Sydney, announced that it would be closing its doors in 2018. According to O’Malley, one of the problems holding the gallery scene back is its perceived elitism, something that she wants to break down.
“I am terrified of the elitism or being perceived as elite, because that just absolutely backfires on my industry. I want the art world to be so approachable, warm, friendly and fuzzy you know, because this is your city.”
For its part, Newsagency Gallery puts on an eclectic mix of local artists and contemporary artists from South East Asia, at the same time, says O’Malley with a laugh, “we throw the best parties.”
The combination of these factors has led to artists scrambling for space.
For Jose Herrera, a recent residency at Newsagency Gallery in Petersham was not valuable in that Herrera could show his work, but that it gave him space to create work, in a city where space comes at a premium.
“So most of the time that I had the residency I was making work rather than exhibiting too much,” reflected Herrera. “Because of factors happening in Sydney quite a lot of the artists are leaving Sydney and finding places in Dubbo.”
For those who remain in Sydney there are some signs of light. One of the more promising recent developments is Art Money. Started by Sydney-based art-engagement company 10 Group with $60 000 from the City of Sydney, so far over $5 million worth of works have been bought. Buyers only have to put down 10% of the sale price initially, and then pay back the rest in nine monthly instalments. For O’Malley, the scheme has one simple benefit over the informal arrangements that galleries have with buyers and artists.
“Galleries always set up part loans, I have about ten artworks people are paying off in my books at the moment, but I have to wait and artists have to wait. Art Money is just set up so the artist and the gallery don't have to wait. Terrific, fabulous and amazing thing and it's really helped people buy art.”
Other artists are also finding different ways to continue their practice but also have ongoing support for their work outside of traditional funding models. In 2009, writer and artist Peter Anderson found that many artists are returning to university, albeit in teaching roles where they combine their art practice with academic research.
Alternatively, according to Herrera, Sydney is beginning to see a split between impoverished younger artists, and wealthier retirees who are willing to spend money on arts education and residencies. This mirrors a trend in international art circles where painters, particularly women, are being recognized for a lifetime of work that is only now being shown in major galleries and exhibitions.
“You’re finding now a lot of people, artists or people who want to be artists, are people who've had a very straight job for 30 or 40 years and now that they're in retirement they have no children, no mortgage they're moving to be creative artists and they spend quite good money on residencies and on art education,” said Herrera. “There's a lot of different places now offering very short courses for people to engage with the arts.”
But for the casual art viewer, how can we see and support the art that is being created now? One possibility is buying art for your office or home office and then offsetting it on your tax. This can provide up to 20 000 dollars for a new, original artwork from a local artist. Alternatively, go looking beyond the worn-out inner-city stomping grounds. In January this year, the New South Wales government announced $400 000 for artist spaces in Western Sydney and spaces such as Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre and Campbelltown Arts Centre are putting on some of the most innovative programs in Sydney.
More broadly, however, it’s up to the public to demand better of our governments, federal, state and local. Not only to provide better funding for the arts, but to build and encourage spaces for artists, galleries and viewers to thrive.
