On a glorious Spring day in the exquisite Blackburn gardens in a marquee filled with VIPs and friends of Woollahra Council the Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf was opened by the unveiling of a plaque by Mayor Susan Wynne and the General Manager of Woollahra Council Craig Swift-McNair.
A Welcome To Country was delivered by distinguished Elder and former Wallaby Lloyd Walker.
All three levels of government were in attendance with Dave Sharma, Federal Member for Wentworth, Gabrielle Upton, State Member for Vaucluse, and of-course Woollahra’s Mayor Susan Wynne.
Sebastian Goldspink announced that there would be a monthly turnover of artists and some spaces in the lower ground floor will be available to community groups.
The one hundred and twenty two year old St Brigid’s building was in its first incarnation a.private residence. During World War 2 it became a centre for counter intelligence and spying.
In 1951 the Council purchased the building and in 1957 until 2016 it was home to the Woollahra Library when the new library premises opened in the heart of the Double Bay shopping precinct as the Double Bay Library.
In launching the Gallery the Mayor said that she felt a bit of a fraud receiving accolades for a long held dream. She acknowledged the work done by previous Councils and had her current crop of councillors stand up to be applauded for their hard work.
As further additions to the Gallery’s programs an Artist In Residence was established whose tenancy would last three months. The current artist Penelope Cain has been in residence for four months and may gain a small extension as she is the first to use the space.
Furthermore, an arts library reading room will be available with books donated by the Eva Breuer Gallery and outgoing Museum Of Contemporary Art Director Dr Elizabeth Ann McGregor.
With the Woollahra Paddington precinct’s concentration of art galleried being the greatest in Australia, this is a worthy addition to the arts scene.
Featured image : Mayor Susan Wynne & fellow Councillors at the unveiling of the plaque commemorating the opening of Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf.
Text and images by Ben Apfelbaum