BUSINESS I NSIGHT Art of playing to the gallery
ANDREA MAY CHURCHER, THE CAIRNS ART GALLERY DIRECTOR, IS FASCINATED BY THIS REGION’S RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE AND SHE IS KEEN TO SHARE THAT EXHILARATION WITH OTHERS, WRITES HAYDEN SMITH
Bring in colour, bring in shade, bring in the Far North’s rich indigenous heritage and bring in the raw creativity of schoolchildren.
There are countless ways in which Cairns Art Gallery director Andrea May Churcher must look to keep the community involved.
“I think the role of the gallery is to engage with as many different audiences as possible,” she said.
“That means you have to be responsive and relevant to the local audience, national audience and international audience.”
BRING in colour, bring in shade, bring in the Far North’s rich indigenous heritage and bring in the raw creativity of schoolchildren.
There are countless ways in which Cairns Art Gallery director Andrea May Churcher must look to keep the community involved.
“I think the role of the gallery is to engage with as many different audiences as possible,” she said.
“That means you have to be responsive and relevant to the local audience, national audience and international audience.”
Raised in Melbourne, Mrs Churcher’s storeyed career took her to some of the world’s artistic meccas before joining Cairns Art Gallery about six years ago.
Her CV includes time at the National Gallery of Victoria, a London art college and a consulting gig in Barcelona.
“I was always interested in art. There was really no other career choice for me, it was just something I wanted to do,” Mrs Churcher said.
Her curiosity was piqued when the chance came knocking to lead the Cairns CBD art gallery, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2015.
“I had some family up here at the time.,” she said. “I’d always been interested in indigenous art, but had never really had the opportunity to work in that area.”
“The area that really interested me was looking at the region’s cultural heritage and its context within the Asia Pacific region.
“This is an area which is really different from the rest of Australia.”
Cairns Regional Council provides about 60 per cent of the gallery’s annual funding.
Over the past four years, visitation to the gallery has grown from 55,000 annually to 130,000.
Mrs Churcher expects this figure to rise on the back of the gallery this week abolishing its admission fee.
“It’s something we’ve aspired to do for a very long time,” she said.
“We were one of the few regional galleries in Australia still charging an admission fee.
“In the last year we decided to do a few free entry trials. We thought by having more people come through we were able to cover our commercial revenues and cover the loss of admission income.
“We decided to take the risk and let people in for free.”
The site of the now abandoned Courthouse Hotel, adjacent to the gallery, has been earmarked to potentially be
ANDREA’S CV INCLUDES TIME AT THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF VICTORIA, A LONDON ART COLLEGE AND A CONSULTING GIG IN BARCELONA
transformed into a diverse new art precinct.
Mrs Churcher said such a move would be “fantastic for the city.”
“It would broaden the cultural and artistic possibilities of Cairns,” she said.
“We’d obviously like to see the gallery expand and bring in more major exhibitions.
“I’d like to see the exhibition space increased with more different activities happening in the precinct so people have more choice.”
Mrs Churcher has lived and breathed art for most of her adult life. Her husband Peter Churcher is a renowned Australian painter who currently lives and works in Barcelona.
Her late mother-in-law, Betty Churcher, directed the National Gallery of Australia from 1990-97.
“Betty was a great mentor of mine. She was an excellent gallery director who paved the way for the idea of bringing in major ‘blockbuster’ exhibitions,” Mrs Churcher said.
“I did look up to her in terms of how she ran the gallery and approached art.”
For the foreseeable future, Mrs Churcher’s vision is to continue showcasing local, national and international art in Cairns. She said the program for Cairns Art Gallery, which had 15 employees and about 30 volunteers, had largely been locked-in through to 2020.
“It’s a complex process, I find it challenging and enjoy that part of the job,” Mrs Churcher said.
“We’re in a really exciting phase of the gallery’s life. It’s a momentous time in terms of moving forward and doing new things.
“You only need one kid coming through who falls in love with art and they could be the next major artist in Australia or gallery director.”
IN THE LAST YEAR WE DECIDED TO DO A FEW FREE ENTRY TRIALS. WE THOUGHT BY HAVING MORE PEOPLE COME THROUGH WE WERE ABLE TO COVER OUR COMMERCIAL REVENUES AND COVER THE LOSS OF ADMISSION INCOME ANDREA MAY CHURCHER