21 August 2019

Join author of Art for the Country: The story of Victoria’s regional art galleries, Dr Don Edgar and SAM Director Rebecca Coates as they discuss the rich histories and current challenges facing our rural galleries.

Rural galleries play an integral role in shaping Australia’s exhibition landscape and in connecting our communities. Don’s historical knowledge of the Shepparton Art Museum will prove fascinating. “Shepparton’s civic leaders started a small collection which grew to become one of Australia’s leading art galleries. It was helped by a central lobbying group (the VPGG/later RGAV) which handled funds, organised travelling exhibitions and insisted on a regional approach to the arts, with new galleries specialising rather than trying to duplicate the comprehensive collections already in the bigger centres,” Don explains.

A robust and informed conversation is likely, and is particularly relevant as we head into development of the new SAM building. “The need for a strong rural voice remains true today, for if the government truly wants to decentralise our congested cities, the arts are a key to attracting new arrivals to country towns with a rich and vibrant cultural life,” Don says.

Don Edgar is a sociologist with many years of experience in social research, policy advice and business consulting. He was foundation Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies (1980-93), leading research and policy advice to both federal and State governments on every aspect of changing family life in Australia.

Since then he spent some years as Associate Professor at the Monash Key Centre in Industrial Relations, has been a consultant to business and welfare services, and is the author of many books, including ‘Introduction to Australian Society’, ’Child Poverty’, ‘The War Over Work: The future of work and family’ ,’Men, Mateship, Marriage’, ’The Patchwork Nation: Rethinking government, re-building community’, ‘The New Child: In search of smarter grown-ups’ (with Patricia Edgar), ‘PEAK: Reinventing middle age’ (with Patricia Edgar), and ‘ART FOR THE COUNTRY: The story of Victoria’s regional galleries’.

Date: Thursday 26 September 6 – 7.30pm

Location: Shepparton Art Museum, 70 Welsford St Shepparton.

Cost: FREE. Light refreshments provided.

Booking essential via Eventbrite.