Mayor's Message | ourballarat autumn 2022

The Art Gallery of Ballarat is one of our city’s greatest assets. The oldest regional gallery in Australia, it houses a remarkable collection testament to the creative heart of Ballarat.

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The gallery also plays a vital role in our city’s visitor economy and will attract hundreds of thousands of people to Ballarat as our city continues to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic.

However, this heritage-listed building which opened in 1890 and is one of the oldest purpose-built art galleries in the country, requires government investment for works that will modify its skylights with LED panels and upgrade the humidification system.

In this autumn edition of ourballarat magazine, we call on funding from state or federal governments to help us deliver these upgrades to bring the gallery building into line with contemporary standards.

As you can read here, this package of upgrades will not only support the gallery’s nationally significant collection, it will also improve the experience for visitors and help to attract major exhibitions to Ballarat.

There is no doubt the visitor economy is integral to our city’s economic wellbeing. As you can read here, we explore the importance of Ballarat residents inviting their friends and family to visit and experience our city.

Our range of fantastic events this autumn will also play an integral role in attracting visitors to our city.

The Ballarat Begonia Festival will celebrate its 70th year with a spectacular 10-day festival paying homage to our globally-recognised Begonia collection, we have all the colour of Harmony Fest and we also celebrate our past with Ballarat Heritage Festival.

Throughout this edition, you will see how our initiatives align to the goals in our Council Plan 2021-2025. This plan outlines how the City of Ballarat will achieve Council's and the community's vision of Ballarat.

You can learn more about our Council Plan at online.

I hope you enjoy this fantastic season of autumn events. And please remember to invite your family and friends so that they can also explore all that Ballarat has to offer.

- Mayor, Cr Daniel Moloney