Museum on track for 2020 opening despite obstacles

  • 2014-05-21
Despite a cut of 1.6 per cent in Federal Budget funding for arts services, Western Australia’s $428 million museum project will go ahead for a planned opening in 2020.

Progress on the new museum was on schedule and on budget, according to State Treasurer Mike Nahan.

He said construction of the new laboratories and wet stores was expected to begin this year at the museum’s research and collection centre in Welshpool.

Western Australia’s Chamber of Arts and Culture, however, said that apart from the museum project there was little to celebrate for the arts sector.

Warwick Hemsley, Chamber chairman, claimed the 10-year arts funding decline was continuing with a further cut as part of the total budget from one per cent to just 0.45 per cent. This was despite an allocation to regional centres of $24 million and $7.8 million towards equipment upgrades.

Hemsley also voiced concerns over increased state reliance on Lotterywest to boost the budget for arts.

The State Theatre Centre and new museum construction projects were backed by the chairman, but he had doubts over the extent of content each would attract.

He warned the lack of indexation for smaller organisations could result in what he described as a lingering death.

Brochure and flyer printing are among the effective tools used to advertise art-related events taking place in local communities throughout Western Australia.