The Art Gallery of Ballarat has loomed large in Ruby Pilven’s life since she was a child. “Every exhibition feels like a reflection of Ballarat itself, a tribute to its people, its past, and the creativity that continues to shape its future,” the local ceramic artist says.
When Pilven’s father, Peter, a renowned ceramicist, died unexpectedly in December 2024, the gallery displayed a tribute to his work and acknowledged the impact he had on the cultural landscape of the regional city.
“Just hours after he passed, his pots were honoured in the gallery’s windows,” Pilven says. The tribute “touched our hearts in a way words can’t fully express”.
The Ballarat art gallery is Australia’s oldest and largest regional gallery, and has been a fixture in the cultural life of the area since 1884. But this month it closed and is expected to reopen early next year after a $6m upgrade.
In the meantime, exhibitions and parts of the permanent collection will be hosted by galleries and pop-up shops across the city. Educational programs and activities will be held off-site while a new gallery space will open for early career regional artists at the former Blockbuster video store.
“Not being able to simply walk in and immerse myself in its collection feels like a real loss,” Pilven says. “But in the end, keeping the artworks safe is what truly matters.”
The gallery director, Louise Tegart, says she knows the temporary closure is disappointing, particularly as free entry made it an accessible attraction during the cost-of-living crisis.
“These are critical works and it’s a historical building,” she says. “We haven’t had significant upgrades for many, many years.
“We’re hoping that the kind of program we’ve got going during the year will hopefully keep people satisfied.”
The upgrade will allow paintings to be hung higher and in different displays, rather than relying on the old picture rail on the historic interior walls. It also includes skylights and a new $5.5m ventilation and air conditioning system, funded by the local government. The rest of the works will be funded by a state government grant.
Tegart says the upgrade will attract more visitors. The gallery had 150,000 visitors last year.
But she says the upgrade is “as much about looking after our nationally significant permanent collection” as attracting new visitors. The permanent collection is valued at more than $130m.
Other regional galleries are also closing: the Bendigo Art Gallery is slated to close later this year and not reopen until 2028 for a proposed $54m upgrade, which will include a learning centre for students, a children’s gallery space, a dedicated second-level space for large-scale exhibitions, traditional owner place of the keeping for Dja Dja Wurrung artefacts and a restaurant redevelopment – although the budget is still $15m short.
The Benalla Art Gallery in north-east Victoria will close for renovations to its 50-year-old building, including load-bearing works to allow it to host bigger exhibits, and the Latrobe Regional Gallery in Gippsland closed for roof improvement maintenance for three weeks in March.
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The Bendigo Art Gallery director, Jessica Bridgfoot, says they expect a 30% jump in visitor numbers, from 120,000 last financial year, once the gallery reopens.
“The gallery will have scope to sell more tickets to international exhibitions, as well as provide greater access to the permanent art collection,” she says.
“With more space and an expanded program on offer, as well as the destination effect of the new building, visitation will also be more consistent and will benefit the many businesses across the region that rely on the gallery to draw tourists.”
The Bendigo and Ballarat gallery upgrades might lend further impetus to any rivalry that exists between the two cities. But Tegart says the galleries will always offer different experiences.
“[The upgrade] will bring our facility up to best practice and obviously we are looking at bringing drawcard exhibitions to Ballarat. But it will be a different programming to Bendigo because we are different galleries,” she says.
“We’re not going to try and compete with them directly.”
Pilven says while the gallery closure was “incredibly sad”, she was looking forward to the moment of reconnection when it finally reopened.
“It’s a place where I feel truly at home. I know the community will be both excited and relieved to return,” she says.
“As soon as those doors open again, I’ll be there with my family, taking it all in, supporting the space that has meant so much to me and to so many others.”