Construction has started on the Grafton Regional Gallery expansion.

Gallery Director Niomi Sands is intent on keeping the community involved during construction from the custom shovel created for the ground-breaking ceremony by local Bundjalung artist Danni Gorogo to the construction fence which has doubled as a gallery featuring the self portraits from Grafton Public School students.  “The Gallery will remain open through the construction period” said Sands “we have moved operations into the historic prentice house building and have a wonderful program of local and visiting artists’ exhibitions right throughout 2020, the first of which opened on Saturday”.

The multi-million dollar expansion will double the exhibition space and include a national-standard gallery, new workshops and exhibition spaces, a new café and better storage to protect the valuable collections. The tender for the project has been awarded to O’Donnell & Hanlon whose recent projects include the Country University refurbishment in Pound Street and the construction of Grafton Library.

The 2020 Gallery program will be available early February.