Students go behind the scenes of Ararat Gallery TAMA

Art students went behind the scenes of Ararat Gallery TAMA in a special tour with Gallery Coordinator, Katy Mitchell to learn about caring for our region’s treasures.

Marian College’s VCE art-making and exhibiting class, along with their teacher Barb Venn, were treated to a small glimpse into the life of the Gallery’s permanent collection and process of storing artworks.

“As part of the VCE art-making and exhibiting curriculum, we organised a talk with Ararat Gallery TAMA to learn more about art conservation,” Ms Venn said.

“As a class, we learnt how artworks were stored and preserved at the Ararat TAMA gallery. We received important information from Katy, who took us behind the scenes of the gallery.

“It is crucial to expose students to the importance of art galleries as the artworks aren’t only educational, but inspiring and can act as a starting point to someone’s creativity.”

Gallery Visual Arts Coordinator Katy Mitchell said the Gallery commented on the meticulousness of artwork storage.

“Behind the scenes, we have to keep up with essential maintenance duties of the gallery to ensure the 1,200 artworks are protected now and for future generations,” Ms Mitchell said.

“People may be surprised to know how thorough artwork storage can be; from the use of acid-free materials to mitigating against fluctuations in temperature of the room to protect them from light, moisture and cloth-eating insects.

“It was wonderful being able to share our knowledge for preserving the TAMA Collection with VCE students; preventative conservation is often invisible work kept behind closed doors. Hopefully, this gave them some insight into the work we do and inspired some to consider a career with the arts.”