<
https://theconversation.com/the-national-cartoon-gallery-has-been-closed-down-where-to-next-for-australias-valuable-cartoon-heritage-226017>
"Australia lost one of its national institutions last weekend, almost without
warning. The National Cartoon Gallery, at the Bunker, Coffs Harbour, closed its
doors.
The non-profit gallery held more than 23,000 originals and prints from some of
the greats of Australian and world cartooning – names such as Ron Tandberg,
Judy Nadin, David Rowe and Cathy Wilcox.
It hosted exhibitions from Canberra’s Museum of Australian Democracy and other
institutions, as well as local, national and international artists.
The annual round of cartooning awards – the Rotary Cartoon Awards, the Bald
Archy cartoon portrait competition, and the Australian Cartoonists’ Association
Stanley Awards – all found permanent or temporary homes at the Bunker. In 2018,
the gallery was given the Jim Russell Award for Contribution to Cartooning –
quite the achievement.
But on Friday, March 15, a semi-animated video on the gallery’s Facebook page
stated “WE’RE CLOSED for the foreseeable future”, though “events and functions
scheduled for April will proceed as planned”.
Big red letters across the gallery’s website now read “CURRENTLY CLOSED”, in an
appropriately cartoony font.
Much of the online ire (via the gallery’s Facebook page) has been directed
towards the Coffs Harbour Council for discontinuing its financial support, but
the council is adamant it has always stood at arm’s length from the gallery’s
operations.
It has responded to news reports from Channel 7 and Channel 9 with a statement,
claiming the television networks have got it “badly wrong”. The statement
points out the council
does not own nor operate the gallery – the decision to close was made by the
gallery itself.
Both networks were advised that the City has provided more than $820,000 in
subsidies to the National Cartoon Gallery over the past nine years,
including an annual subsidy of $60k for 2023/24, which was paid to the
Gallery in August 2023.
The City received financial records from the Gallery on 11 March 2024
showing that the Gallery had become insolvent on 2nd March 2024, even after
the receipt of the City’s $60k subsidy, suggesting its operations are and
have been financially unsustainable in its current form for years."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
