The city’s influential arts community has been lobbying all levels of government for funding to enable a major redevelopment of the gallery and The Capital theatre complex to create regional Australia’s most outstanding arts precinct.

Such a development is expected to cost from $15 million - $20 million, and given the incredible popularity of the gallery and the repeat record attendances and support for live shows at The Capital, there’s little more the people of this city can do to signal their support for the arts and for an injection of funding for the proposed upgrades.

The rebirth of View Street that has evolved over the past decade or so is by no means an accident, and the arts have contributed to a significant amount of the increased commercial activity in the precinct.

The art gallery’s vision for additional exhibition space and improved storage facilities, coupled with The Capital’s needs for a larger performance space and additional seating points to a very healthy arts culture in our city which if adequately funded, will continue to prosper.

Yesterday’s announcement of yet another exhibition from the Victoria and Albert Museum being secured for Bendigo is a massive success for this city and its gallery.

It would be fitting to see this recognition from the arts community acknowledged through the allocation of the funding required to realise the vision of a world-class arts precinct in a world-class regional city.