Sculpture gallery faces closure over $750k annual funding shortfall
McClelland Sculpture Park and Gallery, worth $57.5 million and visited by 60,000 a year, faces closure without urgent funding.
The gallery near Frankston has a $750,000 annual shortfall it cannot cover. State and council funding cuts have gutted its revenue, forcing it to sell artworks just to stay open.
Director Lisa Byrne says the park receives more than $500,000 yearly from donors, but government support has dried up almost entirely. McClelland now gets just $140,500 in combined council, state and federal funding, a fraction of what similar galleries receive.
The site holds 16 hectares of land, buildings and works by major artists including Ron Mueck and Clement Meadmore. It also hosts eastern long-necked turtles, echidnas and powerful owls.
Byrne is seeking $750,000 a year for five years to reach financial independence. Without it, the gallery says the state will eventually have to step in, or the collection will be lost.
- $57.5 million
- Asset value
- $750,000
- Annual funding shortfall
- 60,000
- Annual visitors
- 16 hectares
- Land area
Why it mattersClosure would erase a major arts venue and a $57.5 million public asset while artists and creative workers lose income.
AustraliaA significant Victorian cultural institution faces shutdown; the community loses free access to world-class sculpture and parkland.
✓ Claims checked against the source. checked 57 min ago
