Arts space to showcase local talent

AFTER having moved into her Bridge Mall shopfront last year, visual artist Linda Franklin is preparing to open the site up to the public.

For the past year-and-a-half, Franklin has used the space solely to run her arts workshops and therapy programs, and is set to expand the site into a multipurpose venue early next month.

With a long hallway-like character, and the site’s central area serving as the education space, Franklin said the venue’s front area will be rife for public use.

“It’s been a private space until now,” she said. “With the Bridge Mall transformation happening, now’s the time for me to open the front half to the public.

“It’ll be open as a gallery like a shop but I’ll be opening events as well.”

The site was acquired through Ballarat Evolve following the closure of Franklin’s South Street Art Studio located in a more-than-130-year-old church which she’d lived in for more than a decade.

Her current space, called BRIDGE MALLed gallery, was named after a satirical newspaper poster created by a Ballarat photographer which will be on display in the venue.

Since January, the site’s back third has been operated by Kat Pengelly of Koshka Art Fuelled Fashion.

Franklin said she expects the public aspect of BRIDGE MALLed gallery to be a welcome addition in Ballarat’s arts scene.

“Ballarat is the home of an extraordinary arts community,” she said. “It has this wonderful networking feel and it’s quite unique, and yet we don’t have enough exhibiting spaces.

“This will be for both emerging and established artists. Not every artist can have their art showing all the time, so it’s about showcasing some of the many incredible talents in Ballarat.”

Located at 10 Bridge Mall, the site’s retail and gallery space, once opened, is set to be open from 10am to 5pm on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.