Arts group still daring to dream

By Lachlan Ellis

Two years on from its ‘Dare to Dream’ exhibition, a local arts group is still dreaming of a permanent home for the arts community, despite suffering setbacks along the way.

Over the past few years, BMAC (Bacchus Marsh Arts Community) Gallery has moved from a donated space in the Village Shopping Centre, then to the old Bacchus Marsh Ambulance Station, before that was auctioned off in early 2021.

Since then the group has been without a permanent home, but not for a lack of trying – the small committee of six knuckled down with the help of Shaun Woodhouse and his architect friend Owen Meade, both working pro bono, in a project to secure the 185-year-old goods shed at the Bacchus Marsh Station as the group’s new home.

The two-year journey has included hundreds of emails, Zoom meetings throughout the COVID pandemic, phone calls and contact with V/Line, VicTrack, local politicians, Moorabool Shire Council, and Regional Arts Victoria.

The group received a written commitment from VicTrack that a full feasibility report, without a request for VicTrack financing, would earn the group their long-awaited new home.

But despite a grant from the Bacchus Marsh Community Bank Branch, and support from then-Member of the Victorian Legislative Council Andy Meddick, BMAC Gallery’s committee feels their plans have hit a bit of a brick wall.

“Because we’re a volunteer organisation, we can only pay minimal rent. We’ve approached so many empty buildings, there’s just no interest from anyone to support us, which in a way I can understand because they own the properties…but because there’s so much empty out there, it’s disappointing,” BMAC Gallery’s Secretary Bev Baker told the Moorabool News.

“We’ve had a lot of frustrations along the way. The goods shed is a wonderful old shed, we had a big project there at one point when Andy Meddick was in office. We had very good prospects of getting money from the State Government, it’s over a $1 million project, so it’s not something we could just do with a fundraiser. The plans we have drawn up for the goods shed are fantastic, but it seems no-one really wants to help us.

“It’s been two years, and we still haven’t got definitive responses or answers…we get handballed pillar to post.”

The passing of Mr Woodhouse at the age of just 52 last July, and Andy Meddick not being re-elected at the 2022 state election, both “took the wind out of BMAC’s sails”, but Ms Baker says the group remains committed to finding a home for Bacchus Marsh’s arts community.

“Just a premises of any sort would be good, we’d be happy to go into a six-month agreement or something. We just need someone to help us get started again. We won’t give up on BMAC Gallery being an entity, but it seems it won’t be the grand plan that we thought we might be able to pull off,” Ms Baker said.

The group intends to gather the names of interested people for a ‘Register of Interest’, and will once again be holding its Teapot Exhibition in September.

Another exhibition in October will welcome the new life of spring, with a venue to be hired if the group still doesn’t have a permanent home by then.

Other ideas if a suitable venue is found include a Sip and Paint function, a visit by a noted guest artist, a ‘Boots and Bags’ exhibition, and of course, exhibitions for local artists to show and sell their work.