Family building reborn as arts space

FOLLOWING its resurrection last year as a second-storey studio space, Ballan’s former post and telegraph office has a new lease on life as a visual arts gallery.

Kept in the Flack family for six generations since its construction in 1864, the building has been reimagined as multi-purpose hub FlackPTO with the launch of its exhibition space on Saturday.

FlackPTO owner Danielle Briglia said the site’s overhaul has been three years in the making.

“I’m a photographer and have been practicing for about eight years and I’m part of a photography group where I had some friends up here for a shoot in 2021,” she said.

“It pretty much came from that. A lot of them said why are we not using this as a studio space?”

The space has been redeveloped as a studio and gallery space since then, with the finishing touches recently applied for the latter.

“We’ve mostly done cosmetic stuff,” Briglia said. “We’ve left all the walls as original because you can see all the markings from the old post and telegraph office.

“We’ve lightened the door trims, got the floors sanded and rewaxed, there’s been a lot of painting and we’ve fixed up the stairs for the studio space.

“We’ve got two rooms downstairs and the kitchen included for the gallery, and two rooms upstairs for the studio which has been running for about a year while we’ve worked on the gallery.”

The building was previously up for sale in 2019 before Briglia, and her father Philip Flack, decided to keep the site in the family.

She estimated the building had been dormant since the early 1980s prior to its current operations.

Alongside Briglia, featured artists in the inaugural rotation include Leanne Robson, Damien Lewis, Rocco Zampaglione, Ken Toomey, Christine Stevens, Ross Kimber, Chris King, and Jason Vassallo.

The gallery can hold 25 hangings, and will operate on a combined rotation with artists able to exhibit at a minimum of two pieces for two weeks.

“We want to get a lot of young people exhibiting where it might be their first time,” Briglia said.

“The hope is to bring more people through the community into Ballan. There’s another gallery here and another artist with a gallery, so it’s to promote Ballan and bring more artists in.

“My family are from Ballan originally so I have a really strong connection with the town.”

Plans are underway to open up the space’s backyard by November for potential workshops, community events, and weddings, while the 160-year-old shed will be used for photoshoots.

FlackPTO is located at 140 Inglis St, and is open 12pm to 3pm on Fridays and 10am to 3pm on weekends.