Collie Art Gallery celebrates 10 year anniversary with chamber of commerce businesses connections event

The Collie Art Gallery celebrated its 10-year anniversary last week with a business connections event hosted by Collie Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The CCCI event at the gallery brought together business leaders, artists and community members to reflect on how the gallery has transformed Collie’s cultural landscape in the past decade. Since opening in 2015, Collie Art Gallery has become a destination for regional arts, attracting more than 4500 visitors annually. The gallery’s biennial exhibition, The Collie Art Prize, is a major art event in the South West — with the latest edition running until April 27 expected to bring in about 1100 visitors. Its next exhibition, Be Treatwise Enjoy A Balanced Diet will be held from May 3 to June 8 and is created by Binningup artist Elisha McGuckin. The humorous collection is inspired by the discrete dietary advice found on junk food packaging. Ms McGuckin rebels against the cynical marketing terms such as “enjoy a balanced diet” found on wrappers by painting bold, excessively large bags of lollies. Collie CCI chief executive Tara van Beuningen said the business connections event was a success. “The Collie Art Gallery is a shining example of how the arts can drive economic and cultural growth in our region,” she said. “Helping celebrate their 10th anniversary alongside the Collie Art Prize is a great achievement and we are grateful to be able to help support this initiative.”