The National Gallery of Australia is set to finally retire its mop buckets following a historic $219 million investment from the Albanese government.
The grant comes from the government’s mid-year surplus and represents the largest single capital allocation since the gallery opened in 1982. It will allow the home of Jackson Pollock’s Blue poles to replace its roof, alongside windows and skylights, to make the building weatherproof.
To be rolled out over five years, the investment brings the total budget for NGA upgrades to $320 million, combining the new announcement with $101 million already committed and budgeted for essential works that are to begin in January.
In 2023, gallery staff were forced to use towels and buckets to prevent water damage in the building.
The NGA houses Australia’s most valuable art collection, valued at $7.4 billion. Its archives contain 155,594 works, including the world’s most significant collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art.
The building’s deteriorating condition was brought to light by a series of reports by this masthead in 2023, which spurred a broader $535 million federal pledge to upgrade the nation’s cultural institutions.
While the NGA appointed a builder in March for an initial $25.5 million waterproofing project, that phase only covered “high-priority” areas. It left a significant backlog of failing infrastructure and ageing mechanical systems unaddressed.
ACT independent senator David Pocock has repeatedly called on the federal government to fully fund the necessary repairs.
The new funding allows the gallery to move beyond patchwork fixes. The NGA can now execute a comprehensive business case for an array of works including replacement of skylights, windows and roofing, and upgrades to lifts and escalators, air-conditioning and humidity controls and other mechanical and fire safety systems, director Nick Mitzevich said.
Despite the massive scale of the works, Mitzevich confirmed the National Gallery will remain open to the public throughout the five-year renovation process with major restrictions to the footprint of its public displays beginning in 2027-28.