In a sometimes fiery, often witty session, Mr Quilty traced the gallery’s journey from a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” to one of the state’s leading regional cultural institutions.<\/p>\n
![\"Ben](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/2338b5850e52708f7033f15661b35820.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Ben Quilty speaks during a heated Wingecarribee Shire Council debate over funding for Ngununggula Regional Gallery. (Supplied: Wingecarribee Council)<\/p>\n
“Footpaths and smooth roads are not going to help the general well-being of this community,” he told councillors, pushing back against arguments that council funds could be better spent elsewhere.<\/p>\n
The council was considering the merits of a five-year funding agreement worth $500,000 per year.<\/p>\n
The money forms part of a partnership-based model where the gallery leverages state funding, philanthropy, sponsorship, and ticket revenue.<\/p>\n
Mr Quilty, who is the gallery’s deputy chair, highlighted the gallery’s state funding and philanthropic support.<\/p>\n
“We are fundraising our butts off to keep that place running the way it is,” he said.<\/p>\n
The artist wrapped up his evidence with a nod to the other demands on council’s coffers.<\/p>\n
“I’m playing the grand final on Saturday \u2026 but we can play cricket and we can have an art gallery,” he said.<\/p>\n
“And at $500,000, you’re getting a bargain.”<\/p>\n
Councillors press on practicalities<\/p>\n
Councillor Rachel Russell asked if the gallery’s board had considered lobbying the federal government for funding to ease the pressure on local government.<\/p>\n
Mr Quilty was blunt, replying “we raised $8 million to build a building for the community, we’re raising 70 per cent of the budget to keep it open, now you want me to go to federal government? That’s pie in the sky”.<\/p>\n
Councillor Sarah Moylan floated the idea of more populist exhibitions.<\/p>\n
\u00a0“A Lego exhibition, a dinosaur exhibition, an exhibition on artworks that the community actually make?” she asked.<\/p>\n
Mr Quilty pushed back, and pointed to the gallery’s record.<\/p>\n
“We have the Archibald Prize, the most successful exhibition in the country, and Art Express, the second most successful,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We aim for the best, not the most popular.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Populism is what’s destroying this planet.”<\/p>\n
![\"Old](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/abbcca6b287d415ec47a088380379f09.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Ngununggula Regional Gallery has become a major cultural drawcard in the region, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year. (Supplied: Ngununggula Regional Gallery)<\/p>\n
Councillor Moylan also asked whether the gallery should be renamed after Mr Quilty in order to attract funding.<\/p>\n
“For you to suggest that \u2014 you obviously don’t know me,” Mr Quilty replied.<\/p>\n
“There is not a chance I am adding my name to it, it is Ngununggula, it was given to us by Aunty Val Mulcahy and it means belonging.”<\/p>\n
In the end, culture had a rare win over commerce, with the council voting 7\u20132 to continue funding.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A world-renowned artist has shown off his public speaking skills in a battle to retain funding for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550196,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11480,64,63,272237,172816,134,30592,13262,272238],"class_list":["post-550195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-art","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ben-quity","tag-bowral","tag-entertainment","tag-gallery","tag-regional","tag-wingecarribee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550196"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}