High Hopes for
The Art House
Demolition of the old Memorial Hall has
begun in Wyong to make way for Wyong’s
new contemporary arts facility – The Art
House.
It is the end of an era but heralds the
beginning of a new and exciting chapter
for the arts in the Shire.
The Art House has been in the planning for
eight years and will cost $12.7m to build.
It will have a 500 seat theatre with a fully
functional fly tower that can accommodate
professional theatre productions and allow
local amateur groups and artists a chance
to really shine.
It will also have a 130 seat studio space, a
meeting room, foyer and exhibition area
and front and back of house facilities.
It will be built on the old Memorial Hall site in Wyong,
which is the primary venue for performances by the
Wyong Drama Group and the Wyong Musical Theatre
Company. While The Art House is under construction,
the show will continue to go on for these groups,
who will perform at the new community arts hub
“The Grove” in Wyong.
Wyong Shire Council recently signed a two year lease
with the Department of Education to take over the
former Wyong Grove Public School and is turning it
into a performance, workshop and studio space for
local groups.
Minister for the Arts at Wyong Memorial Hall
The project is fully funded by Wyong Shire
Council with assistance from the local
Wyong Drama Group and some program
funding from Arts NSW.
Recently the NSW Minister for the Arts, the
Hon Troy Grant MP, visited the site and was
shown the plans for The Art House. He was
impressed with what he saw and Council is
hopeful the State Government will commit
to funding to help fitout The Art House in
the near future.
The Grove will be used by a wide range of community
and cultural groups for events, studios and
workshops space. The Grove hall will be the interim
performing arts venue for local productions until The
Art House opens in December 2015.
Local community and cultural groups turned up in
droves to the launch showing the high demand and
interest in cultural facilities in the Shire.
The stage is being set at The Grove for The Art House
to really take off and it is just what our Shire needs.
Official Art House
Ambassador and
Dancing With
The Stars judge,
Josh Horner, took
time out from his
Australian tour to
be at the launch to
promote the local
arts scene and to
encourage usage
of The Grove.
Become a Friend of The Art House and find out more about what’s happening at
www.wyong.nsw.gov.au/arthouse
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