Media Release
September 24 2007
UniSA’s new art museum offers a different experience
South
Australia’s newest public art gallery is not only the second largest in
the State but it offers a completely new experience for local and
visiting art lovers.
The Anne & Gordon Samstag Museum of Art is an elegant, contemporary space at the heart of the City West campus of the University of South Australia.
A focus of the new Hawke Building, the Samstag Museum will open to the public on October 12 with an up-beat, large scale exhibition of Australian contemporary art – Wonderful World.
In the spirit of its namesakes, Anne and Gordon Samstag, the museum promises to bring the new, the fresh and innovative to Adelaide, showcasing in its first year, South Australian art and artists and making the most of the museum’s special capacity to exhibit new media.
Designed by award winning architect, John Wardle in association with Hassell, the museum features three galleries over two levels, all constructed to exacting modern standards and with the capacity to exhibit large scale works.
Gallery Director Erica Green, says there are vital underlying technologies that are important for the daily operation of the art museum.
“Securing top class exhibitions can be reliant on a range of important factors from security and climate control, through to having the technological and structural capacity to accommodate the displays,” Green says.
“The Samstag has been carefully designed so that we can meet some pretty rigorous standards.”
Key features include a special air-conditioning and humidity control system designed to be highly efficient and environmentally friendly and specifically designed for the SA climate.
The ceiling has been reinforced to support 50kg/m2, with single hanging points able to support up to 1000 kg in the concrete beams.
There is also a six ton dock leveller for unloading exhibition crates, with a special loading and unloading airlock and a large pivot door which would enable the equivalent of a car and caravan to enter the gallery space.
“This means we have so much more opportunity to present a range of works that other galleries would find prohibitive,” Green says.
And with the growth of multi media technologies in the art world, the Samstag Museum is fully equipped to take on some of the most innovative new media exhibitions.
“The gallery is HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) wired – the latest interface for audiovisual equipment such as high-definition television and home theatre systems. It has the capacity to carry a bandwidth of five gigabytes per second, all in a single cable that resembles a simple USB.”
Green says all that technology is neatly disguised with data, power and rigging points all located in concealed ceiling and floor points.
And clean open space is a feature of the gallery.
The downstairs space is a pristine 300 square metres without a single supporting column. The 500 square metres of timber flooring is recycled Australian ironbark and again specially sprung and reinforced, to support heavy loads.
“It will be wonderful for the State to have this extra gallery and I think visitors will find the Samstag Museum an exciting addition to the SA art scene.”
Anne and Gordon Samstag lived in South Australia for almost 10 years between 1961 and 1970 with Gordon working as a lecturer in art at the SA School of Art. They moved to Cairns and then back to the US in 1973. Convinced that Australia’s young and talented artists would benefit from international travel, Gordon Samstag bequeathed an in-perpetuity gift to the University to fund 12-month art scholarships for Australian artists to travel and study overseas. Today the Samstag Fine Art Bequest is valued at more than $10 million and is the most prestigious award of its kind in Australia.
The Samstag Museum will be officially opened on October 11 by Minister assisting the Premier in the Arts, the Hon John Hill, MP.
Contact for interview
- Erica Green office (08) 8302 0870 email erica.green@unisa.edu.au
Media contact
-
Michèle Nardelli office 08 8302 0966 mobile 0418 823 673
email michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au