The Substation at Newport has received $100,000 from the Australia Council for the Arts for its 2019 program, vindicating its contemporary art commitment.
Director Brad Spolding said the latest grants round was hugely competitive, with the Substation being ranked No.1 in its category.
He said the venue was presenting art that couldn’t be seen anywhere else.
“We’re trying to present really special one-off shows so that people in the inner west can see something that they can’t see anywhere else, and also at the same time to draw audiences from across Melbourne to the inner west, often for the first time,” Mr Spolding said.
“Nearly half of our audience is from the west and the other half of the audience comes from right across Melbourne.”
He said the concept was working, with 65,000 visitors coming through the venue each year.
“When I came here and I said I wanted to focus on contemporary art, some people said to me, ‘Oh, the western suburbs – it’s a working class area, they’re salt of the earth people, they want a simple story told to them in a straightforward way’,” Mr Spolding said. “Personally, I live in the west. I’ve lived in the west for 15 years. I find that pretty patronising and not to be the case at all.
“I think what we’ve shown, with nearly half of our audience coming from the west to a pretty contemporary and experimental arts practice, is that they can handle complexity. They’re interested in ideas.
“There isn’t that expectation that someone would say to the NGV, ‘Oh, the people of Melbourne, they’re working class – you’ve got to give them simple stuff straightforwardly’. I mean, that is ridiculous.”
