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Arts South Australia (previously Arts SA) was responsible for managing the South Australian Government's funding for the arts and cultural heritage from about 1996 until late 2018, when it was progressively dismantled, a process complete by early 2019. Most of its functions were taken over by the Department of the Premier and Cabinet (DPC) under Premier Steven Marshall, while some went to the Department for Education and others to the Department for Innovation and Skills.

In September 2023, under the Malinauskas government, the arts were once again brought together under DPC.

History

Arts SA was created primarily as a funding body around 1996,[1][Note 1] at which time it fell under the Department of Transport, Urban Planning and the Arts (DTUPA).[2] It was responsible for the development of and funding for the arts sector within South Australia, and was responsible for nine statutory corporations and a number of not-for-profit arts organisations.

During the period of its existence, Ministers for the Arts were:

Chief executives included:

In September 1997, Arts Minister Laidlaw and then new CEO O'Louglin completely restructured Arts SA. Previously, it had operated under art form divisions, but the new structure created three divisions: arts leadership, professional development and emerging artists; cultural tourism and export; and the development of new commissions, events and festivals.[13]

From 2015 until August 2018, Arts South Australia was headed by Peter Louca, former chief of staff to Minister Jack Snelling[19] and one-time Labor Party candidate for the federal seat of Mayo.[20] Peter Louca instigated the re-branding of Arts SA to Arts South Australia in 2016.[20]

In 2016, following significant federal funding cuts experienced by several South Australian small to medium arts organisations,[21] Arts South Australia was criticised by Arts Industry Council for South Australia for not providing enough financial support to the independent arts sector.[22][23] In 2016 Arts South Australia operated with a budget of $140 million, less than one percent of the state budget.[24] It was then a division of the Department of State Development, overseen by the Minister for the Arts. In 2016 Arts South Australia established the campaign "Made In Adelaide" to export and promote South Australian artists at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.[25]

In September 2023, under the Malinauskas government, the arts were once again brought together under DPC, in a "united arts portfolio",[26] with Andrea Michaels as Minister for Arts (appointed March 2022).[10] A new cultural policy was being developed at the same time, due to be released in mid-2024.[27]

Responsibilities

Arts South Australia until 2018

Statutory Authorities reporting to the Arts South Australia were:

Other organisations under their umbrella included:

Other responsibilities included:

  • The South Australian Ruby Awards (from 2006), which recognise outstanding achievement in South Australia's arts and culture sector.[31]
  • Management of Australia's oldest intact mainland theatre, The Queens Theatre (2010–2018; then taken over by GWB McFarlane Theatres).[32]

August 2018 transfers and creations

DoE

To the Department for Education:[33]

  • Carclew
  • History Trust of South Australia
  • Patch Theatre Company
  • Windmill Theatre Company

Dept for Innovation & Skills

To the Department for Innovation and Skills (previously Department of State Development):[33][34]

  • South Australian Film Corporation
  • Adelaide Film Festival
  • JamFactory
  • Music SA
  • Music Development Office
  • GamePlus (new - for the video game industry)

DPC

The biennial Adelaide Festival Awards for Literature are managed by the State Library of South Australia (which is under the DPC).

Online grants portal

As of August 2019, the Arts South Australia online portal is still being used for managing grant applications.[37]

Artlab Australia

Artlab Australia is a government agency that "provides expert services for the preservation, care and management of the state's cultural collections". It works mainly for and in collaboration with major South Australian collecting institutions, but also provides services and support for collections that are maintained by various communities around the country as well as internationally, on a fee-for-service basis.[38]

Established as the State Conservation Centre of South Australia in 1985, the unit has been located in the North Terrace cultural precinct since its beginning, between the Migration Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia[39] (street address 70 Kintore Avenue[40]).

The specialist staff who work on the conservation of materials are mostly graduates of a University of Canberra program on the Conservation of Cultural Materials. They are qualified to work on a range of materials, including paper, photographs, textiles, sculptures, and heritage building features in the laboratories, and also provide advice on optimum storage conditions for collections. Artlab serves libraries, museums, art galleries, Aboriginal art and craft centres, and many other clients. Artlab Australia is one of few rare book conservation services in Australia,[39] and also cares for large technology items.[38] Other conservation and restoration of other types include "murals and decorative paintwork, historic interiors, mosaic and terrazzo floors, stained glass windows, carved timberwork, carpets and curtains, furniture and other fittings such as lights, balustrades and decorative railings".[41]

Restoration projects have included the reredos at St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide and chapels at New Norcia monastery in Western Australia. Artlab has also undertaken several projects outside of Australia, including cultural preservation in Bali in partnership with the Indonesian Government and others, funded by the World Bank, and work in Taipei and Hong Kong.[39]

Artlab's services include disaster preparedness planning, environmental management of display and storage conditions in order to prevent deterioration, and research and analysis that contributes to both the development of conservation practice and to a greater knowledge and understanding of cultural artefacts and works of art. It also offers preventive conservation for collections, training of conservators through internships, conservation capacity building projects overseas, and education and advisory services to support communities in the preservation of their cultural heritage.[38] Artlab has given courses in several Asian countries, and in 1999 developed a training package called reCollections.[39]

As of 2005, Artlab Australia employed 25 staff, which made it the largest conservation facility in Australia. It operated as a business enterprise within Arts SA, with initial investment made by the South Australian government and possessing the capability and policy to run a commercial service. At that time, Artlab warned of the "critical skills shortage...within the heritage industry", and the need for providing courses for people to become stone masons, wheelwrights, carriage makers, and gilders.[41]

Notes

  1. [N 1]
    The date was arrived at by interrogating the SLSA catalogue here. Previous to 1996, records were linked to the Dept for the Arts & Cultural Development (1993/4–1996), Dept for the Arts & Cultural Heritage (c.1991–3) and Dept for the Arts (1987–1990).
  2. [N 2]
    No earlier mention of a CEO before 1997 was found, so it seems likely that O'Loughlin was the first.

References

Further reading

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