Regional Australia invites you to journey to its vibrant art scene, discover galleries and feast on a treasure trove of potential artistic windfalls, together with an overview by art professional ALAN SISLEY who shares some well-kept secrets.

You might expect them to be little more than the repository of the art of locals yet regional galleries are unquestionably more diverse and savvy establishments. They house not only works from their area but pieces from the national vault and the international art community. They host and curate travelling exhibitions from city to region and vice versa, and between regions. They sponsor and exhibit a huge variety of artist competitions and prizes. They work in alliance with Australian state galleries and major overseas galleries, enriching the quality and depth of the regional art experience. And don't be floored to find out that a regional gallery exhibits its fair in one of the hubs of the art world, Paris.

The regional galleries of New South Wales are about to launch a television advertisement, the theme: 'You will be surprised at what you will find in a regional gallery'.

This is a very true statement, as thousands of travellers are discovering what local people have known for some time: that it is in regional galleries that you will find the truly surprising art you will not see elsewhere...

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Images:

Above: The Art Vault gallery opened in Mildura, Victoria, November 2008.

Below: Frank Mesaric, agribiz@landofthegoldenfleece.com.au, 2006, oil on canvas, 80 x 80cm. Courtesy Gippsland Art Gallery, Sale.