SAM’s success is Shepparton’s success
By Natasha Fujimoto
THE Shepparton Art Museum is synonymous with success. Already a cultural icon, SAM is also a community hub, on country, that brings people of all ages and cultural backgrounds together in a shared appreciation of art and art engagement.
SAM has proven to be, in under a year, not only a beacon of economic growth but a facilitator of community health and wellbeing as well.
62K visitors have already passed through SAM’s rotating doors, with the promise of 100K annually. The economic flow on effect of this for regional business, is in the tens of millions.
“An estimated 45 to 50 percent of those visitors are outside the 3630 postcode,” says SAM business manager, Andrew Gooley.
But it’s the social impacts of these numbers that resonate with artistic director, Melinda Martin, as she says, “There’s often some really amazing health and wellbeing aspects of people engaging in coming together as well, that’s so important.”
SAM development manager, Carmel Johnson echoes her colleague’s shared ethos for inclusivity by stating, “I think as a new iconic hub, SAM is attracting a broad range of our community, not just from backgrounds but from all ages as well.”
But it is the spirit of collaboration, reconciliation and engagement with First Nations people and the multicultural community that SAM achieves, as Melinda asserts, “Working with First Nations team and with the rich multicultural community we want to make sure that we are the best exemplar of these relationships.”
