Shoalhaven Councillor Kaye Gartner used council’s recent injection of funds into sporting grounds to lobby for arts funding.
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“Seeing as we are very generous to our sporting bodies, in the spirit of inclusiveness I suggest we increase donations to support our arts community the same way we support our sporting community,” she said.
The initial recommendation, to donate $2000 to the Shoalhaven Historical Society to help them conserve three Samuel Elyard art works, was amended to $4000 at the council meeting on Tuesday night.
A majority of councillors voted for the motion, which was carried.
The historical society will be spending more than $14,000 to restore three paintings by the famous local landscape painter and photographer.
They have received a donation of 22 Elyard oils and two Elyard watercolours.
All works are unframed and in need of varying amounts of cleaning and conservation
The works that are being restored were assessed as the highest priority to receive conservation
Cr Gartner also attempted to increase the donation for the 2018 Shoalhaven Literary Awards from $400 to $800, but after some conjecture from the gallery, councillors settled on $400.
Her comments sparked a debate on whether council does enough to support the artistic pursuits of Shoalhaven residents.