Room temperatures and humidity levels in a gallery cannot fluctuate – meaning state of the art air conditioning systems are required.

On Tuesday NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian announced $2million in funding for climate controls at the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery in Nowra and the Jervis Bay Maritime Museum in Huskisson.

Shoalhaven gallery curator Bronwyn Coulston said they were looking forward to hosting a broader scope of works.

“Climate control for us means really being able to access works by artists of note from state and national collections,” she said.

“We’ll meet those industry standards and we can now start talking to state and national lending collections and get works from there into the Shoalhaven.”

Mrs Coulston said until now, their options had been limited.

“Some galleries have been able to negotiate and compromise on some specific works but when it comes to getting in works on paper by European artists from 150 years ago, we haven’t had any chance,” she said.

“Now we will. That’s really exciting for us.”

Jervis Bay Maritime Museum’s president John Ferguson shared a similar experience.

“We have had to reject offers of first-quality exhibitions that we wanted to show to the community,” Mr Ferguson said.

“I want to impress my gratitude to the Premier for being here today, the Minister (for Arts Don Harwin) who has been a generous supporter of the museum over many years and the local MP Shelley Hancock who has been absolutely first-class in her engagement with the museum.

“This grant is enormously significant, it means we will be able to build a platform for the next 10 years.”

Mr Harwin said a key focus of the Regional Cultural Fund was to ensure people from regional areas had access to some of the nation’s best collections.

“It’s about all communities feeling like they’re getting their fair share,” he said. 

The Jervis Bay Maritime Museum will undergo a $1.3million upgrade and the Shoalhaven Regional Gallery will get $600,000 for new works.