For thirty years, Moree Plains Gallery has been enhancing the cultural life of Moree, and now with the unveiling of its new name – Bank Art Museum Moree, or BAMM for short – the iconic art organisation aims to further enhance its reputation as a premier educational and collecting institution.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The new name and brand was unveiled to a crowd of about 180 people on Friday evening in celebration of the gallery’s 30th anniversary, marking an exciting new era for the organisation.
The re-branding, which includes the new name, new signage and a new website, has been three years in the making and not only reflects the more modern direction the gallery plans to take in the future, but pays homage to its home – the 1911 Edwardian-style building which was originally a commercial bank.
“Over the past three years, the gallery staff and board have worked to define what we mean to our audience today, what you need from us now and what we can do for you in the future,” director Vivien Clyne said.
“Our re-brand means creating a recognisable and visual identity that captures attention and draws people in, not only to our beautiful building but to the Moree shire.”
Ms Clyne said BAMM reflects the contemporary edge of their programs and highlights their history and responsibilities as a collecting institution.
“We know that the building is one of the biggest drawcards to the gallery, particularly for visitors to Moree,” she said.
“It’s a particularly fabulous landmark for our town so we really wanted to make the most of it.
“So the new brand is a nod to its history as well as reflecting the contemporary edge of our schedule of exhibitions and education programs.”
Ms Clyne said it was also important to highlight their position as a collecting and educational institution by using the term Art Museum, rather than gallery, in their new name.
“We are the proud caretakers of the most significant collection of Aboriginal paintings in regional NSW,” she said.
“Bank Art Museum Moree emphasises our responsibility to promote the great cultural asset that is Moree Plains Shire Council’s art collection and that of the Moree Cultural Art Foundation.
“We also feel this name indicates our point of difference to the commercial art galleries in town – our mission is to educate our audience and inspire local artists to continually improve the appreciation and practice of art in our community. We felt that the term Art Museum best captured that mission statement.”
With a cutting-edge website and beautiful signage, the re-brand also aims to increase the facility’s stake in the cultural tourism economy, while competing with other galleries.
“We are showing exhibitions here of a standard you would find in cities,” Ms Clyne said.
“We wanted to set ourselves up for the future to compete on a scale with any art organisation rather than being defined as a regional location.
“We also know if we had a fantastic website and punchy brand it would help capture cultural tourists. People might come to Moree for the baths but when they get here they’ll find there’s so much more.”
The re-branding is the start of an exciting year ahead for BAMM, with new programs planned to entice more people to visit.
One of these is an ‘art after dark’ series which will be held on the first Thursday of each month, where the museum will be open until 8pm to cater for those who can’t get there during its normal hours.
Ms Clyne said so far the response to the new name and brand has been overwhelmingly positive.
“It’s so nice to have such a good response from the community,” she said.
“It’ll be great to see where we can go from here.”
She encourages everyone to pop into the museum to see what’s new and let her know what they think of the re-brand.
The new user-friendly website can be found at www.bamm.org.au.
