Locals are being invited to have a first look at the multi-million-dollar Newcastle Art Gallery upgrades.
Newcastle Council says the doubling of exhibition space will attract more tourism and allow curators to show more of the collection.
A recent valuation put the whole collection at $145 million.
Director Lauretta Morton says it’s been a fight to advocate for the region’s biggest gallery.
“It’s really important about getting our collection out because we’ve got the opportunity now to really show a broad cross-section of the collection for the first time,” she said.
“The amount of grant applications, all of the ‘no’s’, ‘you’re regional, you’re metropolitan’, you know, we went through what I like to call some really hard years. And it was a battle,” she said.
The Gallery will be open to the public Friday through Sunday from 10am till 4pm until the whole gallery opens in February.
