Sub-Treasury Building Activation Pilot

Sub-Treasury-Building-April-2024.jpg

Indigo Shire is seeking Expressions of Interest for the creative activation of the Sub-Treasury Building in the Beechworth Historic Precinct.

Artists and curators, individuals and groups are invited to submit concepts for exhibitions or installations, for display for a six-month period from November 2024 – March 2025, inspired by and responding to the heritage themes of this unique and historic building.

How to apply

Expressions of Interest open on Tuesday 13 August 2024 and close on Monday 9 September 2024 (close of business). 

Please email the following documents to burke.museum@indigoshire.vic.gov.au:

  • Your professional CV/s (if applying as an individual or group of individuals)
    or
     A summary of your organisation’s recent relevant projects (if applying as an organization)
  • Your project concept (maximum 3 pages) – please see below for more details
  • 5-10 images of works or installed projects, compiled as a single PDF only
    (Please do not submit individual images or images in any other format)

The site

Beechworth Historic Precinct is a collection of nationally significant buildings and one of Australia’s best-preserved historic sites. Key features include the Robert O’Hara Burke Memorial Museum; Town Hall Gardens; Old Beechworth Town Hall (including Beechworth Visitor Information Centre); Beechworth Telegraph Station; Beechworth Historic Courthouse; Sub-Treasury Building; Chinese Protectorate Office; Gold Warden’s Office; Police Stables; the Beechworth Police Paddock; and the Old Beechworth Gaol.

The Precinct bookends the eastern section of the Beechworth Town Centre and is a highly important community, cultural and visitor destination within Beechworth. The Precinct (apart from the Old Beechworth Gaol) is managed by Indigo Shire Council.

The Sub-Treasury Building is located on Ford Street in the centre of the Historic Precinct. Originally built as a Gold Office and Sub-Treasury in 1856, the building served as a storage area for gold found on the local goldfields. The gold was then transported fortnightly to the Melbourne Treasury. In the 1880s the Sub-Treasury became the Beechworth Police Station, and it continued to operate as such until a new police station was erected nearby in the mid-1990s.

This site is now a ‘blank canvas’ for the imagining of new experiences which are sympathetic to its heritage. Key themes resonating with the history and context of the Sub-Treasury Building have been identified as the stories of gold and mining, resources and extraction, and human interactions with land and country over time and across cultures.

The project 

Space within the Sub-Treasury Building will be made available for this pilot creative activation project for six months from November 2024 – March 2025. Indigo Shire Council will provide $2,000, and professional in-kind support, to facilitate the delivery of this project.

Who:
  • You may submit an Expression of Interest as an individual artist or curator, as a group or collective, or as an organisation.
  • If you are submitting an EOI as an individual, group or collective, you may be based anywhere within or outside the Indigo Shire Council Local Government Area (LGA).
  • If you are submitting an EOI as an organization, you must be based within the Indigo Shire Council LGA.
  • Your location as an applicant will be considered in the EOI assessment, with regard to your capacity to maintain regular and consistent opening hours at the site.
When:
  • Expressions of Interest open on Tuesday 13 August 2024 and close on Monday 9 September 2024 (close of business).
  • Up to three applicants will be shortlisted from the EOIs. If you are shortlisted, you will be invited to conduct a guided visit of the site and consult with the Historic Precinct curatorial staff, before you submit your final detailed proposal by Monday 7 October 2024.
  • The successful proposal will be selected by 31 October 2024.
  • If you are successful, you will have access to the site from Monday 18 November 2024.
  • You will be expected to open the site to the public during the period Monday 25 November 2024 – Sunday 23 March 2025.
    The specific opening hours and dates will be negotiated with Council, and confirmed before the opening period.
  • Your project will finish and you must vacate the site by Friday 28 March 2025.
What:
  • Your Expression of Interest should outline a concept for creative activation of the site that engages with one or more of the identified themes:
    • gold and mining;
    • resources and extraction, and
    • human relationships with land and country, over time and across cultures. You may interpret these themes broadly and creatively, but you should specify which themes and how they are addressed. You should also make clear the relevance of your concept to this specific site, and its history and context.
  • Your Expression of Interest should provide an outline of the number of artists you expect to include in the final proposal, and the media and themes of their creative practice; as well as the number and type of works you expect to include.
  • You may include a provisional layout description; please refer to the attached site plan. Please also note that you are not required to make use of the entire building for this project.
  • You may include options for potential public engagement activities; however, this will not be a requirement at the EOI stage.
  • We recommend that you read and consider these documents relating to the site and this pilot project when developing your concept:
    • Beechworth Historic Precinct Experience Masterplan
    • Creative Indigo 2023-2027
    • Indigo Destination Game Changer 2023 Tourism Strategy
    • Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan
How:
  • Indigo Shire Council will provide access to the building for the duration of the project, and will be responsible for utilities, cleaning and maintenance.
  • Council will also provide $2,000 to support the delivery of your project at the Sub-Treasury Building, and in-kind support for installing and promoting your project. You will be required to consult with the Historic Precinct curatorial staff in the final development and delivery of your project.
  • The Sub-Treasury Building is a listed heritage site; so, at no point during this project should your activities affect the building’s physical or structural integrity. Council officers will maintain a regular schedule of inspection throughout the period of the project, and you will be expected to communicate any maintenance issues as soon as possible.
  • You will be expected to maintain a regular schedule of opening hours throughout this project, and to communicate any changes or disruptions to this schedule as soon as possible. Council will not be able to assist with staffing for this project.
  • Council will retain the right to access the site for essential conservation work or maintenance if necessary; and for the provision of public tours of the building during and outside the project opening hours.
  • Council will not charge commission on the sale of any artworks or merchandise resulting from the project.
Back to top