By Carrillo Gantner
Towering atop Orchard Hill, the Shepparton Art Museum is not only a striking, $50M beacon drawing national attention to the region, but a source of pride for the Goulburn Valley community.
In many ways, SAM is representative of the accumulative passion, innovation and sheer resilience of the community itself and marks Greater Shepparton’s arrival as a destination of significance; a place to be admired, shared and talked about.
Already attracting tens of thousands of tourists to the region, SAM not only boosts the local economy, but is an inspiring educational and creative resource for students of all ages. As a community hub, SAM proudly acknowledges First Nations people, culture and history, while also attracting people from the region’s rich, ethnic community.
After years of dreaming, it was the passion of countless innovative and inspiring people who brought SAM to life.
Knowing that the time was right for a major cultural centre to be built, the Friends of SAM and the Greater Shepparton City Council, transformed the dream into a workable reality. With the vision and skill of artistic directors, who designed the brief, and the extraordinary genius of world-class architects, SAM was gloriously realised.
But, like all ventures great and small, the SAM story was, and remains, reliant upon the tireless efforts of those who both raise and procure funding; such are the things that breathe dreams robustly to life.
With tireless advocacy from local, state, and federal members of parliament, and with the sponsorship of philanthropic and local donors through the SAM Foundation, major funding was acquired, entrenching the dream as the icon it was always intended to be.
Now overseen by the SAM board, who would have ever said it couldn’t be done?
