Yamaji Art Centre rebounds after store front damaged in fire

Less than a week after emergency workers escorted the Yamaji Art Centre team into their damaged store to salvage their art, they can be heard chuckling in the store temporarily housing their work. After seven years of telling customers to “look for the big octopus”, they are sad to say goodbye to their home on Marine Terrace, after a fire in the building next door. But, from their makeshift headquarters at the Museum of Geraldton, the artists and administrators made it clear that they aren’t going anywhere. “The building might be gone, but we haven’t,” Yamaji Art founding member Nola Gregory said. The centre was created in the late 1990s when 15 Aboriginal artists and TAFE graduates decided they needed somewhere to work and sell their art. Ms Gregory said she knew the centre would be a big deal since day one. “It makes my liyarn (spirit) feel good ... I feel good and safe in this place,” she said. Since then, the art centre has had many homes, overcome hurdles and passed skills on to a younger generation of creative Indigenous people living inYamaji land. Mara Art Aboriginal Corporation runs the Yamaji Art Centre and its chair Charmain Green said the corporation was always aware it was risky to operate next to an abandoned building. “We always knew we had to move out soon, but just didn’t think it would be this soon,” she said. She confirmed all staff, artists, directors and major artworks were safe, saying this was the corporation’s priority. “We remain optimistic in finding a new home, fulfilling our annual creative art market commitments in Perth and Darwin and making our 21st year of existence even stronger,” she said. Manager Roni Kerley said she was proud to be part of a strong, resourceful, creative community. “We hold a lot of knowledge,” she said. “It’s a culturally safe place where people can come and connect with their people, with their culture, with their stories and with their community.” Determined to stay in the thick of Geraldton’s culture and arts scene, Ms Kerley said the team was scouting for a new space on Marine Terrace, with a workspace, store front and gallery area all high on the priority lists. And it needs to have a good price tag so the business can continue funnelling profits into growth and helping local artists, which includes diving deeper into the world of cultural tourism.