Narooma School of Arts is now focusing on funding to finance the project.

“It’s taken about eight years to get to this DA stage with lots of meetings and workshops, so it’s very exciting,” said Narooma School of Arts spokesperson Laurelle Pacey.

“We think we’ve addressed adequately all the issues previously raised by Council staff so we’re hoping for a relatively smooth passage through Council.”

Last week, the School of Arts committee invited Creative Partnerships NSW and ACT Manager Janine Collins to Narooma to hear about the Arts Centre project, what we’ve done to date, and advise our working group on accessing philanthropic and corporate funding.

Creative Partnerships assists artists and arts organisations connect with donors and businesses.

“Everyone involved thought it was an extremely worthwhile exercise,” Ms Pacey said.

“Janine was impressed with what we’ve achieved to date and with the community’s vision for enhancing School of Arts’ land and facilities, and gave us some excellent guidance on how we should proceed.

“She thought our heritage would be a major strength in our case, meaning that as a community we’ve been providing our own facilities for the arts and community education in their broadest sense for 120 years and now we’re looking to the next 120 years.”

Ms Pacey said many people still don’t appreciate that this land with its three buildings (Kinema, MACS’ Cottage and SoART Gallery) is owned by the Narooma community, not Council or the NSW Government, and that the community through the School of Arts is responsible for managing the property.

She explained the new Arts Centre would be funded by a mixture of government grants, philanthropic and other donations, not by ratepayers.

“As an organisation we’re now getting our documentation, plans and strategies in place so we can move forward including applying for funds from these diverse sources,” she said.

“We’re also looking for people who may have skills they’d be keen to contribute to our quest.”

School of Arts committee members will man an information stand at the November, December and January Narooma Rotary Markets so people can look more closely at the plans for the Arts Centre, and chat to committee members about the project and the organisation in general.

For more information, please drop by the stall at Narooma markets or check out the webpage www.naroomaartscentre.com.au