Bid to transform the historic Wagga Ambulance station building into a community creative arts hub well under way

A development application was recently lodged to transform the red brick 1920s heritage building into a community creative arts hub - as the Eastern Riverina Arts (ERA) seeks to meld arts and local business together.

ERA Executive director Tim Kurylowicz said there will be minimal structural changes to the building, instead the new tenants will seek to utilise the building's unique character and give the old building "a bit of love".

"We're not proposing to change any of the building fabric itself, what we do want to do is more about activation and use," he said.

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Former upstairs living quarters with large windows and high ceilings will provide the perfect space for artist studios and the lack of open plan usage in the old design means there are plenty of small quirky rooms for freelancers to set up in, Mr Kurylowicz.

The DA reveals that the $100,000 upgrades will turn the main garage entrance of the station into a large state of the art gallery space.

While the rear undercover parking bay is set to be used for a makers' markets twice a month, large artistic installations and as an event support area for the Victory Memorial Gardens nearby.

But the most important aspect of this exciting project, Mr Kurylowicz said, is the chance to foster creative talent in the area and provide them with a platform to thrive in creative business.

"We have incredible creatives, we punch above our weight in Wagga. So, it's really about taking the strengths we have, and then just supercharging it," he said.

And what ERA can also provide is connection to other large larger art institutions, making sure that local creatives are connected with opportunities right around the country, he said.

The Wagga Business chamber will be taking up residence in the new space alongside ERA and a mix of creativity energy and innovation will hopefully lead to a thriving arts community, Mr Kurylowicz said.

"Creativity is the economy ... there's more money than ever before going into streaming service providers like Netflix etc, people are spending money on creativity, we want to make sure that money comes into our community too," he said

And as they await feedback from the public exhibition period of their application, ERA have opened expressions of interest for local artists seeking a creative co-working space.

Mr Kurylowicz said his inbox is already full of applications and encourages those wanting to take a "big creative leap" in 2023 to apply.

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