NANCY Sever’s City Walk Gallery was opened yesterday (September 24) in fine style by chief executive of the City Renewal Authority, Malcolm Snow.

King O’Malley’s owner and arts patron, Peter Barclay, introduced the event by telling those present that the office block next door to the pub, originally the YMCA, had actually been opened by Princess Anne.

Sever told those present that while she was presently showing works by artists Andrew Baines, Michael Taylor, Janet Dawson, Kate Stevens, Ashley Frost and Gija painters, she would be turning exhibitions around each month in the new space.

Addressing a select crowd of art insiders, including veteran expressionist painter Michael Taylor, who drove from Cooma for the event, Snow used the occasion to talk up the Canberra City Renewal plan, saying, “We want to make Canberra city centre a place with a conspicuous soul”.

The authority had already invested $880,000 in the arts during these difficult times, he said, but had a grander vision to see the city develop an arts and culture precinct possibly focusing on the Canberra Theatre (maybe even a new one) and Civic Square, to make a kind of “global cultural district”.

Sever will also have changing exhibitions and things are getting exciting for October when Neil Hobbs’ free public art biennial ‘Contour 556’ takes place. The City Walk Gallery will exhibit sculptures by South Australian artist Greg Jones for that and there’ll be a bigger sculpture outside too.

The City Walk Gallery is now open to the public at Level 1, 131 City Walk, Civic.