The final motion carried at Wednesday's council meeting stated that council will allow current use of the space to continue and the situation will be reviewed in three months’ time.

Councillor Suellen Wrightson made an amendment to remove a point in the recommendation “that council accepts that the study demonstrates no apparent need for a publicly-funded art gallery,” after 88.9 per cent of respondents to council’s  recent community survey said they believe there is a need for an art gallery in Cessnock.

The amendment was successful with deputy mayor James Hawkins using his casting vote in favour, and it became the motion that was supported eight votes to four.

The debate between the councillors took over 45 minutes, with arguments for and against the need for an art gallery.

Councillor James Ryan said that while he was not proposing that any more money be put into the gallery, there is definitely a need for one in Cessnock as demonstrated by the results of the survey.

“We’re talking about art, we’re talking about expressing ourselves as a community,” he said.

Councillor Wrightson said that allowing the gallery to close would see the council “shut the door on the community.”

Councillor Cordelia Troy agreed, saying that arts and the creative life of the community is important.

“If we deny the arts and the creative importance of our community then should we also close the soccer fields and the football fields, the pools and the cricket grounds, the performing arts centre and the library?” she added.

Councillor Ian Olsen opposed giving any sort of support to the art gallery, and while he said a gallery would be nice, there are more important issues to be considered.

“Yes, we'd all love to have an art gallery,” he said.

“But we’d also love to have our roads and bridges fixed as well.”

The gallery opened in 2009, and was funded by a combination of private and corporate donations, grant funding from arts organisations and Arts NSW, and some in-kind and occasional financial support from council.

Council twice provided $60,000 unconditional funding to the gallery in its annual budget, plus $40,000 emergency funding in 2009-10. It also has acquired the building and carpark ($750,000).

Council voted to undertake the review to determine its position regarding an art gallery for the city in June 2014, and suspended further funding until the review was complete.

The gallery closed on April 19 after council denied its request for $36,000 in emergency funding that would have kept it running until the end of the financial year.

Newly-elected gallery chairperson Barbara Rodham said the gallery committee is very appreciative of council’s decision.

She said the committee is very confident and excited following the result.

“This gives us new direction,” she said.

Ms. Rodham said the next step for the gallery is to gain assistance and volunteers to help it prosper, as well as businesses and community groups to partner with them.

“We are pleased that we’ve been given a second chance,” Ms. Rodham said.

“But we are concerned about the amount of support we currently have.

“The big thing we need now is community support.”

The gallery is seeking any volunteers who can help out, for even as little as a few hours per month.

Ms. Rodham said that the longevity of the gallery depends on the amount of volunteers they can get in the near future.

“We need people to rally around us,” she said.

The gallery has some exciting ideas coming up, and the committee have taken on board some of the comments from the survey to improve the operations of the gallery.

“We need to think bigger than just what we hang on the walls,” volunteer Emmie Hallett said.

“We need to look at how art can benefit kids, businesses, local people and services.”

The committee is now actively seeking “every little grant out there”, as well as planning more fundraisers for greater financial sustainability.

The gallery is also looking to create a stronger relationship with local artists and have more activities involving the local community, such as art classes for children and the wider community, as well as the existing Art After Hours on Thursday evenings.

Ms. Rodham said the gallery will also become a space that community groups can apply to use for art-based activities.

“People can be a part of this rather than just visit,” Ms. Rodham said.

“The gallery will be run for the community, by the community.”

Cessnock Regional Art Gallery will hold a public meeting on Thursday, May 28 at 4pm for people to come along, contribute ideas and show their support for the gallery.

The next Art After Hours will also be held on Thursday evening and an exhibit will begin in the next few weeks, showcasing local artists who have supported the gallery.

The committee would like to thank the donors, the people that went along to the council meeting and those who lobbied council as well as Project Cessnock for their support.

For more information about the art gallery and getting involved, contact Emmie Hallett on 0412 835 865.