Abstract:
In July 2005, a review appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald¿s Spectrum section, covering four of the `Western Front¿ series of exhibitions at Blacktown Arts Centre, Fairfield City Museum and Gallery and at Parramatta Heritage Centre (in a series of six exhibitions), and the inaugural Agri/culture exhibition at the new Hawkesbury Regional Gallery at Windsor. The piece opens with the reviewer describing the drive towards a rainbow over Blacktown:¿ things are starting to look a lot brighter in the western suburbs. Once upon a time there was nothing but concrete shopping malls to charm the visitor ¿ [along with] bricks and grime of suburban sargassos. ¿ Nowadays there is at least a tacit acknowledgement that culture has a place at the table, alongside commerce. ¿ There is also a recognition that communities without adequate cultural facilities are breeding grounds for boredom, vandalism, social misery and crime. ¿ An arts centre or theatre group can make a constructive contribution [to these problems] (MacDonald, 2005: 28).
