Building a new arts precinct from scratch

In an ArtsHub exclusive, Marcus Westbury takes time out in his first week on the job to discuss the creation of Collingwood’s Contemporary Arts Precinct.
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All photographs by Marcus Westbury via Instagram

Marcus Westbury recognises that there’s much to be done before the Contemporary Arts Precinct (CAP) in the inner Melbourne suburb of Collingwood is up and running.

Comprising three main buildings, the 8,700m2 site was previously occupied by the Collingwood Technical School, and signs pointing to its former life abound – a blackboard outlining lesson plans from 1986; a course timetable taped to a dusty window; an old phone book in the former caretaker’s apartment on the top floor – as well as all the usual issues associated with abandoned buildings, including graffiti and the occasional pigeon carcass.

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Richard Watts is ArtsHub's National Performing Arts Editor; he also presents the weekly program SmartArts on Three Triple R FM, and serves as the Chair of La Mama Theatre's volunteer Committee of Management. Richard is a life member of the Melbourne Queer Film Festival, and was awarded the status of Melbourne Fringe Living Legend in 2017. In 2020 he was awarded the Sidney Myer Performing Arts Awards' Facilitator's Prize. Most recently, Richard was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Green Room Awards Association in June 2021. Follow him on Twitter: @richardthewatts