Geelong cultural capital after museum bid failure

A failed bid for a Guggenheim museum helped Geelong become a “cultural capital”, according to a Deakin University academic’s research.
Associate Professor Louise Johnson said even daring to dream about hosting a branch of the iconic international museum brand had helped transform the city.
She also attributed her perceived change in Geelong to the city’s waterfront redevelopment and as-yet-unrealised plans for an arts precinct.
“For Geelong, the path to becoming a cultural capital included a re-imaging of the waterfront precinct and, beginning in the late 1990s, a bid for a Southern Hemisphere Guggenheim Museum,” Prof Johnson said.
“Today Geelong has a refurbished waterfront, arts policies, public art and well-developed plans for an arts precinct.”
Prof Johnson, a “human geographer”, examined the development of Geelong as one of four cities in her book Cultural Capitals: Revaluing The Arts, Remaking Urban Spaces.
The other cities were Scotland’s Glasgow, Spain’s Bilbao and island city-state Singapore.
Prof Johnson said all had previously worn labels of “rust buckets” after losing manufacturing industries.
Her book investigated how the cities turned around their fortunes through investment in the arts.
“This is a story of hope about the creative arts and about creating value and valuing creativity,” she said.
“I have shown that the arts really do matter in all manner of ways when it comes to sustainable urban regeneration.”
City of Greater Geelong’s controversial bid for a Guggenheim museum faltered amid a lack of public support.
Opponents ridiculed the bid as a pie-in-the-sky plan featuring expensive overseas trips for proponents but little support from the Guggenheim organisation itself. Supporters argued the bid promised to transform the city, pointing out the affect of one of the museums after opening in Bilbao.