Hours
Membership
Volunteers
Gallery Exhibition Tour
Bookings and Enquiries
Gallery History
Location
Perc Tucker Regional Gallery is located in one of Townsville's finest heritage buildings, on the corner of Denham and Flinders Streets, in the city centre.
Hours
- Monday - Friday: 10am - 5pm
- Saturday - Sunday: 10am - 2pm
- Free Admission
Membership
The Gallery has an active membership program. Benefits include personal invitations to Gallery exhibition openings, artists talks, lectures, workshops, artistic performances, public programs, and other Gallery activities held throughout the year. Membership includes a complimentary subscription to the quarterly Membership Newsletter. To become a member, please visit the Gallery, or download the membership application, and lodge it at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery.
Volunteers
The Gallery operates a volunteer program. Volunteers staff the reception desk during opening hours and can elect to assist with the installation and demounting of exhibitions or assist at exhibition openings. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery please visit the Gallery, or download the application form, and lodge it at Perc Tucker Regional Gallery.
Gallery Exhibition Tour
The Gallery has a ground floor and first floor level with five exhibition spaces. On display are works by North Queensland artists as well as national and international touring exhibitions. Group exhibition tours are available upon request and prior bookings are essential.
Bookings and Enquiries
For further information about our programs, membership, venue hire, or to place a booking, please contact Perc Tucker Regional Gallery.
Gallery History
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Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Building
Erected in 1885
Originally used by the Union Bank of
Australia. Today the building serves
as a public gallery, established in the
memory of Aldernamn Perc Tucker,
Mayor of Townsville (1976 - 1980)
Photography sourced from the
Townsville Knowledge Centre - City Library |
Perc* Tucker Regional Gallery is named in honour of Alderman Perc Tucker, Mayor of Townsville from 1976 to 1980. The Gallery was officially opened by the Mayor of Townsville, Alderman M F Reynolds, on 25 September 1981.
The Gallery is housed in an historic building established by the Union Bank of Australia in 1885 as its northern headquarters. It was designed and built in 1885 by the then colonial architect F D G Stanley, whose niece, Gwendolyn, became a well known artist in Brisbane in the first half of this century. Her first solo exhibition in Brisbane in 1906 featured works from her time in North Queensland. Later she married W G Grant whose watercolours of North Queensland are in the Perc Tucker Regional Gallery Collection.
The upper level of the building was added in the early 1930's and the building served the people of North Queensland as a bank for nearly a century. In 1951 the Union Bank amalgamated with the Bank of Australasia and the building became the main office of the Australia and New Zealand Bank. It subsequently became the regional Office of North Queensland for the ANZ Banking Group, following the merger with the English Scottish and Australian Bank in 1970 and 10 years later, the Bank of Adelaide.
The ANZ was the last commercial owner. In 1980 the Townsville City Council acquired and developed this heritage building as a public gallery at a cost of $650,000. The Queensland Government contributed a third of the development cost. The Gallery's operating costs are funded by the Townsville City Council.
The Gallery's collection currently numbers over 2,000 artworks. The focus is on works that relate to North Queensland, with an overall theme of the tropics for the collection policy. This thematic umbrella encompasses Contemporary Art of Tropical Queensland, Historical Art of Tropical Queensland, Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Art, Contemporary Art from Papua New Guinea, Popular Art, and Ephemera.
The Gallery has a diverse program of local, national and international exhibitions. A public program including floor talks, lectures and performances complement the exhibitions.
*As the name is a shortened form of Percival, the correct pronunciation of Perc is 'Purse'.
For more information see the Heritage Database and search 'Perc Tucker Regional Gallery'.