The Art Keepers

Often in Australian culture, our major art galleries tend to cater for the inner-city elite and can be exclusive spaces, unwelcoming to those without knowledge of art history and contemporary art theory. The Art Keepers challenges stereotypes about who art is for, and questions its place within Australian culture as something that is often undervalued compared to the importance of sport and the outdoors for example.

Art has the power to bring people and whole communities together through shared experience, questioning the world we live in and what it means to be human. We do this by featuring relatable characters who have grown to love art purely by being exposed to it regularly in their workplace – such as security guards and tradespeople who often come from outer suburban, regional, working class and migrant backgrounds. We aim to investigate – are our public art galleries truly accessible to everyone?

The Art Keepers is thought provoking and habit changing – opening up previously excluded audiences to engage with the arts; through relatable characters and without the formal art jargon. This is not a traditional arts documentary, but a series of character-driven stories where art is the vehicle to tackle a broader cultural issue in Australia – accessibility to the arts – by sharing what our major pubic art galleries can offer to everyone.

The Art Keepers aims to make art and major art galleries more accessible and relatable for all Australians. For arts-engaged audiences, the series offers a fresh perspective – shifting away from the usual lens of artists, curators and historians – we instead feature the overlooked voices of those who protect and care for art every day. For audiences who don’t typically engage with the arts, we’ll create connection and representation through engaging relatable characters (tradespeople, security guards and gardeners) whose stories reflect everyday Australian life.

At a wider organisational level – we hope that this series will foster dialogue between different parts of Australian culture. By partnering with three of the largest public art galleries in Australia, we aim to inspire to engagement with both new and existing audiences through a different creative approach. Ultimately, we want to celebrate the power of art for understanding and empathy.

Our key access to these communities is via our three participating major art galleries the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW), the National Gallery of Australia (NGA) and Heide Museum of Modern Art – which are central to our distribution strategy for our primary audience. Each will support the release of The Art Keepers specifically through Instagram and YouTube, newsletters and websites, ensuring the series reaches their extensive, arts engaged communities. We’ll also collaborate with media partners such as Art Guide Australia, ArtsHub, Broadsheet, and Guardian Australia for editorial coverage and interviews, strengthening our connection to the creative sector and broader Australian audiences.

To reach beyond traditional arts circles, and target our secondary audience we’ll partner with lifestyle and trade influencers like AFL’s Darcy Moore and builder Felicity Pettiford, who resonate with everyday Australians. Targeted Instagram and YouTube campaigns will further connect with both art lovers and new audiences, ensuring the series engages diverse communities through institutional, editorial, and digital networks.

Together, these partners form a well-integrated marketplace network that enables us to engage our key psychometric audiences across institutional, editorial, influencer, and digital channels ensuring maximum reach, visibility, and impact.

The Art Keepers call to action is a broad one, and subtle. It’s a call for engagement with the arts across a broad spectrum of Australian culture. Public art institutions, which are mainly funded through taxpayers via federal and state governments, are meant to be in the service of the whole population – so they do have the responsibility to connect to as wide a demographic as possible.

A New Approach (ANA), Australia’s national arts and culture think tank, during their research found that arts and culture when used in both clinical and wellbeing settings, delivers positive health and wellbeing impacts. The relationship between engagement with arts and culture, and benefits to health is indirect but strong – as evidenced by various credible international and national research sources.

We will demonstrate to our major art institutions how easy and simple it is to showcase the everyday Australians engaging in the arts, and to the general public – how accessible the arts truly can be.