Have you dreamed of owning your own art gallery?
That dream could become a reality.
The director and owner of Studio Altenburg in Braidwood, Cecile Galiazzo, is offering the gallery for sale with a fully booked exhibition program up to December 2023, stock, and its own website.
Three-quarters of the gallery's exhibitions have come from local and regional artists with the other 25 per cent coming from interstate.
Studio Altenburg is in a historic building from 1888 that was originally the premises of The Commercial Banking Company of NSW.
Galiazzo bought the gallery in in December 2018 from Francesca, the daughter of master silversmith Christoph Altenburg and his wife Kirsty who founded Studio Altenburg there in 1978.
"I took it over for the Braidwood Artists Group Christmas show," Ms Galiazzo said.
She said there had been many highlights, including exhibitions by Kim Mahood and Robin Wallace-Crabbe.
When Galiazzo came to Braidwood in 1982, there was a small group of artists, crafts people, writers and musicians living in the area.
"Many of us had made the decision to leave the city bustle behind and find a quiet place to raise our children and continue our creative practices."
Christoph Altenburg became a mentor and, from working as a nurse with an interest in art, Galiazzo went on to study visual arts at the Australian National University, specialising in printmaking and drawing. She graduated in 2000.
Galazzo was given the opportunity to be one of the graduating artists given an exhibition in ANU's Emerging Artists Support Scheme and owning the gallery enabled her to pay it forward.
"Supporting young artists is important and vital; it was done for me and so now I can return the same," she said.
Before buying Studio Altenburg, Galiazzo worked and taught in Canberra and elsewhere. The gallery survived COVID and has remained a major part of the local arts world.
After her mother's recent death Galiazzo felt it was "a time of reset".
Selling the gallery will be part of this, as will undertaking new challenges. She successfully applied to be a part of Rebus Theatre's year-long multidisciplinary Project Alchemy, collaborating with people in fields ranging from visual art to music to drama to create new work.
"I completed the first residency in November-December. The next residency is in February in Victoria," she said.
When the Rebus project is finished she intends to live and work for a year in the Northern Territory.
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Studio Altenburg is at 104 Wallace Street, Braidwood in NSW. Anyone genuinely interested in buying it can call Cecile Galiazzo on 0413 943 158. Website: studioaltenburg.com.au.
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