Introducing Yarrila Arts & Museum (YAM)
Published on 18 October 2021
With the building name Yarrila (YA-re-la) Place firmly decided and strongly supported from all corners of the community, Council at its meeting on 14 October has resolved the new combined gallery and museum space will be known as Yarrila Arts & Museum (YAM).
Coffs Harbour Regional Gallery and Coffs Harbour Regional Museum titles were appropriate for two separate facilities however it was important to consult with gallery and museum stakeholders to name the new combined facility that will be a key attraction for Yarrila Place.
Naming of this important new Australian institution supports the promotion of the upcoming gallery and museum experiences that will include inspiring exhibitions and engaging programs for the Coffs Harbour community, visitors and beyond.
Coffs Harbour City Mayor Councillor Denise Knight said the horizon for our new community building and the institutions within are now in sight.
“I commend the process we have been through, building upon the illuminating idea of Yarrila, to light up and now to reflect the combined offering of art and history.
“We will be reading about national exhibitions at this new bright place, YAM at Yarrila Place. It will be a place for creativity and to celebrate our history and cultural identity.”
The stakeholder workshops were conducted to establish key themes and ideas of the new combined gallery and museum space, in particular its relationship to Yarrila Place, and the gallery and museum functions and their personalities.
A number of keywords resonated through both the Yarrila workshops and gallery and museum focus groups: creative, inspiring, colourful, thought-provoking, social and accessible, among many others.
Workshop participants were drawn from a diverse mix of artists, Friends of the Gallery, museum and gallery volunteers, Council’s Cultural Reference Group, and from Council’s gallery, museum and library staff.
In addition to the stakeholder workshops, the name pool for the gallery and museum benefited from some of the output from the Yarrila Place naming exercise. Research conducted into the naming of Yarrila Place sought feedback on galleries and museums in general, and on Coffs’ art gallery and museum in particular.
Both the building naming process and naming of the new combined gallery and museum were undertaken by local design firm saso.creative in conjunction with the Cultural and Civic Space Project Team.