Publication type

non-fiction

Summary

Introductory Abstract - "On its instigation in 1973, the Albury-Wodonga Growth Centre experiment was hailed as a novel and imaginative project. It was a "pilot scheme" that was expected to influence the urban settlement pattern in Australia. It was a "bold venture", a "brave attempt" to solve a longstanding problem. It involved three governments embarking on an "exciting adventure". This short book length catalogue essay (51 pages) provides an illustrated guide to the social history and visual arts exhibitions mounted for the 40th anniversary in 2013 of the inauguration of the Albury-Wodonga National Growth Centre experiment. The essay served as rationale and support for two council exhibitions at the Albury Library Museum and the Arts Space Wodonga in October and November 2013. The background story and the exhibitions are about place-making. They ask about the kind of place that has been made at Albury-Wodonga. How was it imagined, promoted, grown? They examine the experiment of developing Albury and Wodonga jointly and rapidly, and ask how that experiment relates to the place now and in the future. It assesses and gives a broad contextual account of the National Growth Centre experiment at Albury-Wodonga and traces important aspects of the story with emphasis on a local point of view. " Bruce Pennay