The gallery, part of the Horsham Town Hall complex, has been in Jubilee Hall in Roberts Avenue, Horsham, for the past five years during the town hall’s redevelopment.

Friday’s official gallery opening gave people a chance to see three new exhibitions drawn from the gallery’s collection: Smiling When I Wake; Album Leaves: The Mack Jost Collection; and The Pulse of the Land.

Jost was a Horsham-born pianist and teacher.

Wotjobaluk elder Aunty Nancy Harrison started the opening ceremony with a welcome to country.

She acknowledged the importance of art in the Wimmera’s culture and identity.

“I think we can all appreciate the work in making a high-quality exhibition centre that will be able to provide a platform for a range of art, and what the gallery does in relation to encouraging the region to experience art on all levels,” she said.

Gallery management committee chairman Don Johns said the new gallery was outstanding. 

“You won’t see anything like it anywhere in Victoria I don’t think,” he said.

Mr Johns said Jost played a major role in the gallery moving to Wilson Street from its first home in Horsham’s public library.

“Mack came to Horsham in 1981 for a piano recital,” he said.

“I was mayor at the time. Mack had a cheque he had been given for the recital, and he handed it to me to start an appeal for an art gallery to house his collection.

“I got a bit of a shock at the time because I didn’t know what to do with it.

“So I handed it to the friends of the gallery, and from that day on things happened quickly.

“We have a lot to thank Mack for. Without him, we might not be here tonight.”

Mr Johns also thanked the Handbury family for money they had donated to the gallery, including a $600,000-donation last year.

Art gallery director Adam Harding said he was excited to see the redevelopment project finished.

“It’s something I’ve thought about for quite some time,” he said.

“This building has housed our stories for the past 30 years, and with this project we'll continue to house those stories and share them with you.”

Horsham Rural City Mayor Heather Phillips thanked Horsham councillors and officers who worked on the project.

​“It’s been a hard three years, and we can all breathe a sigh of relief tonight and in two weeks when the hall is officially opened,” she said.

The gallery will open to the public on Saturday.

The town hall will officially open on February 12.