Gallery director Brenda Wellman said the gallery's permanent exhibition spaces were rehung in early December to provide a fresh look for summer.

"There's usually a process of thinking about what's coming up in the travelling gallery space and what's topical in the community - both nationally and worldwide - that might be relevant for our visitors," she said.

"We pulled out portrait and still life paintings this time because we're showing an exhibition next year looking at the still life genre.

"Still life has been around since people started painting. Some people might not think painting and still life is still relevant in the age of photography and digital art.

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"We always hang the Wimmera room first. In our general gallery, we were thinking that people are in a different headspace this time in the year. So the current theme ended up being about dreams.

"As the director, I aim to have at least one thing that someone loves. You don't have to love everything here, but hopefully something will strike a chord with them. Sometimes it's fantastic to hate something too and and think about what has triggered that."

HORSHAM-born concert pianist was crucial to the formation of the Horsham Regional Art Gallery.

Mr Jost was an internationally successful pianist who taught at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He also had a large art collection.

"He offered the council at the time his collection and they weren't sure about it initially. They suggested putting on a temporary exhibition to see what the response was and it was phenomenal. The community engaged with it enormously," Mrs Wellman said.

"He then gave them his collection as well as funding to redevelop the old council chamber building into an art gallery. He also gave funds for his collection to be expanded. We're still using that money to buy new pieces.

"The only condition he put on those gifts was that his works were on display at all times. Because there are more than 400 pieces in the collection, we can pull out different themes and change it up."

Mrs Wellman said the gallery used the Mack Jost collection to show some of the gallery's more traditional works.

"His collection is primarily portraits and still life. We have bought a few landscapes in a similar style to what he would have bought; we also look to buy art from artists who are the start of their careers like he did. It keeps that collection contemporary and not a time capsule," she said.

THE gallery's main focus is on Australian photography artists from the Wimmera, which is a policy set by the council.

"We don't buy stuff because we like it, we buy pieces because they fit that council policy," she said.

"We have an acquisition committee that advises and confirms our proposals, then we have an advisory committee who we involve in that process. Then the trustees manage the fiances that have been left to us.

"We have been fortunate to have had a lot of money left to us. If we don't get that, we can't expand the collection. People do donate artworks to us and benefactors provide us with proposals. It's a great way for artists to also get a win, as well as the gallery.

"When people hear permanent they think it doesn't change which is a real misconception. Probably only seven to 10 per cent of the collection is out on the floor at any one time."

MRS Wellman said the gallery assessed each piece of artwork for its fragility and preservation needs.

"Works on paper and textiles are the most fragile. Paper is very susceptible to light and moisture, so we can only display them for about three months at a time and then rotate them," she said.

"If you rest your works on paper then they will recover slightly, so it's a long-term strategy to keep them in the best condition that we can.

"The other thing that is important is humidity levels which need to be stable. Our climate control has a humidity control as well as cooling. It's often really cool in art galleries, because we have a constant climate control because of the collection.

"Paintings like the Mona Lisa are behind glass cabinets not just for security but because of the environment; there would be a micro climate in that display.

"Paintings don't need to rest as much as works on paper. Sculptures can withstand a lot more, but they can be marked very easily."

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All artworks in the gallery's permanent collection that aren't on display are kept in a large vault.

"There are security standards for regional galleries that need to be met. There is limited access to the building and the vault," she said.

"The gallery is monitored 24 hours a day and seven days a week. It's also all fireproof. If the fire alarms go off, then the air conditioning is turned off so the smoke doesn't spread."

THE gallery received state government funding through Creative Victoria earlier this year to digitise its entire collection.

"It will be a five week project. We're hiring a flat bed scanner which will be able to take most of our collection," Mrs Wellman said.

"Having everything online will be a great resource because people don't realise what a great collection we have here. People can do their research, or look at the full Mack Jost collection, or maybe they are looking for something in particular.

"We'll be closing off the Mack Jost gallery and actually scanning the pieces in there so we can do it in the public arena. It will be open for people to have a chat and see how it all works. We'll probably be doing some open days for people to bring in their own artworks and get them scanned.

"That initial process is only the tip of the iceberg. Getting all the information uploaded onto our website will take a long time.

"Another benefit is that we get to see the whole collection one go. We have a digital database in the vault, sometimes it's not until you get to hold the pieces in your hand and hang them that you can see whether it need preserving work.

The gallery will start the project in March and finish in April.

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