Hi Bronwyn, thanks for your post! I think it is super important for gallery spaces to provide public programs that supplement the current exhibition. It allows for different avenues of audience engagement.
I too found it interesting that you linked the talk with SLQ’s goals and strategies. I have long wondered about the way that the exhibition space at SLQ is run, given that SLQ’s primary focus is being a library. I wonder how much the library’s goals and strategies influence the curation of the exhibition program. They do host a lot of work that covers local and historical topics which I think fits with the position and responsibility that public libraries have within the broader community.