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- 24 November 2000
Queanbeyan School Of Arts Cafe Closure
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About this Item
Speakers - Webb Mr Peter
Business - Private Members Statements
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Page: 10909
Mr WEBB (Monaro) [4.45 p.m.]: This evening I speak of a sad occasion, the end of the Queanbeyan School of Arts Cafe. The cafe has become a local institution and a role model for cabaret venues. A lot of Australians who perform on the national and international stage got their grounding at that cafe. Queanbeyan has an opportunity to transform itself into a cultural centre close to the Australian Capital Territory, and the community could develop this site as a further cultural centre. The Queanbeyan School of Arts Cafe is a unique, energetic and high-profile entertainment business operating out of a heritage building in the main street, at 108 Monaro Street, Queanbeyan. It is the longest established cabaret venue in Australia and since 1986 has been owned and operated by Pat, Bill and Timothy Stephens.
The building, parts of which date back to 1867, has been tastefully redecorated. Originally it was part of the billiard room and reading room of the first Queanbeyan School of Arts which functioned in the building from 1895 to 1927. Over the years since 1927 the building has been used for a variety of purposes. However, in 1983 it was converted into the School of Arts Cafe, which the Stephens family purchased in 1986. It has become an important entertainment centre. Several nights each week it offers a unique form of professional dinner-theatre-music cabaret. It has showcased not only leading local entertainers but also many of the nation's biggest names in the field of cabaret.
Celebrity artists who have appeared there include June Bronhill, Lorrae Desmond, Geraldine Turner, Jan Adele, Nancye Hayes, Kerrie Biddell, Julian Lee, Jeanne Little, Jennifer Leslie, Jill Perryman, Toni Lamond, Margaret Roadknight, Bernadette Robinson, Judy Glen, Donna Lee, Lana Cantrell, David Campbell, Tim Draxl, Lynn Rogers, Dennis Olsen, John O'May, Derek Metzger, Peter J. Casey, Bruce Barry, Noel Ferrier and many more. Many programs have been recorded and broadcast by Artsound, formerly known as the Canberra Stereo Public Radio. Artsound now broadcasts programs recorded at the cafe, mostly on Sunday afternoons.
The cafe has produced a series of compact discs and a cookbook. It has participated in many other activities in the local and Australian Capital Territory region. The cafe has participated in the National Opera Festival and has attracted a number of awards, including the Southern Tablelands Regional Organisation Award for Tourism Restaurants, the I.M.B. Queanbeyan Business of the Year Award, the Australian Capital Territory Tourism Award, the Southern Tablelands Tourism Award, Capital Country Tourism Award and the McDonald's Queanbeyan Business Award.
For its efforts in providing work experience and employment opportunities for young artists, it was recognised during 1997 with an award from the Australian Capital Territory and Southern Tablelands Area Consultative Committee. People in the television and print media, such as Coralie Wood, have been involved. The cafe has many more functions within the local community and has its own web page. There is concern about the future of the Queanbeyan School of Arts Cafe. The Queanbeyan City Council and the local community must now act to continue the great tradition of the Queanbeyan School of Arts Café. The Queanbeyan Age newspaper, another icon in the local community, wrote:
All of the cafe's success over the past 15 years is due to the hard-working Stephens family who have created a venue which has won national acclaim and attracted local national and international stars.
The cafe has put Queanbeyan on the cultural national map. I offer my congratulations to Bill, Pat and Timothy Stephens on their contribution to the social fabric of Queanbeyan and to the arts in the local region, the State and the nation, and on the assistance they have given to all of the artists. I wish them all the best for this icon's closing festivities over the next few weeks. I sincerely hope that assistance from an individual, the Queanbeyan community or the Queanbeyan City Council will be forthcoming to continue this great icon. My best wishes to the Stephens family.
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