MREAM is the Maribyrnong River Edge Art Movement, established in 1988 by a co-operative of Western Suburbs of
Melbourne artists. MREAM obtained the use of a disused industrial building from the
City of Footscray
The City of Footscray was a local government area about west of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia. The city covered an area of and existed from 1859 until 1994. Its civic centre, after which it was named, was Footscray.
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which had been compulsorily acquired as part a proposed urban renewal project on the banks of the Maribyrnong River. The group produced its first guide to studio spaces and
MREAM began working from a building in Moreland Street
Footscray in the 1980s, where a vibrant arts community developed around the
Footscray Community Arts Centre. When the area began to be
gentrified
Gentrification is the process of changing the character of a neighborhood through the influx of more affluent residents and businesses. It is a common and controversial topic in urban politics and planning. Gentrification often increases the econ ...
in a common process where artists led the revitalisation of run down and therefore cheap rental areas in
inner cities, the organisation was forced out of the building in 2008. They then moved to Pipemakers Park, Maribyrnong, where the group used space in the historic bluestone buildings at
Pipemakers' Park Maribyrnong to establish studio and exhibition space. However, these buildings were under lease to
Melbourne's Living Museum of the West
Melbourne's Living Museum of the West is an ecomuseum and community social history museum in Melbourne's western suburb of Maribyrnong. It was established as part of Victoria's sesquicentenary (150 year anniversary) in 1984, along with the Chil ...
which had a long term lease from
Parks Victoria
Parks Victoria is a government agency of the state of Victoria, Australia.
Parks Victoria was established in December 1996 as a statutory authority, reporting to the Victorian Minister for Environment and Climate Change. The ''Parks Victoria Ac ...
, and despite an attempt to place their own representatives on the committee of management of the Living Museum in 2011, they were subsequently evicted from the building.
MREAM continues as a loose coalition although was not particularly active in 2012-3, although some exhibitions have been staged under the banner ''Mream in Exile''.
References
{{Reflist
Australian artist groups and collectives