From tomorrow, the gallery will scrap entrance fees, a move in line with other galleries of note around Australia.

While the move is a step back to the 1880s when the gallery first opened as a public gallery with free entry for all, it is also a step forward into an age when entry charges, no matter how nominal, can hold people back from an arts experience.

Our gallery is under-appreciated by local residents, at least in the sense that few take the time to visit it and enjoy the many wonderful and varied works it has to offer.

Ask any arts enthusiast across the country, and they will tell you that Ballarat's collection of works is remarkable.

Yet too few of us here ever take the time to get to know or understand how special it is.

The move to free entry is a sensible one which will allow all of us to become re-acquainted with what should be considered a jewel in our Ballarat crown.

Those who established the gallery, known then as the Ballarat Fine Art Public Gallery, were specific in their desire that it be open for both the rich and the poor of the city.

The City of Ballarat, which assumed management of the gallery in 1979, is keen to resurrect those ideals and ensure that everyone in Ballarat, and beyond, has equal access.

While the arts often carry an elitist tag, we know this does not necessarily have to be the case.

Everyone, no matter what their background or status, can view and interpret the gallery's collection in any way they choose.

This is particularly evident when groups of school children wander through the gallery and give their own suggestions as to how or why a particular work has come to be and what, in their minds, it represents.

So it should be for adults. We do not need to understand an artist's thinking behind a work, though for some, that is part of the attraction. All we need to do is create an image in our own minds that is relevant to us.

That is one of the beauties of the arts - they lend themselves beautifully to an individual's interpretation. There are no right or wrong answers.

Make sure you take time-out in the not-too-distant future to visit the gallery and discover that for yourself.