Ararat Regional Art Gallery director Anthony Camm said the gallery had so far done just a couple of things to mark the milestone.

"We have done some yarn bombing at the front of the gallery, we have our current exhibition and our next show will feature a retrospective exhibition with some of the art of John Corbett, the artist most represented in our permanent collection," he said.

Yarn bombing is a form of street art involving knitted or crocheted yarn or fibre being placed around an object.

Outside the building a tree along with the entrance to the gallery has currently been decorated.

Mr Camm said the current exhibition harks back to the very early beginnings of the gallery.

"Bold Beginnings focuses on the first five years of acquisitions," he said.

"A lot of the early works that make up the collection reference the connection to wool."

Mr Camm said in its early days the gallery had a commitment to arts broadly before looking to fibre arts specialisation.

"In the mid 1970s the gallery was just new, it was still run by the community and had limited funds to develop," he said.

"A decision was made to begin collecting crafts including ceramics, glass and fibre which would bring in more money.

In the late 1970s the gallery move to specialise solely in fibre art.

"It was the only Victorian public gallery to do this and it served as a point of difference, it has been the gallery's exclusive focus ever since, today we only collect fibre art," Mr Camm said.

Since the early 1980s the gallery has hosted four biennial exhibitions that have toured Australia focusing on textile miniatures.

"Since then we have had a period of very strong collecting and we still hold many works from that time," Mr Camm said.

He said the focus on textiles' collection comes from the area's rich history.

"Ararat and surrounds has a reputation as a fine merino wool production region and this is shown through our current exhibition."

Mr Camm who has been director at the Ararat Regional Art Gallery since August 2007 said in the most recent decade the gallery had been through a period of transition.

"There was a period of transition between 2003 and 2007 with the gallery moving from community to council ownership in 2005," he said.

Mr Camm said the move to Ararat Rural City Council ownership was for the better of the gallery.

"We have access to more resources through our attachment to Council and we get support from Arts Victoria, the Arts funding agency," he said.

Mr Camm said during his time with the gallery he has tried to be more outward looking.

"We have really tried cultivating audiences specifically interested in fibre, but most importantly build goodwill in the community," he said.

"My number one priority is breaking down barriers to people being able to participate in the arts.

"People can have a degree of trepidation when they come into an art gallery, whether it is through past experiences or not, sometimes they feel it is an environment they can't relax in.

"We try to make sure everyone is warmly welcomed by creating an environment where people can enjoy what is on show."

When reflecting on some of the big collections of the past five years Mr Camm said the biggest response to a collection he ever saw was in 2011.

"The biggest show would be the Annemieke Mein collection, it had very wide appeal attracting over 1,000 people," he said.

"It really demonstrated the capacity of textile based shows to attract audiences."

Mr Camm said among the other highlights was a loan from the National Gallery of Victoria of a Eugene Von Guerard painting.

The painting was a view of Mount Langi Ghiran from Pleasant Creek.

Mr Camm said working alongside local artists John Eagle and Geoff Todd on major exhibitions of their work was also a highlight.

"It has also been good working with younger artists who have connections to the region," he said.

Mr Camm said an art gallery steeped in history in a town like Ararat brings a number of things in to the community.

"It is a resource for our local community, our schools and people of all ages," he said.

"People get nourishment through regularly visiting the gallery.

"It is also important for economic development and attracting cultural tourists who are in the high spending demographics, the flow on effects from that are valuable."

Mr Camm said as the gallery looks to the future it will be looking to expand its reach.

"We hope to strengthen our tenancy in the town hall and hopefully in time expand exhibition spaces," he said.

"The council currently has a project to increase access and that will be completed in the coming year."