VOLUNTEER organisers of a popular, free annual outdoor art exhibition, held below the Monash Freeway at Richmond, say it could fold for lack of funding.

Co-ordinator Robert Lee says the non-profit Art at Burnley Harbour’s quirky location – in an industrial underpass, yet beside the Yarra River and wetlands – attracts people who don’t frequent art galleries.

He says there are families on a day out, cyclists from the bike path and tourists from cruise boats.

But collectors and interior decorators have also started coming.

Last year a woman from Toorak, across the river, bought eight paintings, picking them up in her boat.

She said they were Christmas presents for her grandchildren as young as one year old, because one was never too young to start an art collection.

But Art at Burnley Harbour, on this year for three days, from Friday, could be the victim of its own success.

It started in 2004 with 120 artworks over two days, and now has more than 400 pieces from 109 artists over three days.

Applications for grants and corporate sponsorships had failed. The event costs just $6500 to stage but insurance costs are rising.

The Contemporary Art Society of Victoria – of which Mr Lee is president – had noted artists Albert Tucker, Sidney Nolan and Arthur Boyd as members when it started in 1938. But   ‘‘they didn’t leave CAS any money’’ and it is not for profit, he says.

At Art at Burnley Harbour, artists pay a $7 entry fee and the Society gets 25 per cent commission on each sale – works range in price from $70 to $2000 – but that is ploughed back into security, insurance, cleaning and portaloos.

"Everyone congratulates us, we get lots of really good feedback but I point out that it’s all put on by volunteers," Mr Lee says.

"It's really hard to raise funds, put on an event of this size, promote it and keep costs down. We don't know whether we're going to be able to afford to do it again. If a benefactor is out there who could love to assist, we'd love it."

The event has grown from word of mouth and has added a pop-up cafe, children's drawing area and free dog food for canine visitors.

This year 35 sculptures for sale will be placed among the wetlands.

Mr Lee says Art at Burnley Harbour is a simple but effective way for artists and the public to interact outside the "white cube environment" of a gallery.

"I get great satisfaction when families bring their kids in a relaxed atmosphere to see art and the parents talk to the kids about the art, and the kids ask questions.

"It's a wonderful, easy way to enrich children's lives, and it's free."