Queensland Art Gallery Annual Report 1994-95

DIRECTOR'S REPORT to regional audiences through such exhibitions is a high priority. Towards this end the Gallery also lent a recent acquisition, Roland Wakelin's The Bridge under construction 1928, to the Logan Art Gallery for its opening and is planning an exhibition of As a gift to the Gallery to mark its centenary, the casting of Susannah by Daphne Mayo was commissioned by the Queensland Art Gallery Society. masterworks from the Australian collection for the The Collection also benefited from funds raised by opening of the Cairns Regional Gallery in July 1995. the Brisbane BMW Renaissance Ball, organised by the The Queensland Art Gallery Foundation continued to play a crucial role in contributing to the development of the Collection and support for major projects by attracting corporate sponsors, private donors and gifts. Acquisitions through the Foundation totalled ninety-two works, with assistance given for the purchase of an additional two works. In recognition of the Gallery's centenary year, the Queensland Government has made available a special allocation of $2.5 million over the next five years, towards centenary acquisitions for the permanent Collection. The Premier announced the special allocation during the State Cultural Policy launch at the Queensland Art Gallery on Sunday 4 June 1995. Acquisitions to date have included major twentieth-century international, Australian and indigenous Australian works. A change in funding arrangements to the Foundation by the Queensland Government enabled the Gallery to apply funds directly to the purchase of major works of art during its centenary. These included The Bridge under construction 1928 by Roland Wakelin; twenty-one etchings from Fred Williams's 'Music Hall' series; Le retour de Pierrot (The return of Pierrot) 1899, a hand-painted mahogany screen with painted silk panels by Charles Conder; and an 1868 cedar sideboard by Joshua Ebenston and Matthew Fern, which is an important example of Queensland colonial furniture, provenanced to Glengallan homestead outside Warwick. Several acquisitions were made from other sources, including funds generated by international exhibitions. Expansion of poetry 1913 by Italian futurist artist Leonardo Dudreville, which was unveiled by the Honorary Italian Consul, Dr Raimondo de Cardona, was an important addition to the international Collection. Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Members Liaison Committee chaired by Mr Michael Myer. The Ball included a successful fundraising auction of generously sponsored items. An important centenary event which focused awareness on the Collection and Queensland art was the seminar Art Off Centre organised through Griffith University's Queensland Studies Centre. With a keynote address by Dr Joan Kerr and papers by gallery directors, curators, art historians and academics from Brisbane, regional Queensland and interstate, including Gallery staff, the seminar was the first to focus on the development of art in Brisbane and regional Queensland. The Centenary Lecture Series began during the year, with a program of high-profile speakers focusing on a variety of Australian art issues. In preparation for the 1996 Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, the National Advisory Committee was appointed, and the consultative process integral to the success of the first Triennial has begun. A national forum, held in April, brought together over sixty curators, artists, cultural historians and arts administrators from all over Australia, and plans for an international forum are in progress. In recognition of the Gallery's considerable expertise and experience in staging the Triennial, the Senior Exhibitions Officer and Associate Registrar were among a group of Australian delegates invited to participate in a forum held in Malaysia to discuss a planned ASEAN contemporary art festival in 1997. In the area of human resources, a framework of policies and procedures is being developed to ensure employees' entitlements and responsibilities are clearly defined. These include Equal Employment Opportunity, Prevention and Resolution of Sexual Harassment, Notifying Grievances, Performance