Queensland Art Gallery Presscuttings Book 10 : Record of press coverage, March 1982 - May 1984

-~ ,,· Toowoomba Chronicl e 18 No v e mber 1983 More to -i:~-. .:~crn- "-pi rice --~JI-~-~ #,ri~~.ttot always a reliable -_ guii'.f~ 10 a wor~ .. of art, the senior curator of the Queensland Art Gallery, Mrs Bettina McAulay, said in Toowoomba. ·Mrs McAulay said the p:ice •~f art was determined by what people were prepared 10 pay. "Markel forces dictate prices but price i, not always a guide 10 quality. "The purchaser should assess values carefully before buying and auction results provide a guide. "There are not hard and fast rules regarding art values," she said. Mrs McAulay, who is researching the history or the Queensland Art Gallery, is assisting in compiling a dictionary of Queensland art and crafts as a bi– centermial project which will be published in 1987. Mr McAulay visited Toowoomba 10 open an exhibi– tion of work by graduating third year students in creative arts at the Darling Downs Institute of Ad– vanced Education. She spoke of the links between the Queensland Art Gallery and the city of Toowoomba which have ex– isted since the gallery started late last century. She spoke of enthusiasm which was evident during the Austral arts and crafts festivals in Toowoomba between 1903 and 1911 when 8000 flocked to the Austral Hall on the site of the old jail in Margaret Street. Mrs McAulay said the role of travelling art exhibi– tions was important from the early days of Queensland Art Gallery. Displays of paintings and craft work have been sent to Toowoomba from time to time. On the many art, craft and antique galleries which have sprung up on the Darling Do_wns in rcccnr·mon·– ths, Mrs McAulay said that "II is important for ar– tists 10 have galleries 10 show their work so that the public may look at it." "All galleries perform some sort of public service. Galleries must be seen 10 be useful on several levels, not sim I as sal ," she said. .,. . . , I . •·