INTRODUCTION
The New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM) openly invites teachers, students and parents to discover the exciting world of art through its online Education Kit. This Kit is dedicated to Primary aged children and aims to introduce and explore the diversity, breadth and individuality of art and to encourage students to express themselves through the practices of art making.
All the works in the Kit are part of the Permanent Collections held at the New England Regional Art Museum in Armidale and cover a period of Australian art dating from the 1880s through to the present day. The collections consist of;
- The Howard Hinton Collection, a nationally significant collection with works by artists at the forefront of the Australian Impressionist art movement at the beginning of the 20th century and artists who took their inspiration from the Modernist movement. Artists include Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Lloyd Rees, Margaret Preston, Nora Heysen, Elioth Gruner and Adrian Feint.
- The Chandler Coventry Collection, a contemporary collection of Australian art of recognised innovative expressionist, abstractionist and figurative styles that reflect art movements of the 1950s to 1970s. Artists include Ralph Balson, Peter Booth, Gunter Christmann, Janet Dawson, Elaine Haxton, Leah MacKinnon, Michael Taylor, Dick Watkins and Brett Whiteley.
- The NERAM Collection, a collection that builds on the Hinton and Coventry collections and aims to provide a rounded taste of Australian art over the last century.
The Kit has been designed thematically to provide a degree of flexibility for exploring various units of works. This not only provides teachers with an excellent educational resource for the classroom but also allows students to explore the artworks independently. In addition, by concentrating on the subject, students can gain an understanding of art through different cultures, periods and styles allowing them to understand the evolution of artworks from multiple viewpoints. There are works that will surprise and delight and works that may challenge perceptions but through the experience of looking, discovering and making we aim to extend an interest and knowledge of art.
We hope you enjoy this selection of works in the Education Kit. It is only a small preview of many wonderful works you can see on a visit to NERAM. We look forward to seeing you there soon.
The Staff of NERAM 
