The New England Regional Art Museum is seeking funding to put the acclaimed Howard Hinton Collection into a newly refurbished display which will bring to light its treasures of Australian art.
The 2017 NERAM Annual Appeal is asking for donations towards the $150,000 refurbishment of one of the art museum’s key spaces as a large scale permanent exhibition of works from The Howard Hinton Collection including paintings by Tom Roberts, Arthur Streeton, Margaret Preston, Norman Lindsay and Elioth Gruner.
“We see this as a transformational project which will help to put NERAM on the tourism map as the ‘must-see’ cultural destination in regional New South Wales with a display of beautiful and significant Australian art,” said Robert Heather, Art Museum Director. “The refurbishment will also present our national significant collection of art historical treasures in a new a way which will also tell the story of Howard Hinton and his philanthropy.”
“Between 1929 and 1948 the former shipping company director Howard Hinton OBE bought and donated over 1000 artworks to the newly established Armidale Teacher’s College where they were displayed on the walls of offices, hallways, lecture theatres and libraries throughout the busy building where generations of rural teachers received their training and education.”
“This is one of the great stories of philanthropy in Australian history and it involves a collection of over 1000 significant artworks by leading artists from the first half of the twentieth century which currently spend most of the time sitting in storage at the art museum here in Armidale.”
“Over the past thirty years NERAM has curated a number of large and small exhibitions from The Howard Hinton Collection as a core element in its program, however there is always a demand to see more of these works on display,” he said. “The planned permanent display will include a dense salon-style hang of over 100 key works as well as an audio-visual about Howard Hinton, his life and times.”
“We have already raised half of the projected costs from the Margaret Olley Art Trust and a group of committed supporters and now we are asking the community to help with the rest of the cost of making these great artworks accessible and turning NERAM into a significant stop for travellers passing through the region.”
“We are asking our visitors, NERAM supporters, former staff and student alumni from the Armidale Teacher’s College and other members of the community to make donations to our Building Improvement Fund which will go towards putting the Howard Hinton Collection on the walls of NERAM in a long-term display.”
“With your support we can make this happen.”
Howard Hinton OBE (1867-1948) arrived in Sydney as a young man in the 1890s and lived with artists such as Tom Roberts and Arthur Streeton in camps around Mosman and Cremorne. He soon found work as a clerk with the shipping agents W & A McArthur Ltd, rising to the position of Director in 1916, and retiring in 1928.
Described as a ‘modest and self-effacing gentleman’, he lived in ‘Hazelhurst’, a boarding house in Cremorne with a small selection of artworks and books. A lifelong lover of the arts who had aspired to be an artist when younger, he was a regular fixture as art exhibitions around Sydney and was a Trustee and donor to the (then National) Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Following his retirement he started donating hundreds of paintings, sculptures, books, prints, drawings and other artworks to the new Armidale Teacher’s College (which opened in 1930), and was warmly welcomed by students, staff and the wider community on his rare visits. He died of severe pneumonia and heart failure in 1948 and the final shipment to the college included the small selection of artworks that had been in his room at the boarding house.
Community concern about the collection led to it being relocated into the purpose built New England Regional Art Museum in 1983, where it now forms the basis of regular exhibitions, displays and other programs that are seen by thousands of visitors to the beautiful university town of Armidale.
The New England Regional Art Museum is the custodian of over 5000 artworks and the collections also include the Chandler Coventry Collection, The Armidale City Collection, the NERAM Collection and the Museum of Printing Collection of wood and metal type and equipment from F.T. Wimble & Co.
New England Regional Art Museum Ltd is a not-for-profit organisation that receives funding from the Armidale Regional Council, Create NSW and the Margaret Olley Art Trust. Donations to New England Regional Art Museum are tax-deductible.
To find out more about donating to the 2017 NERAM Annual Appeal and the Howard Hinton Collection visit the Annual Appeal webpage or download a donation form.
2017 NERAM Annual Appeal Donation form correct BSB
