ABOUT ORANGE REGIONAL GALLERY
| THE SMALL UPSTAIRS GALLERY 3 - 139 SQ METRES |
ALAN SISLEY, BRENDA GRAY AND CLAIRE BUCHANAN - STAFF |
Short information on ORG
Orange Regional Gallery was opened in April 1986, and has since developed a reputation as one of the finest regional art museums in Australia.
ORG is set in landscaped gardens in Civic Square, Orange NSW Australia.
ORG is owned by Orange City Council, and is mostly funded by that body, however important financial assistance is received from the New South Wales Ministry for the Arts, corporate sponsorship and local gallery supporters groups. Occasional funding is received from the Australia Council, the Federal governments arts funding body.
ORG was awarded the 1986 Sulman Prize for Architectural Merit. The functional design enables it to attract and display large exhibitions of the highest quality. Because of the fine architecture of the building, a new area of collecting the work of architect/artists has been developed. A large outdoor sculpture by Richard Goodwin and a painting by Imants Tillers are exciting recent acquisitions in this area of collecting.
The Gallery collects Australian contemporary paintings and prints, but has specialities in jewellery, ceramics and art clothes - this last category concentrating on articles which reflect the region's agricultural base, particularly the wool industry. Pieces from the permanent collection are always on display.
Assistance in purchasing works of art, and for smaller capital items and projects, is often provided by dedicated volunteer local groups such as the Orange Regional Arts Foundation and the Friends of the Regional Gallery.
The Mary Turner collection is also often on show. This collection was given to the City of Orange, and includes work by Nolan, Cossington Smith, Fairweather, Wakelin, and many other modern Australian masters.
From time to time the Gallery will commission and tour significant exhibitions of photography - recent examples are Still Action - the War Photography of Damien Parer and Portraits of Rite by American photographer Bill Davis.
Each year ORG generates at least two self curated exhibitions that are toured throughout the country. Indeed, by the end of 2003, over 400,000 people had seen an Orange Regional Gallery touring exhibition during the previous six years. Recent touring exhibitions of paintings and sculpture include Desert Journey, the result of a spectacular adventure into the desert by ten Central West artists including Tim Winters, John Winch, Robert Crombie and Ros Auld . This exhibition is unique in many ways, not the least being that the trip into the desert was entirely sponsored by Barry Blake’s Outback tours. Fantastic and Visionary Art was also toured to three states.The current touring exhibition is Australian Outsiders, which is going to Halle St Pierre in Paris for six months in September 2006. and next year Cuisine and Country, a large show curated by Gavin Wilson will tour to 11 venues.
ORG is one of the best patronised and busy regional galleries in Australia, holding up to thirty exhibitions annually; each year it generates at least two self curated exhibitions that are toured throughout the country.
Orange Regional Gallery attracts up to 30,000 visitors per year, representing an enviable proportion of its immediate local population of 36,000 persons.
Orange Regional Gallery is open from Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am to 5pm and on Sundays and Public Holidays from 12pm to 4pm. Visits outside of these hours can be made by ringing (02) 63938136, fax (02)63938100.
"DAKOTA" 1997, ACRYLIC, WISHBONES, LINEN, GLASS AND WOOD.
FROM JAMES GUPPY'S JUNE 98 EXHIBITION "BLEMISH"
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Long Information about history, staffing of gallery
Orange Regional Gallery - Information as at September 2002
The Director is Alan Sisley. He has previously been Director of the City of Hamilton Art Gallery in the Western Districts of Victoria, which holds one of the finest smaller collections in Australia. He was also Manager of the top of the market commercial gallery Australian Galleries in Sydney, and oversaw the building and outfitting of that elegant space in Paddington, and then came to Orange to run what is widely regarded as one of the three best contemporary art spaces in New South Wales.
He is currently a board member of the Regional Galleries Association of New South Wales, and has been a past chairman of the Victorian Regional Galleries Directors Conference. Alan is also known as a writer on arts issues featuring regularly in Periphery magazine and other journals.
Education Officer is Brenda Gray, whose reputation is well established among art education authorities in this state - she is regularly invited to curate ARTEXPRESS for the Regional Galleries, and addressed the National Art Education of America Conference in Chicago 1998.
Administrative Officer is Claire Buchanan who is truly multi-skilled, with various publishing, people and admin abilities.
This small full time team is augmented by just 1.2 equivalent part time and casual positions, all of whom have particular complementary abilities and most of whom have been with the gallery for a number of years. Heather Pike and Catherine Phillips are regulars on the weekends and will be known by most visitors. Others come in as required when special functions or exhibitions call for extra help.
The Gallery is owned and administered by Orange City Council, with financial assistance from the New South Wales Ministry for the Arts and the Australia Council.
An Advisory Committee comprising representatives of Council, the Friends, Guides, the Gallery Director and citizens representatives help with policy and decision making and make recommendations to Council. Nominations for the Citizens representatives are called for around the time of Council elections, and have the same term as Councillors. Anyone can nominate to be a Citizens rep on the Art Gallery Committee.
Orange Regional Gallery was opened in April 1986, and has since developed a reputation as one of the finest regional art museums in Australia.
The Gallery is set in landscaped gardens in the middle of the Civic Square, a complex bordered by Byng and Peisley streets that includes the Council Offices, the Theatre, Library and Gallery.
Orange Regional Gallery is open from Tuesdays to Saturdays from 10am to 5pm and on Sundays and Public Holidays from 12pm to 4pm. Visits outside of these hours can be made by ringing (02) 63938136, fax (02) 63938100.
Orange Regional Gallery is one of the best patronised and busy regional galleries in Australia, holding around thirty exhibitions annually. Each year we generate at least one self curated exhibition that is toured throughout the country. Since 1986, over 350,000 people have visited the Gallery, of whom about 10% are school children and 10% are tourists from outside the Central West.
The Library/Gallery part of the complex was awarded the Sulman Prize for Architectural Merit - which is a mixed blessing, for although the functional design enables it to attract and display large exhibitions of the highest quality, it is difficult to make any structural changes without incurring the ire of the architectural and heritage professions. As museums are organic things that need to grow and change to reflect their times, the prestigious nature of the architecture makes this a bit tricky.
The Gallery offers three main exhibition spaces offering over 600 square metres of space devoted to nearly thirty changing exhibitions each year. We also have a small theatrette and a studio space that we use for our own educational programmes and also offer for hire for meetings and functions.
Unlike some art museums, Orange Regional Gallery is a friendly place where children are most welcome and many activities are specially organised for families.
The Gallery collects Australian contemporary paintings and prints, but specialises in jewellery, ceramics and art clothes - this last category concentrating on articles which reflect the region's agricultural base, particularly the wool industry. Pieces from the permanent collection are always on display.
The Mary Turner collection is also often on show. This collection was given to the City of Orange by Mary Turner OAM, and includes work by Nolan, Cossington Smith, Fairweather, Wakelin, and many other modern Australian masters. Mary Turner was appointed a Trustee of the Art Gallery of NSW, serving for two years from 2000. Her important collection can always be seen by appointment in our storerooms if it happens not to be on show.
We also have a long term project to put sculptures along the green belt between the Gallery and Moulder Park. The works in the gallery environs by Richard Goodwin and Bronwyn Oliver are just the first of many we hope will be commissioned over the next thirty or so years to create this planned sculpture walk, which should be a tourist attraction in its own right. A major work by Bert Flugelman, commissioned by the Orange Regional Arts Foundation is the most recent work of public art in Orange, although in this case, because Council did not want the work in Robertson Park (believing that it would not suit the 19th century ambience) the work was sited in the Orange Botanical Gardens, so is not part of the planned sculpture walk.
From time to time the Gallery will commission and tour significant exhibitions of fine art, craft and photography - examples are To Orange with Love - by Max Dupain, Being with Objects - ceramics which toured to most states of Australia, the first survey exhibition of the work of Tim Storrier, Still Action - the War Photography of Damien Parer and Fibre Imprints – a show of the best Australian exponents of the Shibori textile techniques. The current touring exhibition is the highly successful Australian Outsiders.
The Mary Turner Collection was exhibited at Stanthorpe Regional Gallery and other sections of our collections went down the road to Bathurst. Indeed, by the end of 2003, over 400,000 people will have seen an Orange Regional Gallery touring exhibition during the past six years.
Another recent touring exhibition of paintings and sculpture is Desert Journey, the result of a spectacular journey into the desert by ten Central West artists including Tim Winters, Robert Crombie and Ros Auld . This exhibition is unique in many ways, not the least being that the trip into the desert was entirely sponsored by Barry Blake’s Outback tours.
Not only do we show the best international and national art we can afford, but we also try to reflect the broad range of art and craft made locally. All of our exhibitions are curated and presented to high professional standards, and we think we provide a service to artists and the public that is unparalleled in metropolitan areas.
We have a formal Exhibitions Policy that helps us present a balanced programme where no style or group of artists can predominate, and which is informed by a broader policy that for exhibitions of just a few artists, that these artists should have been formally trained in an art teaching institution and/or have a sound track record exhibiting in commercial galleries. Although we acknowledge a responsibility to the practice of local artists, our primary goal is always the demonstration of the highest quality art and art that is influential both locally and nationally
Sounds good doesn’t it? Why not come and see for yourself ?
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