Hornsby Arts Council Incorporated
In 2005 the Hornsby Arts Council Inc. accepted a spectacular gift on behalf of the people of Hornsby Shire - fine art works valued at nearly half a million dollars. The Hornsby Bestowed Collection includes works by local professional artists such as Margaret Woodward, winner of the Wynne Prize, who was recently honoured by the Parramatta Council with a retrospective exhibition. Peter Laverty, also a donor, is a prominent professional artist and a former Director of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The Hornsby Bestowed Collection includes important works by other highly respected artists including Rodney Milgate who inspired the founding of the Hornsby Art Society Inc. in 1965. For a complete list of the original donors, Click Here. All artworks have been generously donated by the artist, or their legatees, to the people of Hornsby and are administered under the curatorship of Hornsby Arts Council Inc.
The Hornsby Arts Council Inc. manages Hornsby's cultural heritage on behalf of its citizens and will enable people to experience the contributing artists' legacy in a number of different ways. Works from the collection will be hung at temporary venues while the Hornsby Regional Arts and Education Centre is being developed. A “general visits program”, including open days, group visits, concerts and other special events, will allow thousands of visitors each year to experience Hornsby's culture. Day visits to the centre, including an integrated program of school party visits, will be a feature of our services.
The Hornsby Arts Council's education unit will oversee exhibition programs that provide access to the Bestowed Collection through traveling exhibitions, loans to other institutions, special fundraising promotions and in other practical ways. The Collection was initiated by Ursula Laverty, a highly respected local professional artist, whose work is represented in the Collection. Ursula also sits on the Council's Advisory Board. This Board, when complete, will comprise expertise in Arts Administration, the Law, Public Relations, Education and Fundraising. An 'artists in residence' program will soon be in place and open to practitioners of all visual and performing art forms from Australia and overseas. Part of this artists’ brief will be to provide an education program in the individual artist’s field of expertise to the young people of Hornsby.
A major fundraising drive, including sponsorship by local businesses, both large and small, will shortly be launched. The Hornsby Arts Council Inc. aims to promote arts practice and enjoyment by making Hornsby a living arts centre for the creation and presentation of visual arts, writing, music and other performing arts, and the practical support of education and research in the arts.
Hornsby Arts Council - Working to create a regional centre for the visual and performing arts in Hornsby Shire!.
