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The Gallery Collection
The foundation of the Gallery’s collection are works
which have won the Calleen
Acquisition Award,
an
award that has grown to a substantial prize
for artists
across Australia.
Other works have been added to the Gallery’s collection
through gift, donation and other methods such as through
a grant which may have provided funds to create works
specifically for an exhibition or program.
Like most public galleries, the Cowra Regional Art Gallery
has
a collection policy, which guides its acquisitions. This
helps the
Gallery Committee and the Director stay focused on acquiring
works that meet the guidelines. The Galley hopes to continue
to add to the collection through the generosity of gallery
supporters,
by gifts and donations of works of art that are compatible with our
collection aims.
The Calleen Collection
The Calleen Collection is comprised of works of art acquired
since
1977and covers a wide range of styles from
traditional to contemporary, and includes paintings, prints,
ceramics
and glass. Each year scores of works are entered in The Cowra
Festival Art Awards, with the winner selected for the Calleen
Acquisition Award.
Three times during its 28 year history (in 1981, 1996 and 2003) the
judges
selected two works to receive the Award.
The Cowra Art Group initiated the Festival Art Awards in
1966.
The Art
Group wanted to encourage area artists and give them a place for
exhibition and competition, as there were very few venues available
for shows of this type.
This art show was actually in a significant way connected to a
wider
movement called the Country Exhibition Scheme, begun after WWII
by art historian Bernard Smith, under the auspices of the Art
Gallery of
New South Wales. Smith took works of art to the country areas of
NSW, giving lectures in small community halls and schools
about art history
and contemporary art. This scheme was very successful and led to
many communities establishing art groups and later art galleries of
their own in
order to continue and support the encouragement of the
arts.
In 1976
,
the Calleen Trust made its first donation of prize money for an
acquisitive painting, through the generous gift of Cowra resident
and
art patron Mrs. Patricia Fagan. The work was to be hung in the
Council Chambers and to be called "'The
Calleen Collection', and form the nucleus
of a collection for a future art gallery for
Cowra". From Cowra Art Group Minutes
2007 Festival Art
Awards......
Previous Calleen
Acquisition Award Winners.......
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