New England Regional Art Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1983 |
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| Location | Armidale, New South Wales, Australia |
| Type | Art museum |
| Key holdings | Mosman's Bay, McMahon's Point Ferry, Near Streeton's Camp at Sirius Cove |
| Collections | Howard Hinton, Chandler Coventry, NERAM, Armidale City, Museum of Printing |
| Collection size | 4,500 |
| Visitors | 40,000 annually |
| Architect | Andrew Andersons |
| Owner | NERAM Limited |
| Nearest parking | on and off street (no charge) |
The New England Regional Art Museum, often called NERAM, is a cool art museum in Armidale, New South Wales, Australia. It's known for its amazing collection of Australian art. NERAM has the second largest and most valuable art collection in regional New South Wales. Its artworks are worth more than A$25 million! The museum building has six art galleries, a special Museum of Printing, an artist's studio, and even a shop and cafe.
Contents
History of NERAM
How NERAM Started
NERAM first opened its doors in 1983. It was built especially to keep and show off the art collections of two generous people: Howard Hinton and Chandler Coventry. It also housed the existing Armidale City Art Collection.
Howard Hinton's Gift
Howard Hinton was an art collector from Sydney. He started giving paintings to the Armidale Teacher’s College way back in 1929. His goal was to show how Australian art developed from 1880 onwards. After he passed away in 1948, he had donated over 1,000 artworks!
By the 1970s, it was clear these valuable artworks needed a safer home. They needed special care to protect them, which a college building couldn't provide. Experts said Hinton's gift included "magnificent Australian landscapes" by famous artists. Some of the most important paintings were Morning Sketch (aka McMahon's Point Ferry) and Near Streeton's camp at Sirius Cove by Arthur Streeton. The most famous one was Mosman's Bay by Tom Roberts.
In 2016, another important gift of 11 artworks was made to NERAM by John Gale OBE. These new pieces helped make the Hinton collection even better. In 2018, a special exhibition called Hinton: Treasures of Australian art opened. It showed more than 130 of the best works from the Hinton Collection. This exhibition helped make NERAM one of the top art galleries outside Australia's biggest cities.
Chandler Coventry's Vision
Chandler Coventry was a big reason why NERAM was built. He grew up in the Armidale area. He first saw amazing art through the Howard Hinton Collection when he was a school kid. Like Hinton, Coventry was also an art collector. He even had his own art gallery in Sydney.
Coventry offered his collection of 300 artworks to Armidale. His collection was described as "one of the most important collections of contemporary Australian art." He made this offer on one condition: a new art museum had to be built to hold both his and Hinton's collections.
The people of Armidale worked hard to raise money for the new museum. With help from the NSW State government, NERAM officially opened on March 26, 1983. The Premier of New South Wales, Neville Wran, was there for the opening.
NERAM was built on land near the old Armidale Teachers College. The building was designed by Andrew Andersons and David Turner. Later, in 1997, more display areas were added. A cafe and an artist's studio were also included.
Art Collections at NERAM
NERAM takes care of several important art collections. These collections show Australian art from different time periods:
- The Howard Hinton Collection: This collection features Australian art from the 1880s to the 1940s.
- The Chandler Coventry Collection: This collection focuses on Australian art from the 1960s and 1970s.
- The NERAM Collection: This collection includes Australian art from the 20th century up to today.
- The Armidale City Collection.
- The Museum of Printing collection: This includes old printing equipment and type.
Together, these collections have over 4,500 artworks! They are especially strong in Australian art from the 19th and 20th centuries. You can see important works by artists like Arthur Streeton, Tom Roberts, Nora Heysen, Elioth Gruner, Margaret Preston, Brett Whiteley, James Gleeson, Tony Tuckson, and Christo.
Museum Facilities
NERAM has six main galleries where art is displayed. These include the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation Gallery and the East Gallery. There's also the Packsaddle Artist's Studio. This studio is a place where artists can stay and work. It's also used for special events.
The NERAM Research Library has many valuable books and historical documents. These include Howard Hinton's own library. It's a great place to learn about Australian art.
The Howard Hinton Archive keeps personal letters, diaries, and poems from Howard Hinton. It also has records about his art donations.
How NERAM is Supported
NERAM gets its money in different ways. It receives funding from the Armidale Regional Council. It also gets grants from the NSW government every three years. Many people and groups help support the museum. This includes the Margaret Olley Art Trust, members, and donations. Money also comes from art classes, shop sales, and special events.
The NERAM Foundation was started in 2009 to help support the museum. The Friends of NERAM group helps people get involved and become members.
One of the museum's biggest yearly fundraising events is 'Packsaddle'. This is an exhibition and sale of original artworks from artists all over Australia. The money raised helps NERAM buy new artworks for its collection.
There's also an 'Adopt-an-Artwork' program. People can donate money to help pay for the care and repair of artworks in the collection.
A Challenge for NERAM
In 2006, NERAM faced a big challenge. The museum had a debt of over A$480,000 to the Armidale Dumaresq Council. A plan was suggested to sell half of Tom Roberts' famous painting Mosman's Bay to the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The idea was that the painting would spend half the year in Armidale and half in Sydney. Mosman's Bay is a very important painting from the Hinton collection. At the time, it was valued at A$3.6 million.
This idea caused a lot of discussion. Some people wanted to help NERAM financially. Others wanted to respect Howard Hinton's original wishes and keep the collection together. The case even went to court in 2009. The court decided that the painting could not be sold. This was because of a special document Hinton had put in place. After this, NERAM started selling other artworks that were not part of Hinton's original gift to help pay off the debt.
Between 2006 and 2016, the museum repaid over $300,000. In June 2016, the debt was finally paid off. This happened thanks to an anonymous donation of $50,000. The Armidale Regional Council also decided to forgive the remaining $100,000 of the debt.
Museum of Printing
Inside NERAM, you'll find the Museum of Printing. This museum has a very important collection of old printing machines and equipment. It's called the F T Wimble & Co. Collection.
The collection includes old printing presses, a Linotype machine, and tools for binding books. There are also wooden and metal types used for printing letters. You can learn about the history of printing in Australia from 1850 to the early 1900s. The museum has over 1,000 printing blocks and many books about printing. They often change the displays of smaller equipment and printed items. This museum is the only Australian member of The Association of European Printing Museums.
