TarraWarra Museum of Art facts for kids
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| Established | 2002 |
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| Location | Tarrawarra, Victoria, Australia |
| Type | Art museum |
TarraWarra Museum of Art is a cool art museum located in Tarrawarra, Victoria. It's about 45 kilometers northeast of Melbourne. This special museum was started by Eva and Marc Besen. They were art lovers and also "philanthropists," which means they were generous people who gave a lot of money to help good causes.
TarraWarra Museum of Art was the very first art museum in Australia to be supported by a large "private endowment." This means a lot of money was given by private individuals to help the museum run forever. The museum company was officially set up in 2000. The museum first opened its doors in a temporary spot in North Melbourne in 2002. The person who officially launched it was John Howard, who was the Prime Minister of Australia at the time (the leader of the country). The main museum building, designed by Alan Powell, opened in 2003 in the beautiful Yarra Valley. The museum is all about exploring art, the place it's in, and new ideas.
Amazing Art Collection
Eva and Marc Besen started collecting art way back in the 1950s. They gathered many fantastic artworks. By the 1970s, their collection was known as one of the best collections of modern Australian art in the whole country!
When the museum opened, the Besens gave many of their artworks to start its collection. Since then, TarraWarra has continued to buy new art pieces. The museum often shows artworks from its collection in special exhibitions.
The collection includes paintings and sculptures by many famous Australian artists. Some of these artists are Arthur Boyd, John Brack, Russell Drydale, Rosalie Gascoigne, Dale Hickey, Susan Norrie, John Olsen, Patricia Piccinini, Clifton Pugh, Jeffrey Smart, Brett Whiteley, and Fred Williams.
TarraWarra Biennial Art Show
The TarraWarra Biennial is a special art event that started in 2006. It happens every two years ("biennial" means every two years). The goal of this event is to find and show new and exciting art from today's artists.
In one Biennial, the artist Vincent Namatjira showed his work called Endless circulation. This art included portraits of the seven Prime Ministers who had been in charge of Australia during his lifetime. Other artists like Vernon Ah Kee, Helen Johnson, Wukun Wanambi, Sarah crowEst, and Agatha Gothe-Snape also showed their art.
The third Biennial, held in 2012, was called Sonic Spheres. The museum's director, Victoria Lynn, organized this show. It featured 21 art pieces that used music, sound, and voices. It included well-known Australian sound artists. It also had artists who were famous for other types of art. For example, Angela Mesti's piece was called Some Dance to Remember, Some Dance to Forget. Christian Thompson showed his work Dhagunyilangu – Brother, which was sung in the Bidjara language.
