Documentary Australia Foundation

The Macquarie Galleries and the Untold Story of Australian Art 
This documentary proposal has now been approved and can be viewed on the website!

Mary Turner Documentary Proposal

An exhibition focused on the Orange Regional Gallery’s Mary Turner Collection is scheduled for August – October 2011. The Collection itself comprises 34 paintings which Mary donated to the Gallery in 1986, and the exhibition will include also significant Australian paintings by artists represented in the collection. In addition, a proposal for an exhibition focusing on the Macquarie Galleries is being planned for the Art Gallery of New South Wales, to be shown in 2013 or 2014.

Mary Turner (nee Killen), now 84, spent her childhood in the western outback of NSW, and subsequently studied in Sydney with the artists Thea Proctor and Adelaide Perry. In 1956 she was appointed a Director of the Macquarie Galleries, and continued in that role for 23 years. The Macquarie Galleries gave their first shows to both John Olsen and Margaret Olley, among many others. Mary Turner was an important mentor to artists Ian Fairweather, Kevin Connor, Grace Cossington Smith and a multitude of other renowned Australian artists.

Mary was a great-grand-daughter of Edward Killen II, who bought Urisino and three other stations in the far west of NSW from the cattle baron Sir Sidney Kidman. Edward Killen was a mentor to the philanthropist George Henderson, an uncle of Mary’s, who was one of the early users of light aircraft out west. See also: http://www.smh.com.au/news/Arts/Noteworthy-bequest-that-will-change-peoples-lives/2005/05/26/1116950818618.html. Mary can tell a story of being flown around by Henderson in the late 50s. Urisino was the base for the first flying Doctor’s service. Nancy Bird Walton describes her first dramatic view of the garden behind the high wind barrier fence in her biography My God it’s a Woman. George Henderson’s wife, Margaret Henderson, was the first female announcer on ABC radio (2FC) long before television. She was nee Margaret Doyle and directly descended from Cyrus Matthew Doyle who arrived in the Rolla in 1803 (Edward II was a comparative parvenu in 1852!) and is listed in the ADB (Aust Dict. of Biography)

This rural background is connected to the exhibition projects mentioned earlier. To give it concrete recognition, I am planning to take Mary and several artists on a field trip next April to the places of her childhood and heritage such as Nimagee (near Cobar), Urisino and Elsinora Stations, Wanaaring near Bourke. We have been offered accommodation at a Shearer’s quarters near the Elsinora homestead site and 80k’s from the Urisino homestead. The CWA has offered to cater for us.

Who we need to film urgently: Mary Turner, Margaret Olley, John Olsen, Kevin Connor, Roddy Meagher, Thora Craig, Mary’s sister, (95), lives in Townsville and worked at the Macquarie Galleries. Also Frank Watters, Edmund Capon (Re Mary’s time as an AGNSW Trustee), Stella Downer, Eileen Chanin, Lloyd Rees Estate, Idris Murphy, Guy Warren and so on. Author/Art Historian Christine France is available to interview artists.

Funding: The Orange Regional Gallery can sponsor travel and accommodation for the field trip in April. ORG are offering free accommodation and travel if artists donate a painting.

For this project to go ahead, we need donations from supporters to pay a producer to film this story for the ABC.

Available Archival Material/footage:

· We have been granted access to the Macquarie Galleries archive held at the Art gallery NSW up to 1979.

· Extensive family historical records collected by relatives such as Darrel Killen, Ted Marr and Mary herself.

· Noel Butlin Archives Centre at the Aust Nat. University.

· The State Library of NSW and Art Gallery of NSW have recorded and transcribed extensive interviews with Mary. The ABC has also interviewed her and the showreal should be found in the archives there.

Publication Proposal

Mary Turner and
the Macquarie Galleries

A systematic and comprehensive history of the Galleries and their influence on the shaping of Australian art

PUBLICATION PROPOSAL

Mary Turner and Treania Smith at the Macquarie Galleries, with a Grace Cossington-Smith painting, Sydney, April 1960. Photo by Jack Hickson; Property of State Library NSW

By Ann Proudfoot Horn and Dorothea Wilkin

'The whole art world came to us'

Mary Turner describing the Macquarie Galleries in the late 1950s

THE PROPOSAL

We propose to research, write and produce a book on Mary Turner and the Macquarie Galleries.

We request funding from sponsors, private donations and funding bodies, to pay modest professional fees to the authors and their associate during the financial year 2010–11. The main outcome will be a substantial book published by a reputable publisher.

It is expected that donations to the project will be tax-deductible. We are seeking an administrator or an organisation to auspice and to play an oversight role regarding the financial and legal aspects of the project.

THE MACQUARIE GALLERIES AND THE SYDNEY ART WORLD

The Macquarie Galleries, Sydney's seminal commercial gallery, was established in 1925 by the art dealers John Young and Basil Burdett. It represented a galaxy of Australia's great artists, including Roland Wakelin, Ian Fairweather, Grace Cossington-Smith, Lloyd Rees, John Olsen, Salvatore Zofrea, Rodney Milgate, Stan de Teliga, Kevin Connor and Ken Whisson. The directorships of Treania Smith BEM (1938–78), Lucy Swanton (1938–56) and Mary Turner OAM (1956–79) brought the Macquarie from pre-war artistic innocence, through the tumult of mid-century art, to the relative calm of the late 1970s.

Until 1957 the Macquarie were the only galleries in Sydney devoted to modern art. The Macquarie withstood competition from galleries that sprang up in the late 1950s and 1960s, such as those founded by Terry Clune, Rudy Komon and Kim Bonython. Then in the 1960s the floodgates opened and the art scene proliferated. But still the Macquarie endured, outlasting many of its younger rivals, until it closed its doors finally in 1993.

The Macquarie Galleries was founded in an era when art and commerce were seen as separate realms. Relations between the Galleries and its artists were founded on mutual trust, and the schedule of exhibitions was punishing, with typically two or three weeks for each show, including hanging, press reviews, Wednesday morning 'sherry' openings, and five, six and eight guinea shows.

Leading gallery directors of the present day, such as Frank Watters, willingly acknowledge the pioneering role of the Macquarie Galleries and its continuing influence on present practices. The Macquarie was the leading exhibitor and proponent of modern art in Sydney, and was known especially for its high ethical standards, fostering of artistic integrity and enduring relationships with artists. For example, artist Roland Wakelin, one of the first Australian modernists and a seminal figure in Australia's artistic development, exhibited with the Macquarie from 1925 through to his death in 1971.

The reminiscences of Mary Turner – rich in anecdotes and opinions about the life and times of the Galleries – will furnish one of the main strands for the proposed book. The State Library of NSW and Art Gallery of NSW have already recorded and transcribed extensive interviews with Mary. These resources will be augmented through further interviews with Mary and by reference to archival material on her colleagues at the Galleries, Treania Smith and Lucy Swanton. The three were doyennes of the Sydney art world between the 1930s and 1970s, and a clear account of their contribution to that world is long overdue.

RESEARCH PROPOSAL

A full-scale account has been written on the John Young era of the Galleries (1925–38) (Early Sydney Moderns: John Young and the Macquarie Galleries 1916-1946, Jean Campbell, Craftsman House, 1988). Nothing however has been done on the subsequent decades, apart from an obituary of Treania Smith by Mary Turner (Art and Australia, vol. 28, no.8, Autumn 1991, p. 343).

Required is a systematic and comprehensive history of the Galleries and their influence on the shaping of Australian art. The story to be told is rich with detail and anecdote about the artistic milieu of Sydney. The large Macquarie Galleries archive at the Art Gallery of NSW remains relatively unexplored and will be a major resource for the project.

The proposed book will explore four decades of the Macquarie Galleries, covering the years from 1938 to 1979. It is planned that the book will be approximately 80,000 words in length, and well-furnished with photographic illustrations. Several publishers have expressed strong interest in the project.

PROJECT PARTICIPANTS

Co-ordinator: Dorothea (Dot) Wilkin

MCAE DDM BArtEd ArtCert

Dorothea (Dot) Wilkin is an artist and secondary school art teacher. She has participated in numerous exhibitions and won awards for her painting, most recently the Nora Heysen Award in 2009. Her first degree was from COFA in Art Education (1991). More recently, she has graduated from the Master of Contemporary Art for Educators (2006). Dorothea is a cousin of Mary Turner.

Art Writer: Ann Proudfoot Horn

BA(Hons1) DipMusStud DipEd

Ann Proudfoot Horn has worked as curator, registrar and educator at museums and galleries in Sydney and Canberra, including the Powerhouse Museum, the Australian War Memorial and Government House in Sydney. She has published scholarly investigations of several Australian artists, and has produced substantial exhibition catalogues. Ann holds a B.A. with First Class Honours in Fine Arts from the University of Sydney (1991).

Researcher: Kathleen Worboys

BArtTh DipBkEdPub

Kathleen Worboys holds a Bachelor of Art Theory from the College of Fine Arts (2009) and a Diploma in Book Editing and Publishing from Macleay College (2009). She has worked as a volunteer on a variety of projects ranging from the Sydney Writers Festival to visual art exhibitions at Performance Space gallery in Sydney. She has edited the COFA produced online publication ArtWrite.

TASKS

• Carry out research in the Macquarie Galleries archive at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, focusing on the period 1938-1979.
  
• Carry out research on Macquarie Galleries' relations with artists during the period 1938–1979, and its influence on their careers. This will include video-recorded interviews with surviving artists, such as John Olsen and Rodney Milgate.
  
• Carry out further interviews with Mary Turner.
  
• Interview other gallery directors including Frank Watters (Watters Legge Gallery), Stella Downer and Eileen Chanin, Mary Turner's successor at the Macquarie Galleries.
  
• Interview Edmund Capon, Director, Art Gallery of NSW.
  
• Interview art collectors associated with the Macquarie Galleries.
  
• Picture research in newspaper archives.
  
• Write the book.
  
• Negotiate publication.
  

Mary Turner

Contact: Dorothea (Dot) Wilkin
Co-ordinator, Mary Turner and the Macquarie Galleries Project
Phone: 0439 441 333
Email: dot.wilkin@gmail.com

Ubuntu

Click on the invitation to read.

This is a fundraiser for the Fistula Hospital where my friends Andrew and Stephanie Browning work. The money will not go directly to the Brownings but to the Fistula Hospital in Addis Ababa.
I have donated some art and I will be at the opening so please do join me.

Multiple Personalities Exhibition- Shadow Birthday Party

Shadow Painting. Water soluble oil pastels and acrylic on un primed, un stretched canvas. 6.7meters. September 2007 Kelly's Bush Reserve, Hunters Hill NSW

Shadow Painting- My Birthday Party

This was my contribution to an exhibition which brought together a diverse group of Australian and International artists to engage with Ward 17 and Ward 18, the last outposts of Rozelle Mental Hospital, which after a long 123 year history was closed in 2008. This exhibition was on the 4th to 13th DECEMBER 2009.



Viewers could join the party by casting their shadow onto the painting. The audience becoming part of the artwork itself. Photo shoot for Front cover of C!ao Magazine. November 2009. Photography by Ben Cregan





Front cover of C!ao Magazine. November 2009. Photography by Ben Cregan

Nora Heysen Award for Belubula Street Carcoar

Dot Wilkin - Belubula Street Carcoar

Oil on Canvas 2008
SOLD
Nora Heysen Award at the Hunters Hill Art Prize Exhibition on May 15th 2009


See the exhibition here: http://huntershillarts.com/v/Awards/

Click on image to enlarge

Northern District Times, Wednesday May 27, 2009, pg 18

Click the image to read the article

Prof Chris O'Brien was deservedly the center of attention at the opening. He spoke beautifully about living in Hunters Hill, art and his Cancer center.
God Bless his spirit now as he rests in peace.

Dot Wilkin Artist- Biography

EDUCATION

2006 Master of Contemporary Art for Educators Sydney College of the Arts, University of Sydney.

1995 to 1996 Associate Diploma in Divinity and Mission, Sydney Missionary and Bible College

1988 to 1991 Bachelor of Art Education, College of Fine Arts, NSW University

1986 to 1987 Art Certificate, Meadowbank College of TAFE

1985 Higher School Certificate, SCEGGS Darlinghurst

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

2009 Rev 22:2 . “And the leaves of the Tree…” Christian Center, Moss Vale

2008 Rev22:2 at Launch for Centre for Public Christianity, April, see www.publicchristianity.org Centre West C3, Silverwater then the Old Police headquarters building, College Street, Sydney, during World Youth Day

2007 Rev 22:2 The Theater Gallery then the Foyer C3 Oxford Falls

1998 Advent, The Fountain Court, NSW Parliament House, Sydney

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

2009 Hunters Hill Art Prize

2008 Two New Views, Bede Kelcher and Dot Wilkin, Gig Gallery, Glebe

Rev22:2 Fuel Media office, Former Police Headquarters Building, College Street Darlinghurst

Ethics Art Award Exhibition TAP Gallery, Darlinghurst

2007 Christmas Boutique The Vienna Cottage

CCC Oxford Falls : Paintings

2006 Post Graduate Degree Show, Sydney College of the Arts

The Flower, Pampered with Purpose, GITC, Paddington

The Brave, Women’s Conference Exhibition, CCC, October

The Inaugural Up-to-Date Art Exhibition, July, Coolamon, NSW

Stations of the Cross, Easter Small Boat Big Sea, Fairlight

Presence, Christian City Church, Oxford Falls

Propeller Art Award, God in the City, Darlinghurst

2003 to present Advent Paintings, Wesley Institute, Drummoyne, Sydney

2000 Soli Del Gloria The Gallery CCC Oxford Falls

Great Southland Art Prize , April

Quest, More than Gold group exhibitions Wesley Center, Pitt Street, Sydney,

Diversity Gallery, Newtown and Church in the Market Place, Bondi Junction. October

1999 Advent paintings The Open Book Store, Rhodes

1999-2003 Advent Paintings The Gallery & the foyer of the Creative Arts building, CCC Oxford Falls.

1998 Hunters Hill Art and Craft Exhibition.

1997 The Artists Gallery, Hunters Hill.

The Great South Land Exhibition, The Presiding Officers’ Exhibition area, Parliament House, Canberra

Great South Land Exhibition & Art Prize

Hunters Hill Art and Craft Exhibition.

AWARDS AND PRIZES

2009 Nora Heysen Award, for a Hunters Hill female Artist

1997 Third place in Great South Land Exhibition & Art Prize

1987 Meadowbank College of TAFE. The Prize for Excellence in Painting

1987 Hunters Hill Art Prize Highly commended.

1985 SCEGGS Darlinghurst. The Enid Cambridge Art Prize

PUBLISHED/REPRODUCED

2008 Thursday, August 21, Fading Memories: Dot Painting by Peter Hyndman

http://www.bitingmidge.blogspot.com/2008/08/dot-painting.html

2008 April 15^th Northern District Times, Priory Fundraiser on Cockatoo Island.

2007 CCC E-zine

2006 Coolamon Shire News, August

2000 February Alive Magazine. pg. 28-29.

2000 Great Southland Art Prize Invitation.

1999 Great Southland Art Prize Invitation.

1999 October Family World News. Editor; The Rev. Fred Nile. front pg.

1999 November Southern Cross Anglican Newspaper. pg.

COLLECTIONS

Private collections in Munich, New York and Sydney

PROJECTS

2009 Assistant Coordinator Hope House Contemporary Art Auction, SCA Gallery; Raising funds for Afghan widows and orphans.

2008 Guest Speaker on Panel at Black Stump Arts Festival

Biennale 2008 Volunteer Installation and artists’ assistant; Pierre Huyghe, A Forest of Lines, Sydney Opera House and Nedkov

Solakov A Life (Black & White), 1999, black and white paint; 2 workers, Art Gallery NSW.

Studio resident Fuel Media Offices, College Street, Darlinghurst, during World Youth Day.

Studio resident 1+2 studios Rozelle.

The Priory Fundraiser, Cocktail Party on Cockatoo Island, sponsored by Mary Turner OAM

Lattice::Sydney, Forum; Creative Cities in the making http://sydney.latticeproject.net/forum/

2007 Field trip to Hill End.

Field trip to the site of the Elsinora Homestead, est. 1879, burnt down 1924, Wanaaring, NSW

Butterflies, Romans 12. Interpretive Painting, Frenchs Forest Baptist Church

Bachelor of Contemporary Art Design Committee, School Creative Arts CCC & Southern Cross College

2006 Live art making, at Christian City Church Events,

Artist in Residence, July 25-31, Coolamon, NSW (NSW Arts supported project)

Theo’s Inn, Artist Retreat. The New Criterion Inn, Historic Carcoar, NSW.

2005 Father, Son, Holy Spirit to Munich, Germany private collection

Killen Family Heritage Field Trip. Belfast, Ireland.

Workshop Leader on Intercessory, Prophetic, prayer drawing, invited by The Australian Prayer network

2004 Eden Dreaming Collaborative Art including Freedom and Structure and Creation

2002-2004 Judge for Prison Fellowship Art prize

2002 In your Light, Collaborative art Piece- dance, drama music and Visual art.

2001 Unless a seed Falls, Visual Arts Workshop Leader, Cooma Creative Arts Seminar.

Live at the Caffe and Eden Dreaming. Petersham AOG Live painting,

2000 Father, Son Holy Spirit, Open air Collaborative art happening, St Andrews Square, Sydney.

MEMBERSHIP OF PROFESSIONAL ORGANISATIONS

2008 to Present, Hunters Hill Art Prize Advisory Committee

Art Gallery, NSW

1998-2002 Independent Education Union

Arts Law Centre of Australia