AFTER an extraordinary 18 months of fund-raising, New England Regional Art Museum has reached its target early for The Yellow Room Appeal.
Fund-raising for Margaret Olley’s painting, The Yellow Room (Triptych) started in June last year, with the objective to raise the required funds by mid-2014.
At the outset the project seemed daunting but through the extraordinary support of numerous donors and fund-raisers, Olley’s painting will now officially call NERAM home.
The idea for an appeal to raise funds for the painting was presented to the NERAM board by members of the Packsaddle Fund-raisers, a well-known group who host annual fund-raising exhibitions at the museum.
A special Yellow Room Appeal Committee was set up to lead the project under the able guidance of Sam Beasley, who led an extensive appeal to individual donors and worked closely with various fund-raising groups associated with NERAM.
A number of generous donors provided significant funds over the life of the appeal.
The majority of these came from the Armidale community, with additional support from former residents and visitors to NERAM from many parts of Australia.
Olley’s trustees and her art dealer, Philip Bacon, of Philip Bacon Galleries in Queensland, have also gone out of their way to support the appeal.
It was Olley’s desire that her work would enter a public collection to be enjoyed by many.
The work, which is widely regarded as Olley’s “magnum opus”, will now join the many spectacular works in NERAM’s Hinton Collection.
The Yellow Room will be on display at NERAM until 2 February 2014 in the exhibition Splash! There will be a formal celebration to mark the acquisition in the new year.
