Council to assess art collections

A region-wide review and valuation of the artworks in Southern Downs Regional Council’s art collection is underway.
It is an important exercise and even more so for new Stanthorpe Regional Art Gallery director Penelope Hillam, who has never seen the whole collection.
“I arrived on January 10, the day before the floods actually, so this is a really beneficial exercise that helps me understand the full depth and breadth of the collection,” Ms Hillam said.
“Southern Downs has a very wide and diverse collection covering a number of different art forms,” she said.
“This review gives us the opportunity to see all the works together, which also helps with planning potential exhibitions.”
She joined Warwick Art Gallery director Karina Devine and valuer/curator Bettina MacAulay from Brisbane to examine all the works, estimate their current value and determine if any conservation work is needed.
Works are predominantly stored in the Stanthorpe gallery storage area and are also displayed at Warwick council offices, Warwick gallery, Stanthorpe council offices and Stanthorpe’s Carramar retirement facility where they are displayed for residents’ enjoyment.
Ms Devine said it had been some time since the collection had been valued and she was keen to see its current worth.
The Warwick collection was last valued in 1994 when it had 19 artworks; it now has around 30 artworks.
The Stanthorpe collection was last valued five years ago. It has an estimated 600 artworks and 400 historical photographs.
The Warwick Art Gallery stopped collecting after 2009, due to lack of storage space.