AGNSW_AnnRep_00 full.pdf - Parliament of New South Wales ...

SUPPORT
The Art Gallery enjoys tremendous support from
individuals and organisations. Without their contributions,
the collection and Art Gallery ventures would be very
much the poorer. Sponsors’ backing for specific events
and individual donors are listed in the appendices.
The Art Gallery Society of New South Wales is the
largest organisation of arts supporters in Australia with
over 30,000 members. This year, a record 85 percent
renewed their membership.
In 1999, the Society achieved its highest financial
surplus to date, enabling it to fund the purchase of major
works, including Five Bells by John Olsen, My Garden by
Fred Williams and two early Indian sculptures.
LOOK, the society’s monthly magazine continued to
develop and published a special issue in April 2000, with
an extended print run, to assist in domestic and
international promotion of the Art Gallery for the Sydney
2000 Olympic Arts Festival
Voluntary work organised through the Society
contributed substantially to the Art Gallery’s operations.
The 136 volunteer guides led 30,000 adults and 14,000
children through Art Gallery exhibitions, and 184
members of the volunteer task force supplied more than
19,000 hours of labour.
John Olsen, Five bells 1963
oil on hardboard, 264.5 x 274.0cm.
Purchased with funds provided by the
Art Gallery Society of New South Wales 1999
The Society’s Task Force also provides essential
staffing on entry desks for all ticketed exhibitions.
The principal objective of the Art Gallery
Foundation is to raise funds for investment and apply the
derived income to purchasing works of art for the Art
Gallery. This year the Foundation had a net surplus of
$1.695 million (compared with $1.188 million the
previous year), enabling it to commit funds for the Plain
of Musashi Japanese screens and Rachael Whiteread’s
Elongated Plinths.
John and Julie Schaeffer were appointed Life
Governors of the Foundation in October 1999 in
recognition of their very generous support of the Art
Gallery through the donation of a major work The
Juggler by Alma Tadema and substantial finanical
committment. Max Sandow and Michael Gleeson-White
retired as deputy chairmen of the Foundation after many
years’ valuable service.
COMMERCIAL
The Art Gallery venue hiring department achieved
an increase of 22 percent gross revenue over the previous
year, with an increase in net revenue to the Art Gallery of
44 percent, largely due to a significant growth in the
number of corporate functions.
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