Orange Regional Gallery
Cnr Byng & Paisley Sts
Ph: +61 2 63938136 Fax: +61 2 63938100 OPEN: Tues - Sat. 10 to 5, Sun. & Public Holidays 12 to 4 Closed Mondays.
The Gallery was built in 1986 as a purpose built gallery and won the Sulman Award for Architecture. The fountain at the front is by Bronwyn Oliver, and was bought by the Friends of Orange Regional Gallery and Arts NSW.
Orange Regional Gallery collects Australian paintings, drawings and prints since 1916. The intention is to build on the core strength of the Mary Turner collection - collecting only works that are perceived as fine works by artists likely to achieve importance in Australian art history. Good works by Imants Tillers, Anne Judell, Euan McCleod, Mandy Martin, Salvatore Zofrea and Brett Whiteley are some recent acquisitions. The Tillers work "An Inherited Absolute 1993" was on show in the artistıs major show at MARCO Mexico a couple of year's ago. A surprising number of people are moving to Orange for its life style benefits, and as a result, a number of significant art collections have become available for loan to the Gallery. The Gallery now can show about about six Brett Whiteley's and other important artists due to the generosity of these local collectors. We have a speciality however, in "art clothing, jewellery and sculptural ceramics - these collections contain fine examples by some of the best known designers and craftsmen in Australia The collections have grown rapidly since Mary Turner's important "core" gift in 1982, and now number well over  400 pieces. The Gallery also maintains works acquired by the Council of the City of Orange, and has an active policy of collecting artists of the Orange district. There are a surprising number of fine professional artists in the Central West of New South Wales, most of whom earn the lion's share of their income through local patronage and teaching. A catalogue (Orange Then and Now) which provides a history of the development of art in Orange and lists 20 local professional artists is published by the Gallery. THE MARY TURNER COLLECTION This remarkable collection was presented to the city of Orange, NSW, in 1982. It comprises thirty four Australian paintings, bringing together twenty artists active between World War One and the present day. While reflecting the donor's own aesthetic taste, it has been specifically assembled to stimulate interest in modern art and provide country audiences with a permanent point of reference. The works were largely acquired during the 1960's and 1970's when Mary Turner OAM was Co-director with Treania Smith of the Macquarie Galleries, for many years the pre-eminent commercial gallery in New South Wales. Unlike art museum curators, who are governed by the need to assemble "correct versions" of art history, the private collector has no such constraints. Mary Turner acquired works purely for her own enjoyment. It is this personal aspect, combined with a highly developed aesthetic sense, which gives the Collection its unique identity. The Collection includes works by Jean Appleton, Henri Bastin, Kevin Connor, George Duncan, Douglas Dundas, Ian Fairweather, Hector Gilliland, Weaver Hawkins, Frank Hinder, Rodney Milgate, Hilda Rix Nicholas, Sidney Nolan, Alison Rehfish, Frances Smith, Grace Cossington Smith, Eric Stewart, Stan de Teliga, Roland Wakelin, Ken Whisson and Salvatore Zofrea. The Mary Turner Collection is on show for six months each year, but can always be seen in store by appointment. A complete colour catalogue of the Collection is available. Mary Turner OAM Mary Turner was raised on a country property in the central west of NSW. Her artistic involvement dates back to childhood and is paralleled by one of her mothers sisters, who had studied at the famous Julian Ashton Art School. She herself later took private lessons from the Sydney artists Thea Proctor and Adelaide Perry. Through this association, Mary came in contact with the Macquarie Galleries, and in 1956 she joined Treania Smith as Co-director. The partnership was extremely successful and spanned a period of twenty three years. Subsequently, Mary and her husband Godfrey transferred their activities to Canberra, where they conducted the Murray Crescent Galleries, as a substitute for the branch of the Macquarie galleries which had operated in that city between 1965-1978. In 1981 she retired from the professional art world. This enabled her to embark on a long term ambition: the development of a twentieth century Australian art collection for the people of Orange and district. Mary may well have thought she was retiring, but it seems she is as busy as ever. After seeing through the funding and completion of the Regional Gallery, she has since 1984 been very much involved with the Orange Music Association and its plans for expansion and artistic excellence. Many of these plans have come to fruition, with the OMA gaining regional conservatorium status and the acquisition and development of an audiotorium and studio complex  - built with local government and state government funding as well as many private donations.  In 1998 she was appointed a Trustee of the Art Gallery of New South Wales, serving in that capacity for two years.