Whitehorse has one of the best art collections of any metropolitan Melbourne Council. This is in spite of not having a purpose built gallery, as some regional collections enjoy.
“This has long been an area where artists have visited and where the landscape has inspired their work,” said Manager Arts and Cultural Services, Lois Binnie.
“The Heidelberg School artists originally camped at Gardiners Creek in Box Hill in the 1880s prior to moving to Heidelberg.
“We have benefited from a significant number of works which people have gifted to the City to be enjoyed by the public of Whitehorse.
“The collection now includes more than 550 works, predominantly paintings, works on paper and ceramics.”
Among the collection are works by noted artists such as Arthur Streeton, E Phillips Fox and Noel Counihan.
While the collection has a core group of ‘heritage’ works, Council is actively collecting contemporary works which accord with the City’s collection policy.
Without a gallery, and with public display space limited in the past, much of the collection has resided in Council Chambers and offices.
However Lois Binnie and curator Erica Sanders have made moves to show the art works to the wider community.
“Some staff are a bit distressed when a favourite piece is moved, but having a work on their wall does not give them the privilege of ownership,” Erica Sanders said.
“These works belong to a public collective and need to be accessible to residents.”
Lois Binnie said the collection is reaching more people with additional display spaces being established in Council facilities within the Municipality.
In 1998 an Arts Space dedicated to the display of the collection was opened in the Box Hill Town Hall.
“At the moment we are increasing our use of the Whitehorse Centre where we change the display every three to four months,” she said.
“The Centre caters for over 160,000 people a year so the collection is gaining a much wider audience.
“Displaying some of the key works here complements the professional theatre season which has now been established at the Centre.
“These display spaces along with works hung in our other public meeting rooms now allow us to exhibit the significant works in the collection.”
School groups and Box Hill Institute of TAFE students are also able to take advantage of the high quality collection close to home.
