View online the artworks currently held by the Cairns Regional Gallery.

» Cairns Regional Gallery Collection Online

Cairns Regional Gallery will primarily collect works of art in all conventional and experimental media and from any time period, by artists from the Tropical North Queensland region and other artists influenced or inspired by the region.

The Gallery will also collect art from outside the region by artist of state, national and international significance. This additional collecting focus will ensure that the community has access to a high quality reference art collection.

It is intended the Cairns Regional Gallery Collection will provide the basis for future research, exhibitions and educational programs and the overall cultural enrichment of the various communities of the region.

Cairns Regional Gallery Collection incorporates a number of regionally, nationally and culturally significant artworks, with all pieces acquired under strict adherence to the Collection policy.

The Collection boasts a number of artworks of national significance including pieces by Brett Whiteley, Russell Drysdale, Margaret Olley, Donald Friend and Ian Fairweather.

The Gallery’s portfolio of prints includes artists Yvonne Boag, Guy Warren, Theo Tremblay and Gary Shead.

Ray Crooke, one of the most acclaimed and recognised artists of Far North Queensland, and a former Archibald prize-winner (1969), has also made valuable contributions to Cairns Regional Gallery’s Collection. Ray’s contributions to the Gallery’s Collection incorporate not only an important component of his own works, but artworks from his personal collection including Mother and Child by Ian Fairweather, Flowers with Head by David Strachan, Dieppe Harbour and Interior by Margaret Olley, and assorted works by Kevin Connor (Archibald prize winner 1975), Lawrence Daws, Russell Drysdale, Robert Dickerson and even Franciso Goya.

RECENT ACQUISITIONS

» Recent Acquisitions Update Jul-Sep 2012

ABORIGINAL & TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER ART OF FNQ

Cairns Regional Gallery’s Collection incorporates a significant component of works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. Ranging from traditional to contemporary, the artworks of the indigenous peoples of the Far North provide an important insight into the cultures unique to the region.

Torres Strait Islander artists represented in the Collection include Edrick Tabuai, Ken Thaiday Snr, and Alick Tipoti. The work of these individual artists varies in mediums, but through them the Collection has been enriched with contemporary examples of Torres Strait Islander sculptural works, including headdresses and linoprints. Aboriginal artists of Cape York represented include Thancoupie, Rosella Namok, Arone Meeks and members of the Lockhart River Art Gang.

Cairns Regional Gallery is proud to have been the first gallery in Australia to prepare an exhibition which focussed exclusively on the artwork of the Torres Strait Islander people, Ilan Pasin (This is our way). Ilan Pasin was curated at Cairns Regional Gallery and toured nationally attracting more than 76,000 viewers.

The Lockhart River portfolio of prints includes Rosella Namok, Samantha Hobson, Silas Hobson, Leroy Platt, Sammy Clermont, Fiona Omeenyo, Evelyn Sandy and others. These indigenous artists have won many awards including, the Memento Queensland Merchandise Awards and the Community Endeavour of the Art of Place award.

Works from the Lockhart River Art Gang are also included in major art collections including, National Gallery of Australia, Queensland Art Gallery, Wollongong University Collection, and South Australian Art Gallery.

REGISTER OF THE CULTURAL ORGANISATIONS

Cairns Regional Gallery and the Cairns Regional Gallery Foundation are listed on the Register of Cultural Organisations (ROCO) administered by the Australian Government’s Department of Communication, Information Technology and the Arts.

This means donations of money or property to the value of $2.00 or more are 100% tax deductible. Donations through ROCO assist arts organisations to enhance their sustainability and the calibre of their creative endeavours.