One of the individual donors is Dr Patrick Corrigan, who provided the funds for Barbie Kjar’s work Escucha. Corrigan, who recently gave the gallery a substantial collection of valuable artists’ prints and drawings, has made hundreds of donations to galleries, libraries and musical organisations at national, state and local levels.
˜I do it because I enjoy it,’ he says with a chuckle. ˜It works really well when you have a rapport with the institution “ when the works are going to enthusiastic people, like the team at the Tweed.’
Corrigan, a collector with a great eye for emerging talent, has recently been acquiring 21st century Aboriginal art and a book about his collection, New Beginnings, will be launched tomorrow, November 21, at Bond University.
He has been particularly supportive of young artists and jazz musicians during his 40-year involvement with the arts, for which he was awarded an AM. ˜I get a lot of pleasure from giving to galleries,’ he says. ˜It keeps art on the walls where it’s sure to be seen.’
