Even in death, artist Margaret Olley is supporting a new art gallery for her home-town of Lismore.
The Margaret Olley Foundation has pledged $500,000 towards a proposed new regional art gallery for Lismore, four times more than the state government is stumping up.
Lismore mayor Jenny Dowell described the donation as ‘wonderful’.
‘The money will be formally handed over later this week,’ Cr Dowell said.
‘A development application will be lodged in April and we would expect that work would start in the second half of this year, and be completed by the end of next year.’
Gallerist Philip Bacon, the executor of the Margaret Olley Trust, told Fairfax media that the artist and philanthropist, who died in 2011, had lobbied politicians on behalf of the Lismore gallery for years.
‘This was a project very close to Margaret’s heart, going as it did to her love of, and belief in, the value of regional galleries to their communities, with of course the added attraction that Lismore was her birthplace,’ he said.
The federal government has already pledged $2.85 million from its National Stronger Regions Fund for the construction of the Lismore Quadrangle, which includes a new customised space for the gallery.
The NSW government has pledged just $110,000 via an Arts NSW capital grant – less than the $160,000 donated by residents, while Lismore City Council will contribute $1.3 million.
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