Anonymous Donation to Castlemaine Art Museum Prevents Closure

Sotheby’s Australia is pleased to announce that it has facilitated an anonymous donation to the Castlemaine Art Museum so it can remain open.  In response to the recent announcement that Castlemaine Art Museum was scheduled for closure on 11 August, friends and clients of Sotheby’s Australia approached them with the request to facilitate a significant financial donation to ensure that the Museum remains open.  The benefactors wish to remain anonymous.  This donation is provided to support the Museum’s operating costs, together with the removal of the current admission fee, to ensure that the public has free access to this valuable and unique national asset.

Castlemaine Art Museum has long been integral to Australia’s cultural heritage.  The collection contains many significant works of art from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and has been the beneficiary of numerous gifts and bequests for almost a century.  The institution provides much needed access to the visual arts in regional Victoria.

Sotheby’s Australia shares a rich and distinguished history of supporting and nurturing the visual and broader arts in Australia, including scholarly research, curating exhibitions, and assisting public institutions in acquisitions, exhibitions, loan requests, and the gift of works of art and financial support.

Sotheby’s Australia hopes that this generous donation to the Castlemaine Art Museum will encourage others to support the institution in financial and non-financial ways that will secure its long-term future.  We look forward to Castlemaine Art Museum regaining its rightful position as a pre-eminent local, state and national cultural destination and will provide the board with our full support.

In the words of our clients:

We are delighted to be able to lend our support to keep the Castlemaine Art Museum operating during this difficult period of restructuring.  We are a couple from Central Victoria with family links in the district and have been frequent visitors to both the town and the Museum.

We see this donation as an opportunity to secure the Museum’s long-term future and develop it as one of the premium provincial museums in Australia.  Our initial donation of $250,000 over two years will be supplemented by further donations to support exhibitions during this time.  Our commitment of financial support beyond 2019 will depend on the level of support and engagement from the community as a whole and Mount Alexander Shire Council in particular.

We believe this is a great opportunity to grow the Museum, raise its national profile and make it a ‘must visit’ destination.  We urge the Shire Council, local business and the Castlemaine community to take this opportunity to make a commitment to the museum’s future by supporting the Board in its endeavours.

Castlemaine is blessed with a wonderful museum building and a fabulous collection.  Let’s work together to make sure it remains a vibrant and important part of Castlemaine’s future.

‘Sotheby’s Australia hopes that this generous donation to the Castlemaine Art Museum will encourage others to support the institution in financial and non-financial ways that will secure its long-term future.  We look forward to Castlemaine Art Museum regaining its rightful position as a pre-eminent local, state and national cultural destination and will provide the board with our full support.’
Geoffrey Smith, Chairman & Gary Singer, Chief Executive Officer, Sotheby’s Australia