Janet Dawson, Over the Rainbow 1968 (detail), acrylic on board, 93.5 x 214.0cm. Courtesy the artist and Charles Nodrum Gallery, Melbourne.
Join a Donor Circle
There are two Donor Circles – the Into the Light Circle and the Champions Circle. Being involved in a Donor Circle means your funding has direct impact and gives you access to curator-led sessions and special events.
Into the Light Donor Circle
A pledge of $2,000 per year for three years
Since launching over five years ago, the Into the Light Donor Circle has funded the acquisition, conservation and research of artworks by lost Australian women artists unearthed through the Into the Light research project. That Collection is now moving to a nationally significant institution, securing its place in Australia’s art history.
As this stage comes to completion, your support as an Into the Light Donor Circle member now goes toward finishing the research itself: identifying the hundreds of professional women artists working across Australia between 1870 and 1960, state by state, and making their stories publicly available for the first time.
As a member of the Into the Light Donor Circle you will receive invitations to Cruthers Collection exhibition openings, have opportunities to attend special Sheila events which give an insight into our art history and the Collection, and receive information about Sheila’s projects.
Champions Donor Circle
A pledge of $1,000 per year for three years.
Funds from this Donor Circle enable Sheila Foundation to support and celebrate contemporary women artists through acquiring their work to add to the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art. This keeps the Collection vibrant and supports the practices and careers of the artists whose works are acquired.
As a member of the Champions Donor Circle you will receive invitations to Cruthers Collection exhibition openings, have opportunities to attend special Sheila events which give an insight into Australia’s art history and the Collection, and receive information about Sheila’s projects.
ARTIST STORY
Erica McGilchrist (1926-2014)
Erica McGilchrist was an artist as well as a dancer, designer, curator, teacher, activist, feminist and humanist. She was born in Mount Gambier, South Australia to Stevenson George McGilchrist, a school headmaster, and Jean Leslie, née Mitton. She was encouraged to engage in creative activities from childhood. In all her roles McGilchrist was concerned with humanity and its welfare. In a conversation with Linda Short before her death in 2014 she confided that she hoped ‘to be remembered as an activist as much as an artist’.