The idea for an annual selling exhibition came from a small group of women artists, most notably June Atherton, Pat Elkin, Benoni Pearson and Beverley Wright, who enjoyed painting and critiquing each other’s work.  They established The Gallery Image in Armidale, a cooperative gallery selling their own work and work by major artists from further afield. After a couple of years with successful openings, but limited daily sales, they had to admit that Armidale could not support a full-time commercial gallery.

They decided instead to use the many important contacts they had made in an annual fundraiser to support the newly erected New England Regional Art Museum. The first Packsaddle exhibitions were held in the sitting-room at “Packsaddle“, the Armidale home of Beverley and Owen Wright, hence the origins of our name.

Packsaddle aims to offer artworks from outside the region so that the New England community has the opportunity to view work that would not otherwise be seen here. Above all, the founding Packsaddlers were intent on offering only quality works.

Beverley Wright, a founding Packsaddler commented in a newspaper internew in 2003 “Our main objective has been quality. We hope to sell, but the first thing has been to maintain quality” and Pat Elkin, a founding Packsaddler said in an interview in 2005 “Our aim is to get the highest quality we can for the most affordable prices we can.” We continue this aim by entrusting the NERAM Curator with the final decision about what is or is not hung in the exhibition.

Frances Alter, Packsaddler: “It’s really hard these days for artists to get a shoo-in with a gallery. Packsaddle gives them a venue where emerging artists are shown with established artists in a democratic, open way.”

June Ross, Packsaddler: “One thing that we are very proud of is that many of the artists whose work we have chosen for Packsaddle have gone on to win major prizes like the Archibald and the Wynne.”

Basil Hall, master printmaker and exhibitor: “I don’t know of a gallery in the country that is both selling AND paying on sales!” Emailed response to prompt payment.

Packsaddle has supported local printmakers by contributing to the purchase of a printing press.

We have contributed to the annual Helen Dangar Memorial Scholarship, which supports a local artist to undertake travel that will enhance their practice. Seven artists have been supported so far.

In 2023 we started offering a prize of week’s stay in the Artist’s Residence at NERAM for any artist offering works in our exhibition. We hope this week gives the lucky artist, drawn out of a hat, time and space to develop their practice.

Attendance numbers at NERAM over the years show a spike of 10% or more during Packsaddle exhibitions.

Angus Nivison, 2013 floor-talk: “the unique thing about Packsaddle is that it gives you (the buyer) a great handle on what’s happening. In one place you get to see more artworks than you would in a week round the galleries in Sydney.”

At our exhibitions we try to provide CVs of the artists exhibiting. We ask our artists to provide these and we display them in folders for interested visitors to browse. We also provide a glossary of terms: ‘Understanding our Labels’, which explains abbreviations, e.g. AP, PP and US, used by printmakers as well as terms like etching and aquatint.

Since 2009 we have asked the artist opening our exhibition to give a floor-talk on the following Saturday morning. It’s a chance to learn more about the artist’s interests and techniques. On the Saturday morning of the middle weekend, we invite a local artist to talk about the works in the exhibition. Since 2018 Packsaddle has funded three lectures each year, bringing experts in different areas of the arts to Armidale.

Packsaddle has donated more than 70 smaller artworks to Neram, valued at roughly $70,000. These include works by Idris Murphy, Elisabeth Cummings, Marea Gazzard, Salvatore Zofrea, Christopher Hodges, Stuart Boggs and Isabelle Devos.

Caroline Downer, NERAM Director, 2011: “I would like to thank Packsaddle for its continued support of NERAM and its collection. It is certainly exciting to have the means to purchase new works for the collection.”

We have invested in three major works: Angus Nivison, ‘Glimpse’, 2006, ($17,000); Margaret Olley, ‘The Yellow Room Triptych’, 2011-2013, (We initiated the purchase and contributed $87,000 to the total cost. That purchase sealed a relationship with the Margaret Olley Trust, headed by Philip Bacon, which funded the curator’s position for seven years.); Margaret Olley, ‘The Yellow Room Triptych’; and Grace Cossington-Smith, ‘Hydrangeas’, 2020, ($85,000).

In 2015 NERAM launched the Adopt an Artwork program, which invites members of the community to sponsor the conservation of works from the Collections.

In the first year we chose Nora Heysen’s ‘Eggs’ (above) because founding Packsaddler Pat Elkin remembered being a student with Nora. Our other choice that year was the portrait of Esther Paterson, ‘The Yellow Gloves’, which started a focus on portraits of women.

We continue to support the program enthusiastically and have adopted 26 works so far. We have given more than $85,000 to the program and the current market valuation of the artworks we have helped conserve is over $350,000. In 2025 we adopted Ernest Buckmaster’s ‘Portrait of the Artist’s Mother’. Jen Taylor, NERAM Registrar and Collections Manager: “I am just so delighted that Buckmaster’s mother will join Betty Paterson in the ranks of fabulous women adopted by fabulous women.”

Joe Eisenberg, NERAM Director, 2002: “I am eternally grateful for their support, without which many aspects of NERAM would not have been funded.”

As part of NERAM Stage 2, we provided $68,000 for the Packsaddle Studio and Artist’s Residence. The Studio is used regularly for art classes and the Residence provides somewhere to stay for visiting artists and speakers.

Over the years we have funded hanging systems, lighting systems, mobile scaffolding, display cabinets, temporary frames ($65,000) and many other pieces of equipment that are essential to the smooth running of NERAM, but which go almost unnoticed.