What we do with funds raised

Packsaddle is an annual selling exhibition of artwork from well-known and emerging Australian artists. Held annually at NERAM, the exhibition includes a large collection of paintings, limited edition prints, pottery, sculpture and works on paper with all proceeds supporting NERAM.

Funds for conservation

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

Esther Paterson (1896-1971)
The Yellow Gloves (also known as Portrait of Betty Paterson) 1938
oil on canvas
Howard Hinton Collection

Funds for NERAM infrastructure

Over the years Packsaddle has funded NERAM hanging systems, updated lighting systems and a lighting audit, and other equipment which is essential to the smooth and seamless running of NERAM from behind the scenes.

Funds for acquisitions

Packsaddle has donated more than 70 artworks to NERAM. These include works by Idris Murphy, Marea Gazzard, Elisabeth Cummings, Salvatore Zofrea, Christopher Hodges, Stuart Boggs and Isabelle Devos.

We have invested in major works by prominent artists such as Angus Nivison Glimpse for $17,000 in 2007, Grace Cossington-Smith Hydrangeas for $85,000 and contributed $87,000 to the total cost of the Margaret Olley work The Yellow Room Triptych.

Funds for sponsorship

Over the years Packsaddle has sponsored a number of exhibitions and catalogues. In 2018 we began the initiative to sponsor three annual Packsaddle lectures, bringing experts in different areas of the arts to Armidale. Speakers have included: John McDonald, art critic for the Sydney Morning Herald; Julian Bickersteth, CEO of International Conservation Services; and Anne-Louise Willoughby, author of Nora Heysen – A Portrait.

In 2023 we began offering a prize of week long stay in the Packsaddle 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.

Stuart Boggs
The Bucketts (after Gloucester Bucketts), 2023
acrylic on canvas
Gift of the Packsaddle Fundraising Committee
NERAM Collection

  • No public art gallery can survive without the support and unselfish work of its volunteer groups. Packsaddle raises funds to purchase important new works for the gallery and they bring a sense of vitality and enthusiasm to our program.

    Andrew Murray, Chair of NERAM Board, 2015

  • I am eternally grateful for their support, without which many aspects of NERAM would not have been funded.

    Joe Eisenberg, NERAM Director in an interview for Country Style magazine, 2002

  • I would like to thank Packsaddle for its continued support of NERAM and its collection. It is certainly very exciting to have the means to purchase new works for the collection.

    Caroline Downer, NERAM Director, 2011