NERAM’s outgoing director Robert Heather opened two exhibitions on Friday evening. The “rhino in the room”, however, was the announcement earlier that day that he would take up a position at UNE next month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
This was Mr Heather’s first public appearance since the NERAM Board announced that morning he was leaving.
Directing NERAM, Mr Heather said, had been “the greatest privilege and honour”.
READ ALSO:
- Robert Heather to leave NERAM
- Jacaranda artists talk about the latest exhibition at NERAM
- NERAM director Robert Heather hopes to make art gallery a tourist destination
- NERAM’s “New England High Country: 40 Photographers” profile: Jim Walmsley
- NERAM’s “Salient” artist profile: Michelle Hiscock
- “Myall Creek and beyond” exhibition will commemorate 180th anniversary of massacre
Leaving the gallery had, he said, “been a difficult decision”, but he was “very excited” about the opportunities and challenges he would face at UNE.
Mr Heather will leave NERAM on June 22.
“The next few weeks will be tinged with sadness for me,” he said. “I'm sure I'll be working up until the last day very hard to make sure the future of NERAM is positive.”
He expected that future to be “long and glorious”.
The rest of Mr Heather’s tenure sees a commemoration of the Myall Creek Massacre in early June, and the two new exhibitions, which run until 22 July.
One is the Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award (JADA), an exhibition of contemporary Australian drawing put together by the Grafton Regional Council every two years. Armidale was the last venue on the tour of the 2016 display.
The other is Deep Cuts, an exhibition curated by Mr Heather of five contemporary Australian printmakers exploring themes of identity, nationality, history, language, and location.
“Thank you for all your support over these years,” Mr Heather told the crowd of artists, Friends of the Museum, volunteers, and other patrons. “The community we have around the art museum is something to be treasured.”