Trentham’s Little Gallery Winter Fundraising Show achieved new heights by having one of their biggest shows ever in the 14 years they have been open.
With record sales, the gallery made a substantial donation to the Central Highlands Health ‘Treehouse Program’ in Trentham.
The quality of the artwork in the group show featuring 16 local artists was outstanding and cements the Winter Show as one of central Victoria’s leading art calendar events and as a destination for regional art.
Despite the current economic downturn, a whopping record amount of $43,000 in art sales was made, not bad for a small country town gallery! Furthermore an additional $5k was raised from the donated art raffle. The gallery also received an Events Grant from The Hepburn Shire, which was a big help in aiding the expenses to execute a regional show of an exceptionally high standard.
With the commission of works sold and 100 per cent of the art raffle, the Little Gallery made a wonderful donation of $15,000 to the ‘Treehouse’ program, which helps those in the community living with dementia.
Maree Cuddihy, CEO of CHRH, and Dora Mansbridge, Treehouse manager, attended the Gallery opening.
“This fundraiser wouldn’t have been possible without the incredible artists who contributed their work and the community members who came along and purchased artwork and raffle tickets at the exhibition,” Ms Cuddihy said.
“Together, we’ve shown how powerful it can be when art and community come together.”
The Big Cheque presentation was attended by a group of team members and locals associated with the program, and it was a very proud moment for the Little Gallery team.
Ms Cuddihy was overwhelmed with the generosity.
“This wonderful support will make a real difference for people living with dementia and their carers,” she said.
“Thank you Little Gallery and the artists and the community for your support and generosity.”
The Winter Show had thousands of visitors over three weeks in July, aided by Trentham being in the running and then winning the Top Tiny Tourism Town award for Victoria.
The Little Gallery is an artist-run space and prides itself on adding to the cultural identity of the region by representing local artists. It is a true representation of the strong regional arts community within Trentham, Daylesford and the Macedon Ranges region.
Founding member and artist Rose Wilson said the artists hosted these fundraising shows to give back to the amazing community that supports them.
“The generosity of our locals is heartwarming and we received many donations from local businesses including The Cosmo, The General and the Trentham Wine and Food Co, which helped with food and wine along with art donations from our local artists for the raffle and many volunteers that assisted on the opening night,” she said.
“The gallery teamwork is extremely hard to make these shows successful, and each year we say it can’t get better than this, but it does!”
