The Arts | The Ian Potter Foundation

The Arts

Our Vision

A fair, healthy, sustainable and vibrant Australia.

Our Mission Honour the legacy of founder and benefactor, Sir Ian Potter, and his commitment that the Foundation make a difference to Australia.

Maintain a tradition of encouraging excellence and enabling innovation to facilitate positive social change and develop Australia’s creativity and capacity as a nation.

Support outstanding charitable organisations, invest in Australia’s innovative and creative people.

The Ian Potter Foundation A History of Grantmaking

The Arts

Sir Ian Potter

© The Ian Potter Foundation

Level 3, 111 Collins Street

Melbourne Victoria 3000

Phone 03 9650 3188

Email admin@ianpotter.org.au

ianpotter.org.au

ISBN 978-0-6451942-9-6

First published 2022

Design: Sweet Creative

Published by The Ian Potter Foundation

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Images

Title page

Sir Ian Potter, Founder of The Ian Potter Foundation, 1902–1994

Page 5

Mr Charles Goode, AC, Chairman of The Ian Potter Foundation

Page 30

Top left: Hand of God by Carl Milles. In May 1980, the bronze sculpture was presented to Arts Centre Melbourne by the Swedish ambassador, Mr Lars Hedstrom and Sir Ian Potter. In 2010 it was relocated to The Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne.

Middle right: Bendigo Art Gallery. Image: Fairlight Images.

Bottom right: Lady Potter and then Governor of Victoria John Landy officially opening The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia, 2002.

Bottom left: The Ian Potter Southbank Centre, Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne.

ARTS COMMITTEE

Current Members

The Arts – in all its forms – brings people together. It inspires us, uplifts us, consoles us, and energises us. The Board of Governors continue to honour Sir Ian’s legacy of fostering excellence in the arts by robustly supporting leading arts organisations and, through them, enhancing the calibre and capacity of the Australian arts sector. Lady Potter,

Previous Members

2007–2015

Professor Geoffrey Blainey, AC 2011–2014

Dr P John Rose, AO

AC, CMRI

Lady Potter, AC, CMRI (Life Governor)

Professor Sir Edward Byrne, AC, Kt

The Hon Alex Chernov, AC, KC (Committee Chair)

The Hon Susan Crennan, AC, KC

CHAIRMAN’S FOREWORD Mr Charles Goode, AC

the second half of the 1970s and helped ensure the Arts Centre development remained on track.

The Arts Centre took some 20 years to complete but it now stands testament to an aspiration of excellence in the arts. Today, the iconic Arts Centre spire symbolises Melbourne’s vibrant world-renowned arts scene.

Sir Ian understood the importance of a vibrant arts and cultural scene to a cohesive and egalitarian society. One in which every Australian might benefit from access to outstanding cultural institutions supporting creative artists to produce contemporary, relevant art.

This book is the first in a series which aims to provide a record of The Ian Potter Foundation’s grantmaking since its establishment in 1964. As a successful financier with a desire to use his good fortune to assist fellow Australians, Sir Ian was one of the first living benefactors to establish a charitable foundation in Australia. Critical to its establishment was legislation that allowed donations to philanthropic trusts to be tax deductible. This milestone was achieved largely due to Sir Ian’s negotiations with the Federal Government at the time. Indeed, Sir Ian agreed to make an initial contribution to the Foundation of one million pounds (equivalent to $29 million today) comprising Australian United Investment Co Ltd shares on a non-tax-deductible basis.

While the Foundation’s corpus has since grown from that one million pounds to around $865 million in 2021, the value of that initial donation by Sir Ian is far greater. Thanks to his foresight, today we have a vibrant and growing philanthropic sector in Australia, including several foundations with multi-billion-dollar corpuses, all working in their own way to benefit Australians.

During his lifetime, Sir Ian was deeply involved in the visual and performing arts, and his personal interest in arts and culture has been reflected in the Foundation’s long history of support for arts organisations and artists across Australia.

Five years before establishing his philanthropic foundation, Sir Ian was approached to join the building committee for what is now known as Melbourne’s Arts Precinct, encompassing the National Gallery of Victoria, the Arts Centre Melbourne and Hamer Hall.

From its inception, The Ian Potter Foundation became a frequent contributor to the Arts Centre building project, donating the equivalent of about $1 million in today’s dollars between 1964 and 1969 to help ensure the project stayed afloat. Additional grants followed in

He was a passionate and active supporter of the visual and performing arts, serving as Chairman of the Boards of the Australian Ballet, the Australian Opera, and the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust prior to establishing the Foundation. Such active participation by Sir Ian now manifests through the Foundation’s grantmaking in many ways, from contributing funding for critical arts and cultural infrastructure to supporting the operational capacity of established and developing arts organisations. The establishment of The Ian Potter Cultural Trust in 1993, one year before Sir Ian’s passing, also allows for the direct support of artists.

For over 50 years, the Foundation’s arts grants have focussed on building the sector by supporting arts education, audience development and the arts scene as an important means of creating a strong sense of community. Supporting a vibrant and thriving arts sector has always been central to the vision of The Ian Potter Foundation.

In awarding arts grants the Board of Governors have consistently followed the Foundation’s funding principles by focusing on excellence, long-term thinking, leverage, collaboration and partnerships, innovation, and prevention. The Foundation’s most prominent grants have been in the arts, helping to establish enduring arts buildings that house some of Australia’s most prominent arts institutions. We believe the Foundation’s major grants towards The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square, The Ian Potter Gallery at the University of Melbourne, The Ian Potter Southbank Centre at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, Queensland Ballet’s Thomas Dixon Centre, and the University of Sydney’s Chau Chak Wing Museum ensure those institutions can continue to play a significant role in ensuring we have a world-class arts and cultural scene, one that is accessible for current and future generations of Australians to enjoy.

Great art and culture can thrive without a great nation, but no nation can truly thrive without great arts and culture.

Chairman’s Foreword

THE IAN POTTER FOUNDATION

Founder

Sir Ian Potter 1964–1994

Board of Governors

Chairman

Mr Charles B Goode, AC 1987–current Governors

Lady Potter, AC, CMRI (Life Governor) Appointed 1993

Mr Anthony Burgess 2013–current

Professor Sir Edward Byrne, AC, Kt April 2021–current

The Hon Alex Chernov, AC, KC 2016–current

The Hon Susan Crennan, AC, KC 2015–current

Mr Leon Davis, AO 2007–current

Professor Karen Day, AM September 2021–current

Mr Craig Drummond July 2021–current

Professor Emma Johnston, AO September 2021–current

Professor Richard Larkins, AC 2013–current

Mr Allan Myers, AC, KC 2004–current

Professor Brian Schmidt, AC 2015–current

Professor Fiona Stanley, AC 2016–current

Past Governors

Sir Roger Darvall, CBE 1964–1998

Professor Sir Sydney Sunderland, CMG 1964–1993

Mr Roy McArthur, CBE 1964–1984

Sir Ian Wark, CMG, CBE 1964–1986

Professor Raymond Martin, AO (Alternate Governor) 1972–1977

Dr Thomas H Hurley, AO, OBE 1976–2014

Mr Frank Nelson 1979–2012

Mr Hugh Morgan, AC 1985–1993

Professor Graeme B Ryan, AC 1987–2018

Professor Thomas Healy, AO 1990–2019

Professor Geoffrey Blainey, AC 1991–2014

Mr John B Gough, AO, OBE 1994–2011

Mr Neil (Nobby) Clark, AO 1994–2007

The Hon Sir Daryl Dawson, AC, KBE 1998–2020

Dr P John Rose, AO 2000–2015

The Hon Sir James Gobbo, AC, CVO, QC 2001–2019

SHOWING LEADERSHIP

Tony Ellwood, AM Director, National Gallery of Victoria

new work, supporting young professionals or backing capital infrastructure campaigns. This impact is evidenced by the number of significant milestones in the NGV’s history that have involved The Ian Potter Foundation and which have undeniably helped shape us into the leading institution we are today.

In such an uncertain world, art matters. Art has the power to connect. It can transcend barriers and encourage new perspectives. It can offer a beacon of hope and can create a place for everyone. I have experienced first-hand how art can provide joy in hard times, and this has been especially evident right around the world over the last few years.

The role of the art museums and arts institutions more generally has never been more important, and philanthropy plays an integral role in ensuring these institutions endure through challenging times. Organisations such as The Ian Potter Foundation understand that our nation’s vital arts and culture sector needs to remain diverse and visionary to maintain its place on the world’s stage.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, philanthropy kept the arts alive. Individuals and charitable foundations recognised the stark reality that programs, productions, arts professionals and organisations would suffer significant losses if support was not maintained. During this time, the community was drawn to the arts as a provider of momentary relief from the realities and hardships experienced close to home, while helping us feel connected between cities as well as across the world. As our nation recovers from the global health crisis, I see the galvanising encouragement of private benefaction as a silver lining of this experience, underscoring the central role financial empowerment plays to ensure the arts and cultural industry continues to thrive.

As a key member of our philanthropic community, The Ian Potter Foundation has had a profound impact on Australia’s cultural landscape. The leadership demonstrated by the Foundation has shaped how we experience and enjoy the arts by commissioning bold

Over the years, the NGV and the Foundation have worked together to deliver measurable cultural outcomes for the people of Victoria and the wider community. The first significant commitment was in 2001, when the Foundation contributed $15 million towards The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. This landmark project was the first step in what would be a visionary pairing between The Ian Potter Foundation and the NGV. In 2003 the Foundation was also a major benefactor in the refurbishment of NGV International, marking yet another highly significant moment in the NGV’s history.

The Ian Potter Foundation has also supported many of NGV’s programs and professional development opportunities, including fellowship positions within the gallery's Conservation department; a team recognised internationally as a leader in the art museum sector.

In 2020, the Foundation pledged an unprecedented $20 million grant to the construction of The Fox: NGV Contemporary. This astounding gift at such a crucial time has and will continue to galvanise and leverage further philanthropic and corporate support for the new site. This generous pledge also marks the beginning of the next chapter in this strong partnership between the NGV and The Ian Potter Foundation. A chapter in which we work towards The Fox: NGV Contemporary, which will ultimately draw local, interstate and international visitors to Melbourne and undoubtedly become a cultural beacon.

The Ian Potter Foundation’s vision, generosity and focused philanthropy ensures it is consistently ranked one of the most strategic funders in Australia. The Foundation’s major grants across arts and culture, health research and the environment are extraordinary, and we are deeply grateful to be working with The Ian Potter Foundation to bring The Fox: NGV Contemporary to life over the coming years.

It is this kind of generosity from The Ian Potter Foundation, coupled with the strategic foresight of Chairman Charles Goode, AC; Life Governor Lady Potter, AC; Chief Executive Officer Craig Connelly and the Board of Governors who have all played a large role in Melbourne’s cultural make-up and the continuation of the legacy of Sir Ian Potter.

Tony Ellwood, AM inside Dhambit Mununggurr’s installation for NGV Triennial 2020, Can we all have a happy life? Image: Tim Carrafa.

ASPIRING TO EXCELLENCE

Ten years before establishing his own philanthropic foundation, Sir Ian Potter became involved with the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust (AETT), an independent, not-for-profit organisation created to direct funds into the arts to provide support for individual artists. The AETT played a critical role in developing the Australian arts sector through the 1960s and 1970s, and was instrumental in establishing Australia’s leading arts companies such as The Australian Ballet and the Australian Opera, and orchestras to support these companies.

This interest in and philanthropic support for the arts sector and individual artists have also been hallmarks of The Ian Potter Foundation since its inception in 1964. Since then, the Foundation has awarded more than $100 million to over 350 arts organisations, large and small. For its first 25 years, grants awarded by the Foundation were small, averaging just over $8000 and were directed mainly to art galleries and building funds for venues. However, in 1990, the Foundation made a significant grant of $100,000 towards the establishment of Bell Shakespeare. This new theatre company aimed to reinvigorate the staging of Shakespeare’s works to engage students, young people, and regional audiences as well as traditional audiences. At the time, The Australian Ballet was the only performing arts company to have received a grant ($5000) from the Foundation, an early contribution to building new premises. The 1990 grant to Bell Shakespeare marked the beginning of The Ian Potter Foundation supporting leading artistic companies across theatre, dance, opera and music around Australia.

Dancenorth Australia ensemble member Georgia Rudd. Image: Amber Haines.

Today, the Foundation’s Governors remain committed to supporting Australia’s artistic institutions and organisations aspiring to excellence, whether metropolitan, regional, or remote. The aim is to strengthen the arts sector, fostering artistic achievement, innovation and sustainability for arts companies, individual artists and arts workers.

To this end, since 2016, the Board has sharpened its focus on professional development and leadership opportunities. Consequently, more recent grants support outstanding organisations in diverse fields, including design, performing arts, music, dance and visual arts and crafts. Funded projects all have in common excellent strategies for developing the next cohort of professional artists or arts workers, and contributing to their respective sectors beyond their own organisations. It is rewarding to see the level of collaboration and resource-sharing that these exemplar projects embody.

The Foundation’s arts grants have most recently supported professional development and leadership programs for dancers, theatre performers, directors, production staff, visual artists and craftspeople, critics and podcasters and contemporary and classical musicians.

Dancenorth Australia, based in Townsville, and Lucy Guerin Inc in Melbourne received grants towards programs to foster mentoring of dancers, choreographers and dance producers. The grants ranged between $100,000 and $250,000, providing a timely investment in the development of both companies, which seek to

offer tangible development opportunities for Australian dancers.

Similarly, grants have been awarded to organisations in the visual arts sector, including Guildhouse, South Australia's hub for visual artists and craftspeople. In 2018, the Foundation awarded a $150,000 multi-year grant to support Catapult, its proven artist mentorship program, to ensure ongoing professional development mentorships for visual artists, craftspeople and designers.

Likewise, the Ballarat International Foto Biennale is capitalising on the many international photographers it attracts by creating a professional development program for curators, funded by a three-year, $125,000 grant from the Foundation. Finally, in the design space, Design Tasmania received $390,000 over three years towards an ambitious capacity-building project to nurture an innovative design ecosystem across Tasmania, a state which is rapidly gaining an international reputation as an arts destination.

Other creative areas such as literary criticism, podcasting and playwriting have also been supported with grants ranging from $100,000 to $400,000 to foster new writing talent and provide opportunities for new works to be fully developed. For example, a $400,000 grant over five years was awarded to Melbourne Theatre Company’s Playwright Development Initiative. The grant will help increase the quality and number of Australian plays produced, ensuring those works are of the highest quality and are ‘production-ready’ for opening night.

Lucy Guerin Inc production Split, 2017. Image: Gregory Lorenzutti.

This initiative provides a much greater chance of new works going on to enjoy future productions and joining the Australian literary canon.

University of Western Sydney’s JUNCTURE program provides professional development for mid-career and established literary critics in Australia. The program is being supported with a $108,000 grant enabling The Sydney Review of Books to offer three year-long paid house critic positions for the duration of the grant.

The Wheeler Centre’s Signal Boost program is providing mentorships for up to 10 podcasters annually over three years and producing three series pilots. This intensive training program for individuals and community groups to help under-represented stories find and develop an audience received a grant of $324,000. The program will also provide further employment opportunities for established audio producers.

The Australian Art Orchestra music leadership mentoring and development program was granted $175,000 over five years to develop the next generation of arts leaders in music. The program offers five 12-month fellowships to emerging musicians to develop leadership skills and foster international networks and exchanges.

Training and skills development is also essential behind the scenes. In response to a chronic shortage of suitably qualified production crews, Arts Centre Melbourne provides technical traineeships to invest in the next generation of production leaders. A recent $300,000 grant from the Foundation is assisting the organisation to increase its capacity as a Registered Training Organisation for production staff.

It is not only through grants to organisations that the Foundation supports the development of individual artists. In 1993, the Foundation set up The Ian Potter Cultural Trust to directly award funds to individual artists, as its tax status meant that it could only distribute funds to organisations.

From its earliest days supporting the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust to the formation of The Ian Potter Cultural Trust, the Foundation has shown steadfast commitment to supporting Australian artists to develop, grow and attain excellence. The Foundation aims to continue this legacy of support for artists, performers, producers and arts companies, ensuring a vibrant culture for all Australians to enjoy and share.

Production image from NEXT STAGE original production Golden Shield by Year Two Commissionee, Anchuli Felicia King, August 2019. Image: Jeff Busby.

Catapult mentor David Pedler with mentee Sam Gold and fellow mentor Jane Robertson. Image: Sia Duff.

Opposite: Catapult mentor David Pedler examines test tiles with mentee Sam Gold. Image: Sia Duff.

FOSTERING TALENT The Ian Potter Cultural Trust

In 1993, The Ian Potter Foundation set up The Ian Potter Cultural Trust to directly distribute funds to individual artists (rather than to organisations, as stipulated by the Foundation's tax status). Since then, the Trust has helped 1,700 emerging or early career artists with international professional development opportunities to gain experience, develop networks and learn skills from the world’s best musicians, artists, performers and arts practitioners. These experiences are invaluable for the individual artists and for the ongoing development of the Australian arts sector. The Cultural Trust funds nationally and across the spectrum of the arts: from visual arts to community arts and design to literature, spanning traditional art forms through to new and experimental mediums. Since the Cultural Trust's inception, over $8.5 million in grants has assisted talented artists to travel overseas; meet with and learn from mentors and their peers; and undertake research, study and training to challenge themselves both personally and professionally.

Grants by Decade

1990s

GRANTS: 322

TOTAL: $844,080

2000s

GRANTS: 664

TOTAL: $2,945,935

2010s

GRANTS: 708

TOTAL: $4,741,191

Total GRANTS: 1694

TOTAL: $8,531,206

Community Arts

Pākehā artist, interpreter/translator and language worker from Aotearoa Beth Sometimes received a Cultural Trust grant to attend the BAK Summer School: Art and Practice in the Otherwise, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Winner of the 2019 Lofty Award, which recognises high endeavour in the arts in Central Australia, Sometimes has lived in Central Australia on and off since 2002. She works with Arrernte and Pitjantjatjara people across different projects, collaborating to invigorate language and song knowledge. She is interested in language care, land care and attempting relations that defy the settler-colonial project.

Conservation and Moveable Cultural Heritage

Period 90s 00s 10s Total Grants 9 8 9 26 Value $25,000 $34,815 $68,000 $127,815

Margot Murray received a grant from the Cultural Trust to undertake a Postgraduate Diploma in Conservation of Ceramics and Related Materials at West Dean College, Chichester, England. After completing this study she worked at National Museums Scotland and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London before returning to Australia to take a position in conservation in the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (encompassing Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum). In 2021, Murray commenced a research fellowship at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, furthering her specialist conservation training.

Image: Courtesy of the artist.

Image: Courtesy of the artist.

Literature

Graham Akhurst is an Aboriginal writer and academic from the Kokomini of Northern Queensland. With the aid of a Cultural Trust grant he began the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Fiction at Hunter College, New York. Akhurst continues to reside in New York, learning from writers such as Peter Carey, Adam Haslett, ZZ Packer, and Tea Obrecht. His first book, Borderland, is published by Hachette Australia.

Craft

Glass artist Keith Dougall was awarded a Cultural Trust grant to participate in further training under artist-designer Jacqueline Spiro at Pilchuck Glass School, USA. Dougall currently manages and develops Tasmania’s Poatina Glass Studio and creates large scale public art work. Most recently he completed Catching Your Breath a suspended glass sculpture for the Royal Hobart Hospital to commemorate organ and tissue donation.

Keith Dougall at Poatina Glass Studio making a glass bubble for Catching Your Breath, a project of the Tasmanian Government Art Site Scheme. Image: Thomas Pearson.

Image: Courtesy of the artist.

Design

In 2012 Myra Spencer was awarded a Cultural Trust grant to train in footwear pattern making, prototyping and collection development at Ars Sutoria International Technical Institute of Footwear and Leather Goods in Milan. Spencer continues to use the craftsmanship skills learnt during this time in a Melbourne factory she coruns, one of the few places in Australia using traditional methods and where she produces handcrafted footwear for designer labels and her own brand, Post Sole Studio.

Multimedia

Filmmaker Beck Cole completed her Masters Degree in Documentary Directing at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS), with the assistance of a Cultural Trust grant in 2001. Cole has gone on to write, direct and produce for film and television. Her extensive body of work includes feature film Here I Am, television series Black Comedy, Redfern Now, Wentworth, Little J & Big Cuz and a number of documentaries.

Fostering Talent

Post Sole Studio. Image: Gina Diggle, Monk House Design.

Beck Cole with Tessa Rose on the set of Grace Beside Me Image: Magpie Picture/Julian Panetta.

Dance

Amber Haines was awarded a Cultural Trust grant to participate in the Arctic Circle Expedition Residency and undertake professional development with Carte Blanche, the Norwegian National Company of Contemporary Dance. Haines is now a multi-award nominee for the Australian Dance Awards, the Helpmann Awards and Greenroom Awards and is currently the Associate Artistic Director of Dancenorth Australia, a contemporary dance company based in Townsville, Queensland. Among an impressive list of accomplishments, Haines has co-directed six full-length works for Dancenorth, which have been performed locally and internationally.

Visual Arts

With the support of the Cultural Trust, visual artist Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran undertook a mentorship with artist Vipoo Srivilasa and a residency in the Beyond Limits Clay Mentoring Program. Nithiyendran’s work is held in various collections, including the National Gallery of Australia and has been exhibited throughout Australia and internationally. In 2015, Nithiyendran won the Sidney Myer Fund Australian Ceramic Award, Australia’s premier award for artists working in the medium of ceramics. In 2019, he was the recipient of the Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship, which recognises outstanding talent.

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran with ceramic work. Image: Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf.

Amber Haines performing Syncing Feeling. Image: Gregory Lorenzutti.

Performing Arts

Soprano Georgia Wilkinson was awarded a Cultural Trust grant in 2017 to undertake three months of intensive vocal training with renowned Australian opera singer Yvonne Kenny. In 2019 Georgia was awarded the $35,000 Herald Sun Aria Prize, regarded as Australia’s richest and most prestigious award for emerging classical singers. She is the first Cultural Trust grantee to be awarded this honour.

Music

Screen composer and vocalist Angela Little was supported by a Cultural Trust grant to undertake the Master of Music in Screen Scoring at the University of Southern California. Little graduated with the faculty’s top honour, the Joe and Alice Harnell Award. Since graduating, Little has composed for various projects including feature films and games. She has been awarded the APRA-AGSC Screen Music Award for Best Music for a Short Film and was part of the composing team that won a 2020 Game Audio Network Guild Award.

Georgia Wilkinson, winner of the 2019 Herald Sun Aria Prize. Image: Courtesy of the artist and the Herald Sun

Image: Courtesy of the artist.

COMMISSIONS & ACQUISITIONS

The Ian Potter Foundation has funded significant art acquisitions, and through The Ian Potter Cultural Trust has funded two commission series: one for music composition and one for moving image works. Each commission series offered major awards to established individual artists to create specific works in a particular art form. The commission series have each spanned 10 years.

Sculpture Acquisitions

In the 1980s, The Ian Potter Foundation supported the acquisition of a series of sculptures to assist Australian sculptors and acquire works of excellence for the NGV. Six pieces were commissioned: Les Kossatz Hard Slide (1980), Augustine Dall-Ava An Obscure View (1981), Geoffrey Bartlett The Messenger (1982), Stephen Killick The History of the Handshake (1984), Clifford Last Metamorphosis (1984) and Fiona Orr Isomorphic Impressions (1985).

The Messenger by Geoffrey Bartlett was displayed in the NGV’s St Kilda Road moat for two decades and is now on display in the gallery’s Grimwade Gardens.

Music Commissions

The Ian Potter Music Commissions were established to help spotlight the composition of new Australian music, an area that lacked profile and investment yet deserves to hold a central role in our cultural and artistic landscape. The commissions aimed to reward creative excellence, vision and ideas with the opportunity and scope to develop, create and perform new works.

From 1999 to 2009, The Ian Potter Music Commissions represented Australia’s premier music composition awards. Presented biennially, the commissions were judged by some of Australia’s most respected music artists, conductors and composers. Initially, the commissions provided smaller grants to multiple recipients, but from 2005 the commissions were granted as two Fellowships: one for an Emerging Composer ($20,000 over two years) and one for an Established Composer ($80,000 over two years).

Over 10 years, the Music Commissions invested $500,000 in supporting new works by 23 composers. Many of them are now well-regarded composers and musicians such as Carl Vine, Iain Grandage, Barry Conyngham, and Liza Lim.

Ian Potter Moving Image Commission

Launched in 2012, the Ian Potter Moving Image Commission (IPMIC) is Australia’s most significant long-term commissioning program of new contemporary moving image art by Australian artists. Developed by The Ian Potter Cultural Trust in collaboration with the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI), IPMIC represents a decade-long commitment to the art form. The commission series enables mid-career artists to produce an ambitious new work that demonstrates a significant development or shift in their practice. Commissioned artists each receive $100,000 from The Ian Potter Cultural Trust to create the work over a year, plus highly specialised curatorial, production and presentation expertise from ACMI. In addition to developing the artist’s professional practice, the aim of the commission is to cultivate a greater understanding and appreciation of contemporary moving image practice for Australian audiences.

The inaugural winner was Angelica Mesiti for The Calling. Mesiti went on to be the Australian representative at the Venice Biennale in 2019. Other winners include Daniel Crooks for Phantom Ride (2016) and Gabriella Hirst for Darling Darling (2020). The final commission in the IPMIC series was awarded to Angela Tiatia, with the commissioned work exhibited at ACMI in 2022.

Commissions & Acquisitions

Richard Mills, AM received the Ian Potter Music Commission for an Established Composer in 2005. Image: Courtesy of the artist.

Angelica Mesiti The Calling opened at ACMI in 2012. Image: Courtesy of the artist and ACMI.

LEVERAGING SUPPORT

Since its earliest days, the Foundation Arts grants have been focused on investing in key capital projects that build Australia’s arts infrastructure and support our world-class galleries and artistic companies.

Sir Ian Potter was an important supporter for the proposed new National Gallery and Cultural Centre in Melbourne in the late 1950s, joining the building committee that was tasked with raising funds and overseeing the planning and building process of what was to become the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) and the Arts Centre. In fact, the Foundation’s first Arts grant was £5,000 to the National Art Gallery and Cultural Centre Building Committee, which would become known as the Victorian Arts Centre Trust.

Continuing Sir Ian's legacy, the Foundation Governors maintain that the arts are vital to cultural expression. Through major strategic grants, the Governors see the Foundation as a leader in offering philanthropic support for our enduring cultural institutions. Many projects that have received funding from the Foundation are large in scale, in many cases requiring investment from government, philanthropy and the wider community. One of the Foundation’s funding principles is to leverage further funding. By often being the first philanthropic donor to ‘take the risk’, the Foundation hopes to encourage other funders to commit to significant capital projects.

Deciding which projects to lend this crucial support is closely considered by the Foundation’s Governors. While the grants being awarded contribute to building costs, the intent is to fund projects that will continue to have an impact into the future. Within the arts sector, this support is directed to organisations that aspire to being world-class, attracting the best art, artists and performers whether local or international.

The importance of leverage is illustrated in the story behind the Foundation’s 2001 grant of $15 million to the NGV. In the 1990s, planning commenced for Melbourne’s Federation Square to include a gallery dedicated to Australian art. However, by 2000, this part of the project had not attracted the level of private investment needed and the new gallery was at risk of being greatly reduced within the development.

In 2001, the Foundation stepped in, awarding its largest grant to date to the NGV to assist in the

construction of a building at the new Federation Square complex that would become Australia’s first major public gallery dedicated to Australian art.

In recognition of the importance of this grant –and of Sir Ian Potter and the Foundation’s support over so many years – the Victorian State Government and the NGV decided to name the new gallery, The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia. Since opening in 2002, the gallery’s exhibitions, education programs and collection displays have engaged over 36 million people.

Almost 20 years later, the Foundation again offered a foundational gift to the NGV of $20 million towards the construction of NGV Contemporary. This funding commitment from The Ian Potter Foundation was announced in December 2020 and is the largest grant ever awarded by the Foundation, surpassing the $15 million grant to the NGV in 2001.

With the Victorian Government’s commitment to invest $1.4 billion in the Melbourne Arts Precinct

Opposite: The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia at Federation Square.

Transformation, the Governors of the Foundation saw this $20 million grant as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to contribute to enhancing the cultural landscape of Melbourne. Given the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic on the arts worldwide, investing in Australia’s largest ever cultural infrastructure project was also timely. Specifically, this foundational gift was intended to bolster NGV’s fundraising efforts to raise substantial additional philanthropic funds needed to complete the project. In March 2022, the Fox family confirmed its commitment of $100 million towards what is now known as The Fox: NGV Contemporary.

Nationally, the establishment of The Fox: NGV Contemporary presents a unique opportunity for the NGV to consolidate its position as a leader in design excellence. It will offer the largest and richest display of contemporary design in Australia, becoming an epicentre for the Australian contemporary art and design community and a destination drawcard for interstate and international tourists.

The Ian Potter Centre, NGV: Australia official opening in 2002 by the Governor of Victoria John Landy.

The Ian Potter Foundation also has a long and entwined history with The Australian Ballet. Founded in 1962, The Australian Ballet was started as a small company by the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust – of which Sir Ian Potter was a director. Since the Foundation’s inception in 1964, over $10 million in grants have been awarded to The Australian Ballet.

In 2009, the Foundation committed $8 million split into two equal grants. The first $4 million went towards

the refurbishment of the company’s headquarters at Southbank (now known as the Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre) and to help it expand its successful education program. The second $4 million was released on a dollar-for-dollar basis to support the company’s operations, development and a new facility for the storage of sets and costumes.

Kenneth Watkins, Director of Philanthropy at The Australian Ballet explained at the time,“The promotional

Artists of The Australian Ballet in rehearsal at the Primrose Potter Ballet Centre. Image: Christopher Rodgers-Wilson.

power of The Ian Potter Foundation’s grants … saw an escalation in gifts to the Ballet of 91 per cent. The Ian Potter Foundation’s generosity encouraged a greater number of major philanthropic gifts and an increase in the number and size of contributions to annual donations.”

In 2017, a further $1.5 million grant was awarded by the Foundation to The Australian Ballet to help ‘Raise The Roof’ of the Primrose Potter Australian Ballet Centre, to create facilities appropriate for the company’s increasing

dancer numbers and world-class artistic activities. The project included upgrading facilities for artists; dancer health, rehabilitation and fitness; and education and community engagement.

The third largest Arts grant ever awarded by the Foundation and the largest grant ever made by the Foundation to a Queensland-based organisation is $8 million to the Queensland Ballet.

In 2015, the Queensland Ballet approached the Foundation with a plan to expand and update its home at the Thomas Dixon Centre in Brisbane. At the time, the Ballet’s facilities were stretched to capacity and its plan was to undertake a major refurbishment including overhaul of four studios, creating two new studios, a dedicated dancer wellness centre and upgrading production facilities, wardrobe workroom and administration spaces. Its vision was to grow the company’s activities, accommodate a larger ensemble of dancers, expand dancer training programs and enhance community initiatives.

The Foundation’s Board approved an $8 million grant in support of the redevelopment of the Thomas Dixon Centre, effectively leveraging an initial matched grant from the Queensland State Government. This leadership inspired many other private donors to support Queensland Ballet’s fundraising effort. The initial grant from the Foundation was a catalyst to Queensland Ballet’s Three Sites: One Vision strategy, which includes re-development of the Thomas Dixon Centre, construction of the Queensland Ballet Academy and, in time, a Production Centre.

Since 1964, The Ian Potter Foundation has proudly supported major Australian institutions to establish significant arts infrastructure to provide high-quality venues and galleries that support a vibrant arts scene. In partnership with governments and private funders, The Ian Potter Foundation has demonstrated a capacity to leverage others to co-fund some of our country’s most impressive artistic establishments and creative environments. It is an essential investment to foster the creative sector and artistic endeavour that enriches the lives of all Australians – resulting in an enduring legacy.

Thomas Dixon Centre, view from Drake Street. Image: Artist's impression.

In December 2020, The Ian Potter Foundation confirmed its support of the NGV’s vision for a new contemporary art museum, announcing a $20 million commitment towards the construction of NGV Contemporary.

It was the hope of the Foundation's Board that this $20 million grant commitment would provide the NGV with real momentum as it sought to complete an ambitious $200 million fundraising program in support of the project. The Foundation was thrilled to learn in March 2022 of the incredible $100 million gift from Lindsay Fox, AC, Paula Fox, AO and the Fox family in support of the construction of The Fox: NGV Contemporary.

Both donations form part of a $1.4 billion investment in the first stages of the Melbourne Arts Precinct Transformation. The Ian Potter Foundation recognises the significant contribution by the Victorian Government in supporting Australia’s largest ever cultural infrastructure project, including funding for the construction of The Fox: NGV Contemporary, which will affirm Melbourne’s reputation as one of the world’s great art cities.

The National Gallery of Victoria’s iconic St Kilda Road building was officially opened in August 1968. This was followed by the opening of The Ian Potter Centre: NGV Australia in Federation Square in December 2003. As Australia’s oldest, largest and most visited art museum, it seems timely for the NGV to be considering the addition of a purposebuilt contemporary art gallery that will allow it to display its vast collection of Australian contemporary artwork and design.

The location of The Fox: NGV Contemporary within the Southbank cultural triangle will add a globally significant contemporary art gallery to the established and significant institutions within it – the National Gallery of Victoria, Arts Centre Melbourne, The Australian Ballet, Malthouse Theatre, the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, the Melbourne Recital Centre, Buxton Contemporary and the Victorian College of the Arts – cementing Melbourne’s arts precinct as a globally significant centre of artistic and cultural excellence.

The Governors of The Ian Potter Foundation regard the development of The Fox: NGV Contemporary to be of national and international significance. This is an ambitious undertaking, but the NGV’s impressive board and leadership team have shown great vision and we expect them to be successful.

Electing to support the development of The Fox: NGV Contemporary is consistent with the Foundation’s long history as a funder of the arts in Australia. For over 50 years, The Ian Potter Foundation has taken an active leadership role in supporting arts organisations seeking to raise the bar of aspiration and achievement in the sector. The Ian Potter Foundation is pleased once again to advocate for philanthropic involvement in our key cultural institutions.

——— Charles Goode, Chairman of The Ian Potter Foundation

A History of Grantmaking – The Arts

Daytime render of winning concept design for The Fox: NGV Contemporary by Angelo Candalepas and Associates, and public green space, facing south. Image: Render Darcstudio.

PARTNERING FOR SUCCESS

The Foundation’s history of arts grants has been marked by strong partnerships developed with cultural institutions in metropolitan and regional areas.

From the 1970s to the 1990s, the Foundation actively supported regional galleries and regional performance tours, assisting institutions and arts companies in building capacity and bringing the arts to regional centres. More recently, the Foundation has reduced the number but

increased the size of grants to regional institutions significantly. Since 2000, grants ranging from $250,000 to $300,000 have been awarded to the Shepparton Art Museum, the Ballarat Art Gallery, the Bendigo Art Gallery and the Queen Victoria Museum and Gallery in Launceston, Tasmania to build or extend facilities and engage new audiences. The Foundation’s Board believes investing in regional arts institutions has the dual long-term benefits of improving access to the arts for regional communities while building the capacity of regional galleries to host major exhibitions that attract visitors from around Australia.

The architecturally unique oculus window opens in The Kenneth Myer Auditorium in The Ian Potter Southbank Centre. Image: Trevor Mein.

Some of the Foundation’s most significant arts grants have been awarded to leading institutions based in metropolitan centres across Australia, including the state art galleries. Aside from the two major grants to the National Gallery of Victoria in 2001 and 2020 ($15 million and $20 million), the Foundation has awarded grants totalling over $4 million to metropolitan-based art galleries. For example, the Art Gallery of South Australia, Art Gallery of Western Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales and the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory have all been awarded grants of

$300,000 to improve management of their collections and engage with new audiences. Similarly, the National Gallery of Victoria has received a little over $400,000 in grants towards a range of education programs and a conservation fellowship program.

In addition, the Foundation also supported The National Portrait Gallery of Australia and the National Library of Australia with grants of $1 million each in the early 2000s towards collection development and the creation of a Treasures Gallery, respectively.

Over the past 10 years, the Foundation has strengthened its partnerships with universities, providing over $27 million in grants towards the construction of new venues and galleries and developing and upgrading existing arts infrastructure. Several recent major grants illustrate this aspect of the Foundation’s grantmaking focus, which ensures the next generation of artists and performers has access to state-of-the-art teaching facilities, fostering excellence in artistic practices and production skills. Investment in these facilities serves the next generation of artists, performers, and producers and also benefits the public by creating world-class galleries and performance spaces that the wider community can enjoy.

In 2013, the Foundation awarded $5 million to the University of Melbourne towards the redevelopment of the Southbank campus of the Victorian College of the Arts (VCA). A further $9 million has since been awarded – $5 million in 2016 and $4 million in 2018 –for the construction of new premises for the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (MCM) alongside the Victorian College of the Arts at the university's Southbank campus.

The new MCM building, named The Ian Potter Southbank Centre, has increased the capacity of the conservatorium and created a world-class teaching and performance venue for students in the heart of Melbourne’s arts precinct. While The Ian Potter Southbank Centre’s primary purpose is to provide the standard of facilities necessary to educate and inspire Australia’s future great artists, it also houses a 400-seat auditorium for public performances.

Since completion, the new building has garnered several architectural awards, including the 2020 Daryl Jackson Award for Educational Architecture (Australian Institute of Architecture National Architecture Awards).

This was not the first significant arts infrastructure project at The University of Melbourne to which the Foundation has contributed funding. In 1996, the university approached the Foundation to assist in funding a new museum to house the institution’s magnificent art collection acquired over many years. Due to the lack of a purpose-built space, the university had never displayed more than a small percentage of its collection. The Foundation pledged $750,000 to launch the university’s successful fundraising campaign. The Ian Potter Museum of Art, located at the university’s main campus, now proudly showcases the university’s collection and exhibits public and private collections from around Australia and the world, making them accessible for study and research and to the general public.

In 2015, the Foundation awarded $5 million to Monash University to refurbish the Alexander Theatre at the university’s Clayton campus in outer-eastern Melbourne. The Alexander Theatre had well-served the university as a performance venue since the mid-1960s but desperately needed refurbishing to meet contemporary

performance standards. The transformation and expansion of the Alexander Theatre complex into The Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts has re-invigorated the existing venue, creating multiple spaces, each purpose-built with cutting-edge technology and designed to attract exceptional artists and musicians.

The re-built performance venue realises Monash University’s vision to offer a significant cultural hub in outer-eastern Melbourne. The new state-of-theart performance spaces are attracting high-quality productions and performers thanks to the latest innovative audio production technology.

The following year, the University of Tasmania was also granted $5 million over four years to help create The Hedberg, a new centre of arts education in the heart of Hobart. The Hedberg offers collaborative multi-functional spaces for the creative and performing arts industry, providing an exceptional environment for cross-discipline collaboration and creativity and is a tremendous cultural asset for the Tasmanian community.

The Ian Potter Performing Arts Centre, Monash University. Image: James Thomas.

The Hedberg will be transformational for Tasmania and provide an incentive for local musicians and others involved to come here to enhance their skills and build on their appreciation of the broad spectrum of the arts. And existing institutions, like the well-known Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music, will also benefit greatly from this purpose-built facility.

In the same year, the Foundation also awarded The University of Sydney $5 million over four years towards the development of the Chau Chak Wing Museum. This new art museum opened in late 2020, bringing together the significant collections of the university’s Nicholson Museum, Macleay Museum and University Art Gallery. Located at the main entrance to the university, the Chau Chak Wing Museum enhances teaching, research, and public engagement with these culturally and scientifically significant collections.

In recognition of this contribution, a gallery within the museum is named after Sir Ian Potter, who graduated from the University in 1928 with a Bachelor of Economics (Hon).

These grants represent the Foundation’s ongoing commitment to long-standing partnerships with Australia’s leading higher education institutions while acting on opportunities to support the creation and development of key infrastructure needed to underpin a creative and vibrant society.

Partnering for Success

The Hedberg takes Tasmania unequivocally into the creative future. This imaginative and distinctive artistic space fosters Australia’s creativity and contributes to positive social change, giving music and creative arts students the best learning spaces and bringing students, staff, industry and community together.

The Hon. Alex Chernov, AC, KC speaking at the announcement of The Hedberg project, December 2016.

Gululu dhuwala djalkiri: welcome to the Yolŋu foundations, an exhibition featuring work by artists from Milingimbi, Ramingining and Yirrkala, eastern Arnhem Land. The Ian Potter Gallery at Chau Chak Wing Museum, The University of Sydney.

DECADE BY DECADE A Timeline of Grantmaking

GRANTS: 779

TOTAL: $107,454,152

Grants by Location

% Grants awarded to regional or national organisations

% Grants awarded to metropolitan-based organisations

Grants by Type

University

Performing Arts Company

Peak Body – Peak bodies within the arts sector

GLAM – Galleries, libraries, archives and museums

Events

Education – Grants awarded to organisations with the primary focus of educating future artists or performers (excluding universities), e.g. conservatoriums

Community Arts – Grants awarded to organisations with the primary focus of using the arts to work with members of the community

Arts Sector – Grants awarded to organisations that provide venues, studios or working spaces for artists, or promoting the arts

AETT – Grants awarded to Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust

Decade by Decade

GRANT RECIPIENTS

Organisations which have received $100,000 or more in Arts grants from The Ian Potter Foundation

A History of Grantmaking – The Arts