Friends of the Dunedin Hospital art collection?

ON May 9, members of a small art group to which I belong had the delightful pleasure to be guided by Barbara Brinsley around a very small portion of the Dunedin Hospital art collection.

It was during an admission, for some days, to the hospital, when I had taken every opportunity to wander the corridors available to me and enjoy the art that adorns so many of the hospital walls, that it occurred to me just what a wonderful treasure the collection is!

It is a real ‘‘who is who’’, not only of local artists and those who have studied and taught at our institutions, but also those who have thought the collection worthy of donating their or others’ work to, that the idea for a group visit came.

As any hospital is a place of ‘‘preoccupied’’ speed, the collection is not something that people, so engrossed in other often worrying thoughts, have time to commit to an indepth study of. This proved to be true, as even among our group of ‘‘art lovers’’, few knew of just how extensive and important the collection is.

The worrying question now is just how the collection will be treated and integrated into the new hospital facilities.

Promotion of the worth of the collection, that is not really known or acknowledged in the wider community, needs to start now if it is to be well integrated into the design of what will be an overstretched budget of the new hospital build.

Could something like the ‘‘Friends of the Collection’’ be inaugurated to promote a wider interest?

Members of the Art Society and employees at Toitu that I spoke to after the group’s visit had no idea of just how precious and extensive the collection is.

I would also like to thank and acknowledge the role that Barbara has played in the oversight of the collection.

Her knowledge is extensive and enthusiasm infectious. Both it and we are extremely lucky to have her committed curation. Jan Wilson

Dunedin