November 30, 2015

Alumni descend on Art Gallery of NSW for exclusive after-hours tour

UOW alumni were treated to an exclusive conversation-style talk and an after hours tour of the Art Gallery of NSW’s new exhibition The Greats: Masterpieces from the National Galleries of Scotland last week. 

The event, on Thursday 26 November, was hosted by the Alumni Relations Team, with UOW Chancellor and respected corporate leader Ms Jillian Broadbent AO and former Director of the Art Gallery NSW Edmund Capon AM & OBE as special guest speakers.

Ms Broadbent and Mr Capon spoke candidly and humorously about how the Art Gallery of NSW grew under their leadership, when Ms Broadbent was Vice President and Treasurer and Mr Capon was Director.  

Guests then took a private tour of the exhibition, which comprises over 70 outstanding works by some of the world's most revered artists spanning a period of more than 400 years from the Renaissance to Impressionism, including Monet, Cézanne, Turner and Vermeer. Mr Capon shared his knowledge of the artists with guests as they gazed at particular pieces.

All but two of the works are in Australia for the first time, including Botticelli’s exceptional The Virgin adoring the sleeping Christ child.  

The event gave Sydney-based UOW alumni an opportunity to have an insiders perspective of how a prestigious gallery grows in the art world and to network over drinks and canapés against the stunning gallery backdrop while celebrating UOW’s 40 years of Independence. 

Guests included some of UOW’s most successful alumni across all disciplines.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings said UOW was proud to have developed a global network of more than 125,000 alumni in the past 40 years. 

“Looking forward to the next 40 years, the number of alumni UOW produces is going to triple. And by the time UOW is 80 years old, there will be more than 300,000 alumni living all around the world.” 

“We pride ourselves on offering people a network for life. So that alumni are able to use the fact that they went to Wollongong to build their careers and passions for the future.” 

UOW Chancellor Ms Jillian Broadbent spoke at the event about her passion for the arts and encouraging more females to take up leadership positions. 

Ms Broadbent has held several high profile positions in the arts, including Chairman of the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), Board member of the Sydney Theatre Company, a founding director of the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra and a Trustee, Vice President and Treasurer of the Art Gallery of New South Wales. 

She said her life-long passion for the arts derives from the calm and inspiration she draws from it. 

“Inspiration and calm that are both pretty critically to daily life and progress generally.”  

Ms Broadbent, who was named as one of Australia’s most influential businesspeople in 2014 by BOSS magazine, said she was enthused by UOW’s new postgraduate scholarship program to support more women to undertake MBAs. 

“It’s my ultimate hope is that we get to the stage where gender isn’t even on the agenda,“ she said of the Australian business landscape.