The Gallery is moving. Mike Parr draws breath. The Gallery has a new home. Friends have brought around a lemon tree ready for planting. Although it is a Michael Parekowhai bronze lemon tree. More trees, didn’t we just see lots of those, the single paddock tree with the Grampians rolling along the background, as we speed along the Western Highway? No these are Tony Clark’s trees. There is sound, but isn’t that stereo also bronze? Yes, that’s Ricky’s stereo, the sound must be coming from Shaun Gladwell’s video, are we on holiday in Japan now?

Horsham Regional Art Gallery will present the inaugural public presentation of The Hayman Collection. This will take place within our new temporary home on Roberts Avenue. The exhibition and the publication Hayman Collection Volume One, this important private collection will be chronicled, motivations and relationships investigated, and what is a private pursuit, shared.

The Gallery is moving. This Art Gallery has moved once before. In 1983 the Wilson Street building opened with the collection of Australian pianist, Mack Jost OAM. Jost’s Collection brought to Horsham a range of Australian artworks that were of a quality that astounded the City of Horsham. Like the Hayman Collection, his was a personal collection, forged by his understanding, and his peers within Melbourne’s creative scene, he lived with it within his home.

Jost’s Collection set the tone for Wilson Street, and formed the basis of our understanding of a modern Australian art practice. The Hayman Collection will allow us to experience leading artists from Australia and New Zealand, and improve our understanding of contemporary art practice. The Hayman Collection Volume One will sound the start of our experimentation at Roberts Avenue.