Collie Art Gallery

The contemporary-designed Collie Art Gallery is a shining example of a community never giving up on its dream. For forty years, the community pursued the idea of having a new gallery, and finally, in 2015, the dream was realised. The Collie Art Gallery was the first ‘A’ Class gallery to be built in WA since the Art Gallery of WA was built in the late 1970s. It is the envy of many other regional towns. Inside the building, a large foyer provides an opportunity for the many local artists and artisans to show and sell their work. Glass doors lead to the main gallery, where exhibitions change on a regular basis. This space can be re-configured to suit many different types of exhibitions. As well as presenting exhibitions by local artists and from the Shire of Collie Art Collection, the gallery also hosts touring exhibitions. The high quality of its facilities means that it can host special exhibitions which were once seen only in top class galleries in Perth. The Shire of Collie Art Collection began in 1954 with a donation of paintings from the art patron Claude Hotchin. This is a name that reoccurs in the history of art collections throughout the State. A successful hardware business in the 1930s and 1940s enabled Hotchin to devote time and money to his love of art. Hotchin acquired paintings through the commercial gallery he ran in Hay Street, Perth, and through the Claude Hotchin Art Prize which ran from 1948 to 1972. Over this period Hotchin donated hundreds of artworks to towns, Royal Perth Hospital and to Parliament House. His motivation was “to bring art to the country” and in doing so, he also supported the careers of many Western Australian artists.