This collection of artworks represents private vendors from Queensland, Sydney and Newcastle.

The Pollard Collection

Dawn and Jim Pollard became interested in collecting Australian art during the 1960s through their friends Caleb and Shirley Firkin. Regulars at Von Bertouch Gallery, even after moving to Armidale, they often travelled back to Newcastle to attend exhibition openings – especially when Lloyd Rees was exhibiting. They later discovered that Marjorie Rees (nee Pollard) was a relative, and an ongoing fond association was formed between Dawn and Jim and the Rees’s. In later years she added to the collection from acquiring several paintings etc from Cooks Hill Galleries.

In Armidale, Dawn became very involved in the Region Gallery, and acted for a number of years as a gallery guide while Jim worked at UNE. During this time the Armidale Region Gallery became responsible for the remarkable Hinton collection. Retirement to Ocean Shores (in the Byron Shire) saw Dawn continue to collect while also taking up painting more seriously, demonstrating a talent for oils. Meanwhile Jim honed his golf handicap at the Country Club opposite their home, but was coaxed out of retirement to act as College Master of the three colleges at UNSW. Jim then turned his hand to a law degree at Southern Cross University, graduating just prior to his seventy second birthday. He died shortly after at Port Arthur and was posthumously awarded the Bravery Medal for his outstanding act of bravery in attempting to disarm gunman Martin Bryant. Dawn later relocated to Salamander Bay.

^ signifies the Pollard Collection