Gallery for Hans and Nora Heysen will begin construction this year; Concept image released
The successful concept for the Hans and Nora Heysen gallery has been released, with a previous controversial concept dropped. Construction will start this year.
Adelaide Hills
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The long-awaited new gallery to display the works of artists Hans Heysen and daughter Nora Heysen will begin construction this year after its design was finalised.
Federal Communications minister Paul Fletcher said the Government was contributing $9m to the gallery, just outside Hahndorf, which would boost “Adelaide’s cultural and tourism economy’’.
“The Heysen gallery will create local jobs and help support the local economy,’’ Mr Fletcher said. “With construction set for mid-year, I am sure local businesses who have been struggling will welcome the additional visitors the new gallery will attract”.
However, a previous, controversial design that would have housed the gallery in a 20m tall glass cube has been abandoned in favour of a single-storey structure which will feature “rammed earth concrete materials, expansive glazing to bring in scenic vistas, strong timber-themed interior furnishings as well as energy-saving design features’’.
Hans Heysen, who died in 1968, was a German immigrant who moved to South Australia as a six-year-old, and became one of Australia’s greatest artists.
He left a legacy of not only his art but the original house, known as The Cedars, and the studio he had built in 1913.
Nora Heysen was the first woman to win the prestigious Archibald Prize for portraiture and was Australia’s first woman war artist.
Hans Heysen Foundation Board chairman James Sexton said the cube concept was too expensive and the design by Snohetta Architects had been chosen after an open tender which attracted 37 architects.
“We want the gallery to be confident, authentic and well-grounded in the character of Hans Heysen and his family,” Mr Sexton said.
The concept of a gallery at the Heysen’s Cedar property was first floated in 2016, with the Foundation aiming to raise more than $20m to build a gallery and renovate the run-down Heysen home. Mr Sexton said improvement work had begun on the home.
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