2024 CREATIVE AUSTRALIA PARTNERSHIP AWARDS

Philanthropy Leadership Award, Meredith Hinchliffe AM

Arts advocate, writer and critic Meredith Hinchliffe is also one of Canberra's most significant philanthropic forces, having helped to nurture and preserve a wide variety of cultural institutions in the nation's capital.

Meredith's professional career in the arts dates back to 1977, and has been recognised by an ACT Women's Award, an Australia Day Medal from the National Gallery of Australia and the honour of becoming a Member of the Order of Australia. Her work in the realm of giving has also had great impact, and her support ranges across organisations large and small. These include the National Gallery of Australia, National Library of Australia, Craft + Design Canberra, Canberra Contemporary Artspace and Ausdance ACT.

Meredith continues to support the National Museum of Australia. While on the committee, she was a strong advocate for the museum to be built, which opened in 2001. She is currently a voluntary research associate at the museum working on the Trevor Kennedy Collection. Her efforts have allowed works by artists of the local region to be acquired by Canberra Museum and Gallery, of which she is one of the longest standing donors, while CMAG has also received donations from her own extensive art collection, which mostly includes local and regional artists. Her generous support of local artists has furthermore extended to the keen-eyed and thoughtful writing she has produced over many years, opening windows onto the crafts and craftspeople of the region and introducing readers to the issues that most affect this dynamic and always evolving cultural ecosystem.