On the evening of Wednesday 28 March, the Braidwood Museum celebrated the opening of the town's very own Portrait Gallery, created to honour the memory of Pip Creasy and Judith Wright, two outstanding artists who lived in Braidwood; the first an inspired art educator and the latter a major Australian poet. The funds were provided by a friend of Pip's, Peter North, who wanted to establish a permanent memorial to Pip at the Museum, where she had been instrumental in 'rebirthing' the institution, as Natalie Densley so eloquently put it in her speech.
A fortuitous series of events occurred that led to the development and creation of a Portrait Gallery. Terry Milligan, a superb photographer and previous resident of Mongarlowe (now a Buddhist monk in Western Australia) in whose book, Remembering the Past, are reproduced a number of iconic photographs of local identities, offered his entire collection of more than 200 photographic portraits of Braidwood district residents to the Museum. Among these works were portraits of Pip Creasy, teaching art and one of Judith Wright, at her home 'The Edge' at Half Moon. These two photographs now form the centrepiece of the Braidwood Portrait Gallery collection.
Until now, there has been nothing tangible in Braidwood that recorded Judith Wright's presence and contribution to the region as a poet and activist. Supplementing Wright's photographic portrait is a wall hanging in her honour, created by local artists Trish Cooper, Gabriel Morgan and Barbara Merrony as well as the gift of her typewriter and pens from Wright's daughter, Meredith McKinney.
President of the Braidwood and District Historical Society, Dr Christine Wright, announced a further major artistic contribution to the Museum's collection. Inspired by Terry Milligan's gracious gesture, the artist Tom Thompson (resident in Braidwood during the 1970s and 1980s) has offered his collection of drawings of Braidwood and surrounds to the Museum. At the opening, Natalie Densley spoke of the great contribution and inspiration that Pip Creasy made to Braidwood both as an art educator and also in her organizational abilities that saw the reinvigoration of the Museum and the Historical Society. Painter, and sometime portraitist, John R Walker, acknowledged the Milligan collection as an exceptional snapshot of the community at a particular moment; in a sense a kind of family photo album, shot with an intimacy and poignancy of which the community should be justly proud. This is a must-see for anyone with a connection and interest in Braidwood.
Braidwood Historical Society and Museum is run by a team of dedicated volunteers and is open from Friday to Monday 10am to 4pm and every day during school holidays. Entry fees contribute to the running costs and upkeep of this valuable local service.
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