The history of Australian regional art collections is a neglected area, but it is important for two reasons. First, the political agenda of developing Australia’s inland has a cultural component to it, albeit not as strong as drivers of economic development.  Second, Australian cultural connections stem from the centre (our major cities), with little emphasis on the periphery (the inland). Regional centres address this imbalance. With little government funding available, a model used by these centres in the 1930s and 40s was to attract a major patron.

This paper examines the bringing of art to the inland cities of Armidale and Mildura, and the role of patrons in this development.

Mildura’s patrons were R D and Hilda Elliott, collectors of contemporary Australian and English art. Elliott was a Victorian Country Party Senator from 1928 to 1935, owned the Mildura based Sunraysia Times newspaper, and was a strong advocate for North West Victoria.

The development of inland education at Armidale interested Howard Hinton, who was a major patron to the National Art Gallery of New South Wales. From 1930, he donated the work of contemporary Sydney artists and the early Australian Impressionists, to the new Armidale Teachers College.