Beverley Wright was the patron of the Packsaddle Fundraisers. She was renowned for her continued encouragement to young artists and for her determination to educate not only her relatives but most of her friends with the appreciation of art.

The Packsaddle Committee have donated a work by Marea Gazzard to celebrate Wright’s support and enthusiasm for NERAM.

As a sculptor and a craftsperson, Marea Gazzard has been at the forefront of Australian creative achievement for the past three decades.

Her sculpture combines an unerring sense of formal grace with a powerful volumetric impact and displays universal qualities which have established her reputation for excellence.

Gazzard’s commitment to the crafts movement has engendered respect nationally and internationally. In 1971 she became the inaugural president of the Australian Crafts Council and in 1980 was elected president of the World Crafts Council.

Born in Sydney in 1928 to Greek-Australian parents, Gazzard studied at East Sydney Technical College and at the London Central School of Arts and Crafts.

She is acknowledged as one of the most important form ceramists to emerge in England during the 1950s.

Since her return to Australia in 1960, Gazzard has exhibited extensively and is represented in State collections.

Her commissions include bronzes for Parliament House, Canberra.

Her works are in major collections around Australia including all the State art galleries and the National Gallery of Australia

Wright greatly admired Gazzard’s work. Gazzard called her sculpture ‘Janus IV’, but the Packsaddle Fundraisers know it affectionately as ‘Blue Moon’.

It has two faces (and two moons in one day is a blue moon), with a blue flash across them.

“Beverley never needed an excuse to have a party. But a Blue Moon Party was a must,” according to Pat Elkin, patron of Packsaddle,

“Even if it wasn’t a blue moon - it was still a Blue Moon Party.

“And she convinced us that if we looked at the moon on the day of the blue moon, we would see a blue haze across the moon.”

The sculpture is on display in the Lalor Harris Gallery near the exhibition, New England’s Hinton.

NERAM would also like to take this opportunity to wish all visitors and supporters the compliments of the season.

The gallery will be closed from December 22 and will re-open on January 7 next year when they have a special ‘free day’ for the Art Gallery of NSW exhibition, 9 Shades of Whiteley.