Betty Churcher remains a leading “voice” for women in the arts through new oration in her honour

Posted on 20 April, 2022

She remains one of Australia’s most revered female trailblazers, cracking into the arts world and coining the term “Betty Blockbuster” for her monumental record at the helm of the National Gallery of Australia.

Now the National Gallery will present a new major annual event in memory of former director Betty Churcher AO (1931-2015).

The Betty Churcher AO Memorial Oration will feature leading women of the arts, including Australian and international speakers, who inspire creativity, inclusivity, engagement and learning in their practice.

The inaugural Oration will be held tomorrow and include Dr Melissa Chiu, Director, Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in conversation with globally renowned author and award-winning journalist Julia Baird.

Dr Melissa Chiu, Director, Smithsonian’s Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

Join them as they ensure the legacy of women artists on the global stage and delve into Chiu’s career in the arts, her personal story from Darwin to Washington, the future for women artists, and how museums engage new audiences.

The inaugural Oration recognises Churcher’s impact and legacy. Churcher was the National Gallery’s director from 1990-1997, and the first and only woman to hold this position. She was committed to removing as many barriers as possible that stand between the audience and a work of art, eventually becoming known as “Betty Blockbuster” for her commitment to large-scale exhibitions that engage beyond the traditional gallery-goer.

She was a woman of many firsts. The first woman to lead an Australian tertiary education centre as Dean of the School of Art and Design at Phillip Institute of Technology in Melbourne (1982–1987), first woman to lead a state gallery as Director of Art Gallery of Western Australia (1987–1990) and first—and currently the only—woman Director of the National Gallery (1990–1997). She wrote a best-selling book, Understanding Art: the use of space, form and structure (1973), which was reprinted multiple times and won the UK Times Educational Award.

“When I was growing up there was no woman to act as a role model for me. When I went to the Royal College of Arts not a single female was on the staff. Even the thought of having a female on the staff was outrageous,” Betty said of her glass-barrier-busting career.

National Gallery Director Nick Mitzevich said the annual oration was one of several initiatives that support the Gallery’s ongoing commitment to gender equity and greater inclusivity for all. Last month he released the National Gallery’s first Gender Equity Action Plan that follows the success of the Know My Name initiative to address historical bias and under-representation of women and gender-diverse artists in the national collection and more broadly across the cultural sector.

“I’ve always admired her and revered her work. We both come from an education background, we were both art teachers, and I have a great sense of admiration of how she made art come alive for people that didn’t know much about art. I think that was her great skill,” he said.

“There was a great sense of warmth and thoughtfulness to her, and that’s what made her such a great communicator.”

Main image, photo of Betty Churcher by Adam Knott.