Impact

More than $10 million invested in the Australian visual arts over the past five decades.

In addition to our direct support of artists, our $10 million has supported exhibitions, commissions, public collections, and public programs, through long-standing partnerships with respected arts institutions.

The Foundation’s first public venture set the tone for its enduring legacy. It was the ambitious 1973 commission of Salute to Slessor’s Five Bells by John Olsen for the new Sydney Opera House. The work has become a much-loved landmark and an early expression of the Foundation’s visionary philanthropy.

Colorful digital art mural with abstract shapes and patterns on a purple background, located inside a building with wooden panels on the ceiling.

John Olsen's 'Salute to Slessor's 5 Bells' (1971-73) at the Sydney Opera House

Key Contributions

A street scene in black and white featuring modern office buildings, trees, cars parked on the street, and a tall abstract sculpture with geometric shapes in the foreground.

Herbert Flugelman, Dobell Memorial Sculpture (1979)

  • Donating paintings, drawings and over 1,000 sketches by Dobell to the Art Gallery of New South Wales (AGNSW) and the National Gallery of Australia

  • Funding the acquisition of numerous artworks of Australian artists for public collections

  • Commissioning major public artworks by John Olsen and Bert Flugelman

  • Supporting for more than 30 years the Dobell Drawing Prize, initiated by the AGNSW and now held at the National Art School

  • Establishing in 2016 the Dobell Australian Drawing Biennial held at the AGNSW

  • For the Dobell Drawing School, funding the attendance at the National Art School of more than 1,600 secondary school students from more than 200 regional NSW public schools since the 1990s

  • Funding professional development workshops across NSW for regional art teachers in partnership with the National Art School

  • Establishing a Chair of Art History at the Australian National University in the early 1980s and funding art scholars and research

  • For two decades, providing scholarships to outstanding students at art schools

  • Founding support of ArtExpress, the annual exhibition of outstanding student work from the HSC Visual Arts exams

  • Founding support for the Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney

  • Funding of an art studio at ArtSpace, Sydney

See Our Impact

A woman with curly red hair and red lipstick is sitting on an orange vintage sofa in an art gallery. There are framed photographs and small pictures arranged in an artistic display on the white wall behind her. The floor is made of wooden planks.

Rosemary Lee - Drawing prize winner

Group of students drawing still life objects on easels in art classroom with large windows

Dobell Drawing School

A woman with wavy black hair wearing a green jacket over a beige top and a black belt stands in front of an abstract painting at an art gallery.

Natasha Walsh - 2026 Bundanon Residency

An older woman with curly gray hair looking down and working on geometric art projects using colored pens in an art studio with colorful geometric artwork on the walls.

Helen Eager - 2025 Dobell Biennial

A group of women in an art gallery examining a woven sculpture on display, with some standing close and focused, and others in the background.

Dobell Exhibition Grant Recipient

People sitting on chairs in an art gallery, looking at framed artwork on the wall and taking notes, with a sculpture in the center.

Regional Teachers Workshop

Group of people participating in a daytime drawing or art class in a bright studio with large windows, sketching on paper seated at easels.

Learn more about our Programs, explore our History, or find out how to Support Us.