Balnaves Foundation

Founded in 2006 by Neil and Diane Balnaves, The Balnaves Foundation has a commitment to supporting the arts, particularly sculpture, health and projects that benefit young Australians.

As the former executive director of Southern Star, an entertainment company Neil developed a passion for the arts that led to personal collecting and philanthropic support of the arts through the structure of his private foundation.

The founders’ particular interest in sculpture and a desire to help develop the artform in Australia led them to become patrons of Sydney’s Sculpture by the Sea. This led to a five-year partnership with the Art Gallery of New South Wales generating the successful Balnaves Foundation Sculpture Projects, comprising a mix of projects, from a group exhibition of emerging sculptors to the first major retrospective exhibition and catalogue of the Victorian/Edwardian sculptor Bertram McKennal.

Artsupport Australia has worked with the Balnaves Foundation, finding projects to present for funding consideration.

In 2007 the Foundation was a major partner for the Australian representation at the Venice Biennale, using the Australia Council Donations Fund as a way of supporting Callum Morton’s monumental installation Valhalla; a post apocalyptic replica of his childhood family home complete with gleaming floors and belching smoke.

The Balnaves Foundation launched the Sydney Opera House’s three year Open House Program in 2007, subsidising attendance for disadvantaged communities from Sydney's inner-city, southern and western suburbs, increasing their access to cultural events. This program will now be offered eight times a year.

The Foundation also supports Generation Next, the youth program at the Museum of Contemporary Art for students in Years 7-12, helping to cultivate future ambassadors for contemporary art in Australia.

Artsupport Australia’s Indigenous Philanthropy program is working with The Balnaves Foundation and  in June 2007 the Foundation committed to two major three-year initiatives with Indigenous arts organisation:

Tjanpi Desert Weavers (Central Desert, NT, SA and WA) - Tjanpi Desert Weavers is an arts employment project of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjarra Yankunytjatjarra (NPY) Women’s Council, engaging Indigenous communities of the Central Desert region in NT, SA and WA.

The philanthropic grant provided by The Balnaves Foundation will enable Tjanpi weavers to develop new basket forms and techniques, expand their skills to new communities, and to develop their profile.

Euraba Paper Company (Boggabilla NSW) - Euraba is the first Indigenous business to make elite, handmade paper in Australia at a production level. The three-year grant will enable the organisation to support a manager and develop new product and markets.