Artists In Residence Auction 2009

Tigers are the world’s largest living cat. They mainly hunt at night and may eat up to 40kg of meat at a time!

Twenty of Australia's leading visual artists spent two months amongst the animals at Taronga Zoo as part of the inaugural 'Taronga Artists Camp' artist-in-residence program. This fundraising initiative raised a remarkable $140,000 for the Taronga Foundation while at the same time offering unique experiences and inspiring surroundings to some of our most highly regarded artists.

Taronga Zoo is closely connected with the arts community, being adjacent to the site of one of the artists' camps that sprung up around the Mosman foreshores in the late 19th century. "En plein air" (outdoor) painters Arthur Streeton and Tom Roberts established a significant camp at Curlew Cove in the 1880s, next to what is now Taronga Zoo. Their paintings of the harbour and its surrounds are now cultural icons.

The Taronga Foundation continued this creative tradition with an artist-in-residence program earlier this year. A select group comprising Clary Akon, Michael Bell, Jason Benjamin, Jo Bertini, Ken Done, Rex Dupain, Rachel Fairfax, Geoff Harvey, Fairlie Kingston, Peter Kingston, Janet Laurence, Kerrie Lester, Guy Maestri, Henry Mulholland , Peter O'Doherty, Susan O'Doherty, Leo Robba, Luke Sciberras, Peter Sharp and Garry Shead participated in the 2009 program.

Each artist generously donated artworks at the end of the residency which were auctioned by Justin Miller at Sotheby's with all proceeds supporting the Taronga Foundation's vital animal breeding, education, research and conservation work. The residency program and auction was a great success and an enormous boost to our fundraising endeavours. As well as raising much-needed funds, the residency attracted wide coverage across print, radio and TV media, including a terrific segment on the ABC's 7.30 Report. Many people were introduced to the work of the Taronga Foundation for the first time.

Zoo Director Guy Cooper said: "Taronga Zoo holds a special place in the imagination of all who visit. We are delighted that so many of our prominent artists embraced this new project with such enthusiasm. Their generosity with their time and with their donations of artworks is tremendously encouraging for the Foundation. We hope this program will become an important annual event in the art world and the life of the Zoo."

The Taronga Foundation gratefully acknowledges the generosity of the artists who made our 2009 program such a success, their galleries, as well as the generous assistance of Justin Miller and Sotheby's, David Terrazas and Ely Neuman from ING Group, and Jim Crofts Studios.