AFTER a slap-up launch tonight, the  Australian National University Drill Hall Gallery will re-open to the public on Friday following a $2 million refurbishment and a major philanthropic gift of great Australian artworks.

The refurbished gallery will also showcase the Sidney Nolan masterpiece “Riverbend,” the  nine-part iconic painting series which evokes the serenity of the Victorian bush,  in a new purpose-built gallery with a special curved wall partially reminiscent of the Monet-focused “L’Orangerie” in Paris.

“The Drill Hall Gallery upgrades are a fine example of the University’s commitment to the arts and doing our bit to continue to promote and show off the works of some of this nation’s greatest artists,” says ANU Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Schmidt.

The renovated Drill Hall Gallery will be home to a major donation of paintings and sculptures from the collection of David Erskine, which includes works by Indigenous artists Emily Kngwarreye and George Tungurrayi.

With an estimated value of more than $500,000, Erskine’s gift makes it the largest contemporary art donation ever to be given to the gallery and the university.

“The University’s vision is to be the destination of choice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander intellectual leaders and this includes Indigenous artists,” Professor Schmidt said.

“It is a very personal and very thoughtfully put-together package. These works are by artists close to James Erskine’s heart,” he said.

The Drill Hall was built in 1940 to train soldiers for the Second World War. In 1984 the interior was remodelled to create an art gallery and in  2004 a Heritage order was placed on the building. While the NGA was being completed, temporary exhibitions of the national collection were heldthere, then  1992 the ANU took over the Drill Hall Gallery as a showcase for its own art collection and as a venue for temporary exhibitions.

As part of the upgrades, new insulation, ventilation systems and state-of-art LED lighting has also been installed to bring the facilities into the 21st century of art practice.

To coincide with the gallery’s reopening, an exhibition titled “The Streets of Papunya”, which presents painters from Western Desert art, is also on show in the main gallery.

The ANU  Drill Hall Gallery, Kingsley St Acton,  officially opens to the public on Friday, July 15 and has extended  its opening times to 10am – 5pm Wednesday to Sunday.