David Williams AM, Emeritus Professor at the ANU School of Art & Design has continued his support of the School with a second donation.

This year, David contributed a generous sum towards the professional cataloguing and processing the School’s art and craft workshop collections and the appointment of a part-time Collections Officer.

The Art & Design Collection Room is now well underway with the professional management of Collections Officer Adina West. The process of cataloguing ceramics, etchings, lithographs, screen prints, drawings and more tell significant stories about the history of the School. Some of the works accounted for so far are Naminapu Maymaru White, Leonie Namatjira, Gloria Panaka, Jimmy Pike, Fiona Foley. Danie Mellor, G.W.Bott, Mike Parr. Noel Counihan, to name just a few. The collection contains work dating from the 1950s(?) 1970s and has the potential to continue indefinitely . “It would be great to know that the collection could carry on as a visual record of the evolution of the School” says Ms West.

David Williams’ first donation in 2023 was a contribution to the existing Margaret and David Travel Award founded by him and his late wife, Margaret, in 1980.

Over the decades, David Williams has enjoyed a distinguished career in education and the arts being awarded a Member AM of the Order of Australia in 1985. This recognised his position as Director the Australia Council Crafts Board (1978-86) and Director of the Canberra School of Art from 1986 to 2006 ….now known as the ANU School of Art & Design. David was a founding member of the Executive Committee Australian Council of University Art and Design Schools (ACUADS), and was Chair in 1994, 1995 and 2003-04. In retirement, he has remained a familiar face at ANU, become a Humanities Research Centre (HRC) adjunct member, a committed volunteer, patron of the arts, an advocate for the visual arts and the University in general and a committee member of the University Emeritus Faculty.

David continues to support the University’s art and sculpture collection, the School of Art and the Drill Hall Gallery in his role as Chair of the University Visual Arts Endowment (VAE) advisory Committee. He hosts regular campus Sculpture Walk Tours for HRC Visitors, Drill Hall Gallery Friends and the general public including participation in the Alumni Week program.