Foundation Review 2019-2021
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Our History James and Diana Ramsay Our Work The James and Diana Ramsay Foundation Executive Director's Report Kerry de Lorme Grant Highlights Arts Grant Highlights Health Innovations Grant Highlights Youth Programs Grant Highlights Capacity Building Our Partners Foundation Partners 2019-2021 Our People Board of Directors and Staff
James and Diana Ramsay Diana May Ramsay AO (1926–2017) was a member of the well-known South Australian Hamilton winemaking family. Diana grew up in Adelaide and was schooled at Woodlands Church of England Girls Grammar School in Glenelg. After leaving school Diana commenced voluntary work with the Red Cross which led her to study social science at the University of Adelaide. Diana then moved to live and work in Sydney in 1955 working in various hospitals including The Women’s Hospital in New South Wales, and Prince Henry’s Hospital in Victoria. She settled in Adelaide again in 1963 with her husband James whom she married in 1960 and then started work as a social worker at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Diana loved playing hockey and was a member of the South Australian State Women’s Hockey team from 1945–47. Later she become a keen golfer and was an active member of the Royal Sydney and Royal Adelaide golf clubs. Diana was extremely proud to be the Founder of the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation which was launched in December 2009.
James Stewart Ramsay AO (1923–1996) grew up in Launceston, Tasmania, son of pioneering surgeon Sir John Ramsay CBE and Lady Ramsay. Sir John was Surgeon Superintendent of the Launceston General Hospital between 1896–1912, founder of his own private hospital St. Margaret’s in Launceston in 1912 which is now owned by Calvary, and co-founder of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. The Ramsay name is also synonymous with the famous boot polish company KIWI which was founded by James’ uncle William Ramsay, James is also the nephew of the famous artist Hugh Ramsay. James attended Scotch College in Launceston and later Geelong College in Melbourne. James was extremely keen to serve his country and applied to become a soldier in the Australian Military forces during World War II. Whilst ill health prevented him from serving on the frontline, he was a well-respected finance officer within the Military forces. After a very happy and accomplished life, James lost his battle with cancer in 1996.
It is well known that James and Diana were great admirers and benefactors to the performing and visual arts, and were also very generous in providing funds for medical scholarships, funding medical work in rural regions as well as supporting young people at risk. James and Diana made the most of their 35 years together and enjoyed travelling around the world to experience other cultures, especially to see the arts in other environments. James and Diana Ramsay were both appointed as Officers of The Order of Australia (AO) in 1992 for their extraordinary philanthropy and service to the arts and the community.
The James and Diana Ramsay Bequest Fund Art Gallery of South Australia
One of the most extraordinary Australian cultural gifts ever made was announced in November 2019. A $38 million bequest to the Art Gallery of South Australia from the estates of James Ramsay AO and Diana Ramsay AO. The Felton Bequest was James and Diana’s inspiration for their philanthropic journey; however they would not have known at the time of pledging their gifts, that their own legacy would rival the famous Felton Bequest that has been so integral to the development of the National Gallery of Victoria. Under the terms of the James and Diana Ramsay Bequest Fund, this capital fund will continue to grow and allows only a portion of the annual interest to be allocated for the acquisition of major works. The vision and foresight of James and Diana is absolutely inspiring, and such legacies make an exceptional impact on collections, careers and communities. Base left: Patch Theatre, The Lighthouse. Photos: Matt Byrne Base right: Art Gallery of South Australia
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Purpose and Mission Our Purpose To honour the legacy of the founder, Diana Ramsay AO and her husband James Ramsay AO, and their spirit of generosity.
Our Mission Guided by our purpose, we will:
Champion a robust arts sector, increase accessibility to the arts and create career pathways Encourage opportunities to explore and progress health innovations Support programs to promote wellbeing and resilience in young people
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The past two years Capacity 7%
Education 4%
Youth 16%
Distributed over $3.4m to our partner organisations Grants by Category
Arts 53%
Health 20%
Approved $2.7m in new grant funding
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PARTNER ORGANISATIONS
PROGRAMS SUPPORTED
NEW PROJECTS FUNDED
Base left: Anna Platten, Australia, born 1957. James and Diana Ramsay, 1993, Adelaide
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Executive Director's Report
The names James and Diana Ramsay have been synonymous since the 1970’s around benefaction, particularly in regard to the visual and performing arts. In November 2019, it was announced that James and Diana, directly through their wills, bequeathed one of the most extraordinary cultural gifts ever made in Australia of $38M to the Art Gallery of South Australia. It was listed as the 4th largest philanthropic gift in Australia in 2019. The scale of this gift alone is comparable to Australia’s most generous cultural gift of all time, The Felton Bequest. This $38M gift will continue to grow and to transform the Art Gallery’s collection. We know that James and Diana would feel great pride, as we all do at the Foundation, that their portfolios, carefully nurtured over a long period of time, have culminated in this significant legacy that will be embedded into the cultural DNA of South Australia in perpetuity and is well beyond measure. To follow on with this remarkable Ramsay legacy, the Board and staff of the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation continue the Ramsay’s philosophy of investing into, and encouraging excellence in all of the organisations and people that we support. Over the past two financial years to 30 June 2021 we were pleased to welcome ten new organisations as Foundation partners and committed a further $2.7m in grants funding. We are delighted to share some examples of these partnerships in the following pages. As 2020 is a year that will be remembered by all, among the most devastated by the pandemic has been the performing arts sector. The immediate shutdown of the industry left many artists and arts workers with little or no income and had a significant effect not only on livelihoods, but also on the mental wellbeing of many Australians.
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I would like to particularly thank our community partners who responded with efficiency and thought leadership in every focus area that we support. In South Australia, we acknowledge the commitment of the state government with its response to support the arts sector during COVID-19. The Foundation also responded promptly to provide additional grants to SA based artists by supporting initiatives led by The Adelaide Fringe, The Helpmann Academy and The Art Gallery of South Australia. On a national level, with our colleagues and funding networks across the country, the Foundation was pleased to form part of a coalition with 29 other Australian philanthropists, resulting in the National Assistance Program for the Arts which was established to respond to the immediate needs of the sector. Very swiftly this program enabled the distribution of $1.5M to artists and arts workers across the country. Thanks to the Sidney Myer Fund, Creative Partnerships Australia and Philanthropy Australia, these applications and resulting payments were actioned with lightning speed. Some of our arts partners were able to participate in a study tour to Canberra to see the Botticelli to Van Gogh exhibition and take part in a Masterclass covering arts leadership and governance. Attendees reported that the experience and insights learned were incredibly valuable, particularly in the difficult environment that our arts leaders are working in at present.
We want to help artists who have been directly impacted by the pandemic. We hope these grants can provide some relief to artists and help them to continue creating their work.
- Heather Croall, Adelaide Fringe CEO and Artistic Director, on the impact of the Adelaide Fringe COVID-19 quick response grants for artists,
Right as the pandemic was taking hold, we had an exciting project under development with SAHMRI’s Resilience and Wellbeing team. This project that was based on years of scientific research into resilience and wellbeing was immediately fast tracked. Their work to create a Be Well Plan, a 5-session, 10 hour program that teaches one to find and master, easy-to-use skills to build mental health and wellbeing online was launched as an immediate response to COVID-19. Additionally, our partners working with young people adapted quickly to move their programs online to ensure those young people at risk were still engaged in programs which helped them to remain connected with their mentors, and to continue work on building their positivity and resilience.
I am grateful to our responsive and active board who take great care with both our investments and philanthropic responsibilities. Nick, Melissa, Tim and Richard each bring a wealth of experience from their relevant professional fields and additionally take part on our sub-committees as required. My thanks also go to our hard working Grants Manager Kiah, who successfully manages all operations around our grants procedures and partnerships and adapted quickly to the extra workload bought on by COVID-19, to ensure we were responding flexibly with our partnerships. We enjoy spending much of our time on nurturing strong relationships with our funding partners, understanding their challenges and providing support well beyond the grant. It is an honour to partner with our outstanding grantees who do such valuable work in the community and we are continually inspired by the wonderful work they do, without whom our work wouldn’t exist.
Top left: Kerry de Lorme, Executive Director Base right: Ramsay Art Prize 2021 group photo with the work Guiding Guardians (This Wasn't Yours) by Tom Polo, Ramsay Art Prize 2021, Art Gallery of South Australia Photo: Saul Steed.
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Grant Highlights - Arts Raising Literacy Australia Emerging Illustrator and Author Mentoring Initiative Established in 2018, the Raising Literacy Australia Author and Illustrator Mentoring Initiative enables two emerging writers and two emerging illustrators residing in South Australia, to fulfil their dream of publishing a children’s picture book. Over a two year period the artists have been mentored in all facets of children’s book production and will see their stories and illustrations come to life by local, award-winning publisher, Little Book Press (the publishing division of Raising Literacy Australia). A team of highly skilled South Australian mentors, including editor Jane Covernton, writers Mike Dumbleton and Janeen Brian and illustrators Danny Snell and Mandy Foot, was established to direct and nurture the four successful emerging artists. The artists with the support of their mentors, have created two picture books, which will be included respectively in Raising Literacy Australia’s 2021 and 2022 Preschool Reading Packs.
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The first of these books to be published was Molly Moore's Has a House like Yours, written by Kaliah Tsakalidis and illustrated by Ross Morgan. This book will be distributed to 23,000 South Australian children as part of the 2021 Preschool Reading Packs. As unexpected outcome of this project was the chance for illustrator Ross Morgan to present his work in an exclusive exhibition at the Bluethumb Gallery in Adelaide. All 32 individual acrylic paintings on canvas which were created for this book were on display. Of this opportunity Ross says "It was wonderful to showcase the art in its original format, giving a greater understanding of the process that goes into creating a picture book. Having been an exhibiting artist for many years, it is special knowing that all the paintings are now packaged up in a format that can be shared with an audience both young and old, for years to come”.
Grant Highlights - Arts The Helpmann Academy
Helpmann Fellowships
Since being launched in 2017, the Helpmann Fellowships supported by the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation have enabled nine exceptional emerging artists to undertake life changing career development opportunities. The Helpmann Academy empowers South Australia’s most promising emerging creatives to realise their visions and build sustainable practices. Valued at up to $20,000 each, the Helpmann Fellowships are awarded annually and present one of the most significant funding opportunities for young South Australian Artists.
Now in their third year, the Fellowships support projects of significance, supporting early career artists to shape their future and empowering them to transform the cultural landscape. Recipients since 2019 include; -Actor Natalia Sledz -Writer/Director Tim Carlier: -Actor/Theatre Maker Lucy Haas-Hennessey -Performer Alexis Luke -Filmmaker Anastasia Comelli
Guildhouse
Guildhouse Fellowship In 2019, Guildhouse announced a new Fellowship to support mid-career artists, supported by the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation. The Guildhouse Fellowship offers a transformative opportunity for one mid-career South Australian visual artist, craftsperson or designer by providing $35,000 to support research, international travel and the creation of new work. Recipients include contemporary visual artists TroyAnthony Baylis (2019) and Sera Waters (2020). Delivered in partnership with the Art Gallery of South Australia, the opportunity includes a presentation opportunity at the Art Gallery.
Base left: Ross Morgan and Kaliah Tsakalidis read to a school group at Bluethumb Gallery. Photo courtesy of Bluethumb. Base right: Sera Waters and Troy-Anthony Baylis in their studios. Photos: Sia Duff
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Grant Highlights - Arts Art Gallery of South Australia
Ramsay Art Prize 2021
Open to Australian artists under 40 working in any medium, the Ramsay Art Prize has become one of the most generous art prizes in Australia, offering a life changing opportunity. The Ramsay Art Prize 2021 is only the third iteration of the Prize, which has already become a highly sought after opportunity in the arts calendar on a national scale. Finalist works are selected by an eminent panel of judges and shown in a major exhibition at the Art Gallery of South Australia. The winning work is judged from the finalist's exhibition and is acquired into the Gallery’s collection with the winning artist receiving $100,000. The Ramsay Art Prize 2019 exhibition attracted attendances of 57,200 and the 2021 attendances are on track to rival this number. Ramsay Art Prize 2019 winner Vincent Namatjira OAM, went on to win the 2020 Archibald Prize. The exhibition also includes a People’s Choice Prize worth $15,000, supported by sponsor Lipman Karas, and decided by public vote. The People's Choice winner will be announced in August 2021.
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The Ramsay Art Prize 2021 winner was Kate Bohunnis from South Australia, who won the prize for the work, edges of excess. The winning work is a kinetic sculpture. A pendulum, made from metal and fabricated by the artist herself, swings over a slumped fleshy form made from silicone. The sculpture references divination tools used in spiritual healing introduced to the artist as a child. In 2021, the Ramsay Art Prize judges included Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens, Dr Daniel Mudie Cunningham, Director of Programs at Carriageworks and Rebecca Evans, Curator of Decorative Arts & Design at AGSA. The Foundation is thrilled that to date the Ramsay Art Prize has enabled 68 artists the highly sought after opportunity to display their work in a state gallery, increasing their profile and further elevating their career as an artist.
Grant Highlights - Arts
Base left: Kerry de Lorme, Premier Steven Marshall, Kate Bohunnis, Rhana Devenport and Nicholas Ross; with the work edges of excess by Kate Bohunnis, Ramsay Art Prize 2021, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. Photo: Saul Steed. Right, clockwise from top left. The Studio, Art Gallery of South Australia. Photo: Nat Rogers Mariana Hong in State Opera South Australia's Madama Butterfly. Photo: Soda Street Productions The Australian Ballet Education Team in South Australia. Photo: Sophia Bender Jianna Georgioiu and Kathryn Adas in Restless Dance Theatre Company's Guttered 2021 09 Adelaide Youth Orchestras
Grant Highlights - Health Innovations South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute
Be Well Plan
The SAHMRI Wellbeing and Resilience Centre and the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation have for two years been partnering on the Be Well Plan project. The project set out to develop an innovative mental health solution, drawing on the findings from another collaborative project, Resilient Futures (RF), which clearly found that tailoring wellbeing programs to fit the needs of at-risk youths led to greater impact.
The COVID-19 pandemic led to fast-tracking the testing, which resulted in the roll out of the program to the community as a measure to deal with the mental wellbeing issues posed by COVID-19. While the program was being used in the general population, with students and with various organisations, the team worked on finishing the app and accompanying resources.
The Be Well Plan aimed to take this idea further by being a solution that could be tailored to individual needs, while also being scalable. Early in the project, the decision was made to design a technology solution to go hand-in-hand with an in-person training offering, leveraging SAHMRI’s wellbeing measurement tool: the Be Well Tracker. This wrap-around approach was envisioned to lead to better impact and higher engagement.
The training has been delivered to 1000+ participants, and to 10 organisations to train their staff, SAHMRI have trained over a dozen trainers who are teaching the Be Well Plan to the general community and the app is being used by over 400 users since its launch.
The training and app development were conducted in parallel, with testing of the training commencing in January 2020.
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In two studies, including a randomised controlled study, the Be Well Plan significantly improved mental health outcomes. Participant satisfaction is high, and drop-out low. The project is currently in its final stage, studying the impact of the program and app on people with low wellbeing, building the case for the solution to be used as a complementary option to our under-resourced mental healthcare system.
Grant Highlights - Health Innovations South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute Bioinformatics Team I am extremely grateful for the support that the Foundation has been able to provide and I hope to continue producing as many scientific outputs during this new venture. - Dr Jimmy Breen, James and Diana Ramsay Fellow,
The support provided by the Foundation has been instrumental in the development of the Bioinformatics group at SAHMRI. This group, in turn has been active in helping researchers at SAHMRI and collaborators across Australia, USA and Canada. However, there is still a significant lack of computational research capacity across South Australia, limiting the work and funding that current researchers can achieve. With Foundation support, the South Australian Genomics Centre (SAGC) was established to provide a link between genome sequencing capacity and the computational support that researchers need for high impact research outputs. Dr Jimmy Breen currently leads a team of four Bioinformaticians, working at the head node at SAHMRI and the Adelaide BioMed City precinct, while also providing support for outer nodes at the University of Adelaide Waite Campus and Flinders University. Crucially, they are also developing a number of teaching courses for researchers to develop new computational skills that will enable them to analyse their own datasets. There is currently limited avenues for postgraduate students and research staff to learn these skills since a number of the Universities have downsized their departments.
Base left: South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute Centre right: Bioinformatics Team at SAHMRI
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Grant Highlights - Youth Programs Youth Opportunities
Project Prosper
Youth Opportunities Project PROSPER, is an exciting initiative further supporting the young people graduating from their flagship Personal Leadership Program in achieving their goals. PROSPER holds space for the graduates to bring their lived experience into program designs for the future and has resulted in the creation of workshops codesigned and co-delivered by young people, for young people, covering topics they deem most important to them. Through PROSPER – an acronym of Program; Refreshers; Opportunities; Sustained Support; Participation; Engagement; Retainment – Youth Opportunities also identifies innovative young people who are elevated to leadership roles within the project, known as PROSPER Leaders.
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Leaders work alongside Youth Opportunities trainers and their peers to identify the primary issues young people are facing today, and have co-designed a host of workshops around topics such as habit maintenance, self-care, exam stress, relationships, and how to utilise personal strengths. Young South Australians involved in Project PROSPER have taken up some valuable opportunities through participation in a variety of state and national events over the past 18 months. This includes the inaugural Youth Futures Summit Australia, where their online session appeared alongside Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s; Adelaide’s Festival of Now – an initiative of the Mental Health Coalition of SA, and the Newday Leadership Summit. PROSPER’s focus on co-design and consultation with young people, from a variety of backgrounds, is ensuring Youth Opportunities services and programs are meeting young people’s needs across metropolitan and regional South Australia.
Grant Highlights - Youth Programs Grandparents for Grandchildren SA Inc (GFGSA)
Mobile Outreach MOS and GFGSA Village Service GFGSA work in a practical way to prevent at risk children from entering the statutory child protection system (foster, residential and commercial care) by keeping them within their extended families when in the best interests of the child. It is the only organisation of its kind to provide direct support to kinship carers in Australia and with a growing list of clients currently in excess of 14,000 SA family members. Demand for GFGSA’s support has grown exponentially to meet ongoing needs across South Australia.
Their Mobile Outreach Service (MOS), established in 2018 to assist the increasing number of clients has been met with much appreciation. MOS is delivered to regional and rural communities whereby visits are promoted and established well in advance and generally hosted by associated NGOs, local Councils and Government Departments. The Village Program is designed to create support networks and structures. The prime focus of the programs are on at-risk youth, improving mental wellbeing outcomes and reducing social isolation.
batyr Australia
batyr@school
batyr is a preventative mental health organisation, created and driven by young people, for young people.
In 2021 batyr is expanding its high-impact batyr@school program into more communities in South Australia. This project delivers programs for students in years 9 - 12. Local, trained young speakers deliver their inspiring stories of lived experience with mental ill health and create positive dialogues about supporting others and seeking help when needed. These sessions are professionally facilitated and are co-designed by psychologists, education experts and young people, to be engaging, fun and interactive for students. By reducing stigma around mental health, participants are empowered to have positive conversations and increase help seeking rates so that young people get the support they need when they need it. With the Foundation's support, batyr is on track to reach 2,500 South Australian students in 2021.
Base left: PROSPER Leaders and Graduates Base right: High School students participating in the batyr@school program
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Grant Highlights - Capacity Grants Adelaide Fringe Festival Leaders Institute of South Australia Community Fund The Governor’s Leadership Foundation Program The Governor’s Leadership Foundation Program is a 10-month program focussed on maximising an individual’s outward impact throughout their career. Through immersive experiences alongside fellow participants from diverse backgrounds, participants develop the leadership knowledge, lasting connections and deep awareness essential to effect genuine and widespread positive change.
Over 700 GLF alumni are leading a movement toward a sustainable, prosperous future for South Australia. To date the Foundation is proud to have supported ten professional development opportunities for South Australian not-for-profit leaders working in our focus areas.
Adelaide Fringe Festival
Adelaide Fringe Community Fund One of the Foundation's objectives is to make the arts accessible to all. Working in collaboration with a range of established not-for-profit organisations, schools, community groups and charities the Adelaide Fringe Foundation provides important and powerful arts experiences to disadvantaged community groups. With seed funding from the Foundation, the Adelaide Fringe reached over 30 charities and organisations and have gifted 2800 tickets to disadvantaged members of the community who would not otherwise have the means to access Fringe events.
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Importantly, the Adelaide Fringe recognised the need to be actively purchasing these tickets, rather than expecting free or discounted tickets from artists, staying true to their dedication and love for artists. Incredibly in 2021, 97% of Adelaide Fringe goers reported that attending a performance or event has a positive impact on their mental health.
Our Partners
Base left: Adelaide Fringe Family Day Out, Circus Wonderland - A Mermaid's Tale in Wonderland Spiegeltent Festival Hub. Photo: Farhad Noori. Base right: BOREALIS at Gluttony. Photo: Chloe Elizabeth.
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Our People The Board of Directors of the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation each bring a wealth of experience from their relevant professional fields. The Board has placed great importance on good corporate governance practises, which it believes is vital to the Foundation's well-being.
Chairman
Executive Director
Directors
Grant Manager
Nicholas Ross
Timothy Edwards Richard Jasek Melissa Yule
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Kerry de Lorme
Kiah Elsworthy
Base left: James and Diana Ramsay Foundation Board and Staff, with the work Weaving Myself: the Landscape and the Land by Kieren Karritpul, Ramsay Art 17 Prize 2021, Art Gallery of South Australia, Adelaide. Photo: Saul Steed.
James and Diana Ramsay Foundation Suite 912, Level 9, 147 Pirie Street Adelaide, South Australia, 5000 Telephone: 08 8232 9909 Email: info@jdrfoundation.com.au