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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2017-05-17 Daily Xml
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The Cedars

The Hon. J.S. LEE (15:42): It is my great privilege to rise today to speak about The Cedars. The Cedars is the historic home of one of Australia's most celebrated landscape artists, Sir Hans Heysen OBE. Heysen was born in Hamburg, Germany, in 1877 and migrated to Adelaide in 1884 with his family. Sir Hans Heysen bought The Cedars in 1912 and it became home to Heysen and his family, where he raised eight children with his wife Sallie.

I express my sincere thanks to Mrs Joan Hall, former member of parliament and former minister for tourism, for her fabulous support for The Cedars. Joan kindly facilitated my visit to The Cedars in early April this year. I had the great privilege to meet business and community leaders, including Mr Alistair Haigh and Mr James Sexton, co-chairmen of the Hans Heysen Heritage Appeal; Mr Allan Campbell, curator of The Cedars; Ms Rossana Montaniero, campaign director; and staff, during my visit to the remarkable hidden treasure of the Adelaide Hills. I even had the pleasure to view a short video by film director Scott Hicks, featuring Sir Barry Humphries, to support the cause.

I express my sincere gratitude to board members and staff for their incredible commitment and their warmest reception to explore The Cedars. The Cedars is a magnificent and unique 60-hectare heritage property set on a hillside outside Hahndorf and was home to the Heysen family, including daughter and artist, Nora Heysen, for more than half a century.

The house has changed very little since the 1920s and the rooms are filled with the furniture, textiles, objects and personal items belonging to the Heysen family. Even Heysen's studio is set up just like he is still painting. All his painting materials, tools, sketches, notes and more were left very much in their original condition.

Through a personalised tour, I was able to get a deeper appreciation of Heysen's remarkable versatility in subject and medium inside his working studio, which was used by this iconic painter until his passing in 1968 at the age of 90. I also found out that Heysen was a pioneer conservationist, lobbying neighbours and the local council to preserve the great trees around Hahndorf. In 1938, he increased his holding to 150 acres to support the preservation of the natural environment.

Heysen won the Wynn Prize nine times between 1904 and 1932, and also other distinguished art prizes. For many years he was a board member of the National Gallery of South Australia. He was awarded the OBE in 1945 and was knighted in 1959.

Recognising that an historical property like The Cedars will not survive on its own, the Heysen family and supporters are embarking on an ambitious and meaningful project to establish an arts and cultural centre on the site of The Cedars in order to preserve the legacy of Sir Hans Heysen through the culmination of extensive work by the Hans Heysen Foundation, which was set up by the artist's grandson, Peter Heysen, to secure the site's long-term security. The project attracted a grant of $1 million from the federal government, and the Mount Barker District council has more than matched the federal government funding, committing $1.5 million, with other contributions from private and corporate donors.

Realising this, the South Australian government in June 2016 announced that it would match the federal government's $1 million contribution to bring the project to life. The combined federal, state and local government funding announcements were a step towards creating a cultural centre on the site. The foundation is aiming for the interpretive cultural centre to be completed by 2020. It will include a cellar door, shop, cafe, as well as spaces for art exhibitions, educational activities, functions and music performances. The centre will become a significant tourist attraction, where schoolchildren, artists and tourists can come to learn and appreciate the works of a great Australian artist.

I strongly believe that the proposed interpretive cultural centre at The Cedars will be a pride of South Australia. I urge all honourable members to support the Hans Heysen heritage appeal to raise more funds to realise this long-term dream to develop a unique cultural asset for South Australia.

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