Speeches
Thursday, 25 June 2026
Dinner to celebrate the centenary of Diana Ramsay’s birth and Elizabeth I painting unveiling
Rod and I are pleased to join you this evening to celebrate the centenary of Diana Ramsay’s birth.
It is a great pleasure for Rod and me to be joint patrons of the gallery and to recognise the contributions of its supporters, most especially its most significant donor, the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation.
As I said at the dinner to celebrate the centenary of James Ramsay’s birth, in 2023, philanthropy has long been vital to the health of our state's institutions.
Philanthropy has helped to establish and support our galleries, hospitals and universities since early in South Australia’s settlement.
As Governor, I have often seen there is something about South Australians, in particular our philanthropists and donors, which impels them to identify what needs to be done and to make things happen, shaping communities that are caring, resilient and thriving.
In 2023 I was asked to provide a foreword for the publication, ‘The Joy of Giving: The story of James and Diana Ramsay’.
It was a timely opportunity to reflect on the contribution of the Ramsays to our state, and how they approached it.
James and Diana Ramsay had the generosity of foresight to build a strategic and lasting approach to giving.
They did so while remaining humble and private, preferring that their giving speak for them.
After James's death in 1996, Diana's establishment of the James and Diana Ramsay Foundation in 2008 ensured their shared philosophy of giving would continue for generations, across the arts but also youth and health.
As things turned out, my return to Adelaide to take up the office of Governor took place some years after the passing of James, and later Diana.
It would have been a privilege to meet them and to thank them for their contribution to our community.
Friends,
A childhood visit to this gallery sparked in Diana Ramsay a lifelong love of art, in particular Nora Heysen’s painting, ‘Scabious’, which hangs in this wing.
When my mother died, she left me a Nora Heysen still life of Autumn Crocus flowers, giving me the opportunity to spend quiet time with the work and thus come to appreciate more the often understated beauty of Nora’s works.
As many of you know, Diana’s contribution to the gallery extended beyond her generous personal giving.
She served on the board in the eighties, and helped to establish the Art Gallery Foundation in 1981, on whose Council she served for more than thirty years.
I am particularly grateful to Diana for her commitment to supporting young people to access the arts, and young artists to establish their careers, through initiatives including the Ramsay Art Prize, and funding for The Studio and START programs.
Rod and I wish the Art Gallery of South Australia every success as it builds upon Diana's generosity, so that South Australians of every age and background can continue to access and enjoy visual art.
Let us remember a woman of great humility and generosity, whose name will remain forever woven into the fabric of this gallery and into the cultural life of our state.