Vale: Harlan Hall OAM

It is with deep sadness that we acknowledge that one of Wingecarribee’s high achieving art and cultural champions, Harlan Hall OAM, died on Tuesday 5th of March 2024.

To those of us who had the honour and pleasure of working with Harlan on committees, it is a sad time and his passing is deeply felt. Harlan was a giant in his capacity to interest people in his ideas for expanding the role and way museums and historical societies engage with audiences and present their collections. He was a long-time member of the Wingecarribee Arts and Cultural Advisory Board of Council as well as the Berrima District and Family Historical Society.  Harlan was a community representative on the working group for the redevelopment of the Bowral Memorial Hall. There may well be other committees, but I don’t know of them.

He was highly successful in securing funding grants and sponsorships to support the Berrima District and Family Historical Society and Berrima Museum. He brought all his knowledge and skills, built up over a lifetime of work to his engagement on committees. Harlan was forever impeccable in his professionalism and enormously generous sharing his knowledge and thinking. He was a strong supporter in his quiet way of the arts always turning up to local cultural events, the symphony concerts, Selby and Friends, attending gallery events and more. At Southern Tableland Arts, there was no hesitation in agreeing to support his funding applications with letters of support. His documentation was always thoroughly researched and grounded in thinking through the issues, the outcomes and benefits to be achieved.

On succeeding in gaining the funding for development and extension of the museum to establish The Story Centre, with capacity to develop and host digital exhibitions, the museum, was propelled into the 21^st century through a contemporary, climate controlled exhibition space. Harlan conceived of the idea of ‘cloud stories;’ a way to engage with contemporary audiences offering different pathways into museum collections, celebrating the people, stories and places of Berrima and the Wingecarribee Shire. Many of us will remember the launch event where Harlan was feted for the success of the extension and the opening exhibition. The Museum and Story Centre was successful in receiving awards through Museums and Galleries NSW in 2009, 2015 and 2017. The museum also won a tourism award in 2008.

Harlan was the Wingecarribee Shire Council Australia Day Citizen of the Year 2015 and he and his wife Lyn both received an OAM in the Queens Birthday Honours in June 2017 for their services to the community in the cultural and heritage sectors.

In 2022, Harlan was one of five recipients for a Museums and Galleries NSW IMAGinE Award for his Outstanding Contribution as an Individual Volunteer. The citation noted that he had been involved in museum development for over 43 years. The citation also noted that he had worked at the Powerhouse Museum and the Sydney Maritime Museum before taking on his deep and abiding commitment to the museum sector through the Berrima District and Family History Society and Berrima Museum. Many will know that Harlan continued to work as a volunteer in spite of Parkinsons Disease and had continued developing and realising projects until close to his passing. 

Harlan will be long remembered for his humanity, his deep thinking and integrity. He has left an enduring legacy to be nurtured and developed into the future. We extend our condolences to his wife Lyn and friends.

Susan Conroy, friend and former Executive Director of STA