The Lore Germain Bequest

Lore Germain was a friend of the Reichstein Foundation and generous arts patron, who partnered with us over many years to co-fund arts-related projects. Through the Lore Germain Bequest, we’re honoured to continue her legacy.

This summer, the inaugural grant from Lore’s bequest is supporting the Neighbourhood Justice Centre’s exhibition ‘Urban Campfire’, which features work by professional artists and creative individuals living in Melbourne’s inner north-east.

This biannual exhibition gives people a place to showcase their talents. In return, the Centre is transformed from a utilitarian government agency into a warm and welcoming space, which is important for a place that serves as a community court, a hub for support services and a community meeting place.

“Urban Campfire is an artistic showcase that demonstrates justice isn’t abstract — it’s personal, it’s local and it’s shaped by every individual story,” says the Centre’s General Manager, Rachel Powning.

Many of the artists featured in the exhibition live with multiple and complex needs or have had interactions with the justice system. For several, it’s their first point of entry into the arts world, providing access to creative expression for the first time.

“It’s about getting their art on the wall so that people feel that they’re held within the community, that they recognise themselves within the community,” says exhibition curator Paula Mahoney. “The creative workshops, which we run as part of the program, are really great too — seeing people making things together.”

Artists represented in the current exhibition include members of City of Yarra Seniors art group, the Collingwood Neighbourhood House painting group, Sacred Heart Primary School, Collingwood College, Richmond Youth Hub, St Joseph’s Primary School, Blak Pearl, Carlton Neighbourhood Learning Centre, Soft Meadow Collective and Arts Richmond Collective.

“It’s very democratic. Everybody can make something, so you see work hanging together that’s all very different creating a dialogue of what it is to live in the City of Yarra,” says Paula.

“We live in a world that divides us all, all the time, and artwork doesn’t do that. It brings us all together. It connects us. It’s a great feeling.”

It is outcomes like these that Lore Germain’s generous legacy seeks to support. Over the coming years, the Reichstein Foundation will continue to honour her bequest by funding art programs delivered by our existing grant partners and/or arts programs consistent with our mission and values.

In 2025, Lore Germain’s bequest will help to fund 350.org’s Weaving Our Stories initiative, a sharing of First Nations’ stories, music, dance art and spoken word as part of the Torres Strait Islander-led climate justice campaign Our Islands Our Home.

For more information on the Urban Campfire exhibition, see the exhibition catalogue (pdf) or get in touch with the Centre for opening times.