Gallery education officer Kate Armstrong played tour guide for the session, giving some interested locals and visitors an insight into the origins of Tamworth’s collection.

“We do have regular calls from groups like Probus, Lions, Rotary, Zonta and church women’s groups, so we have lots of groups looking to book and come in, so we thought we’d offer something within this space of time,” Ms Armstrong said.

A number of seniors got a look at works by Hans Heysen and Will Ashton, pieces from the Burdekin collection and a number of renowned textile works.

While the focus was on senior art lovers yesterday, Ms Armstrong said the public are always welcome to book their own back-of-house tour.

“A lot of people will come and visit and specifically ask to see White Gums by Hans Heysen or some of the Will Ashton or Nora Heyson works we’ve got in our collection.

“We have regular back-of-house tours and we can provide tours for people on request,” she said.

Ms Armstrong said it was important for the community to have access to the collection and the gallery is working on a number of programs to improve art engagement in Tamworth.

The gallery has art on display at Tamworth hospital, as well as regular art appreciation activities at schools, and is looking at digitising its collection.