Tributes flow for Art Almanac publisher Janice McCulloch

How does an amateur art enthusiast with no publishing experience, take over a small art directory and turn it into Australia’s pre-eminent monthly guide to art gallery exhibitions?

The answer? With persistence and honesty, according to the people who worked with Janice McCulloch, publisher of the Art Almanac and a much-admired Sydney identity, who died two weeks ago at the age of 70.

“She was one of the most extraordinarily generous, tolerant people I’ve ever met in my life,” says Paul Saint, a designer at Art Almanac who worked on-and-off with Janice for over 20 years.

In that time, Art Almanac grew from a small Melbourne-based publication, with a distribution of roughly 5,000 copies to a nationwide publication with a distribution of over 20,000 copies and over 2,000 subscribers.

In addition to running a successful publication, Janice devoted time and money to helping young Australian artists, often purchasing their work. These pieces form the basis of a large art collection, which the McCulloch family intends to keep intact and available for loan.

Recently, Janice was also involved in several art projects around Glebe, such as the Wireless House, ‘Art and About’, and the Glebe Public School Fence.

Janice’s interests were not confined to the art world. In addition to involvement with her church and work with the Glebe Chamber of Commerce, Janice was a supporter of the NSW Greens. She provided office space to the organisation at a time when they had none, and stood for the Greens in local government elections. She was also passionate about the Jane Austen Society, of which she was a member.

Janice Edith McCulloch, who died on November 12, 2009, was born in Hobart on December 8, 1938,the daughter of Fred and Maise Eastman. Her family moved to Bruny Island in 1946, where Fred was a dairy farmer and served as Council Clerk. At age 12, Janice moved to Hobart to attend Hobart High School.

At university, she studied a Bachelor of Arts and met Roger McCulloch. Two years as an infant school teacher were followed by marriage to Roger, with whom she had five children. The family was based in Sydney, but also travelled extensively, due to Roger’s career as an engineer.

Roger died in 1981 at the age of 45, and Janice returned to university to finish her degree, spending several years working as a librarian before hearing about a small publication for sale.

Janice bought Art Almanac and moved it to Sydney, where initially it only covered galleries in Sydney and Melbourne. Gradually it expanded to include galleries across Australia. Paul Saint says that the key to Art Almanac’s success is that it was always very honest, straightforward, and offered a real service. It never missed an issue.

Janice never retired and in December 2008 she celebrated her 70th birthday with over 200 friends and family at Clovelly Bowling Club.

Janice McCulloch, ‘Granjan’ to her grand-children, is survived by a large family, including her children Tim, Helen, Robert, Cathy and Penny, and her grand-children Alex, Stevie, Tyrone, Molly, Shannon, Marcus, Morgan, Ruby, Semaus, and Oonagh.

Her family intends to continue publishing Art Almanac.

by Aaron Cook