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Arts benefactor Barbara Blackman, who has made significant contributions to music in Australia and donated works to the country's leading galleries, has been honoured for her service to the arts and the community. The author and former wife and muse of Australian artist Charles Blackman will become an Officer of the Order of Australia today. The Brisbane-born Ms Blackman, 84, who lives in Canberra, has donated paintings, drawings and photographs from her private collection to the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Victoria and National Portrait Gallery, among others. Experts say her donations of major Charles Blackman works to public collections reveal his legacy as a painter. Ms Blackman has also donated funds to the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Australian National University's School of Music, and is a patron of the Canberra International Music Festival. She says she has always loved music, especially music written in her time. Much of the money she has donated has gone towards commissioning new works. Despite her more public donations, Ms Blackman has a long history of anonymous philanthropy. ''I like to work behind the scenes,'' she said. ''But I believe it when people tell me you can't have the luxury of anonymity, because what I do encourages other people to do likewise. I hope it's true.'' Ms Blackman was classed as industrially blind when she was 21 and fought for blindness to be seen with dignity, not charity. She was a pioneer of radio for the print handicapped and was a Blind Citizens Australia committee member from 1976. She was also honoured today for her advocacy work for the blind and partially sighted. ''As you gradually lose sight you compensate,'' she said. ''I have trouble with people who are sight addicted. It's become more and more of a visual world. I think people are missing a lot.'' Ms Blackman said she was born into the arts. She came from a family of writers and grew up in a house with lots of books. Her mother, who was widowed when she was three, regularly took her to concerts, plays and lectures. ''I don't feel very at home in the present world with all these technological things,'' she said. ''I like people who read books and talk about them and have a conversation, and I think fun is going out of the world. ''People used to be so witty and have a lot of repartee and people used to whistle in the street, which people don't seem to seldom do. I'm glad I lived in my world.'' Of her awards and achievements, Ms Blackman said her most memorable was an award for the encouragement of listening from the Australian Sound Recording Association, of which she has been a member for more than 30 years. Although Ms Blackman was ''a bit resistant'' when she heard of her latest honour, because she ''prefers to do things quietly'', she said it was important to ''stand up and be counted'' in order to encourage people to be of service to others. ''One's moral as a citizen is very important and to whom much has been given much may be expected. And I've been given much … you go on to do things you feel will encourage and help.''

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