Rodney Armour "Rod" Milgate (30 June 1934 – 19 September 2014) was an Australian painter and playwright. He was a Professor of the Visual Arts School of the (then) City Art Institute, University of NSW and newsreader (on the broadcast television Channel 7).
Milgate was considered one of Australia's most influential artists, especially during the 60s and 70s. His work is represented in major collections around the world and he had many solo exhibitions and awards for his work, including the Blake Prize for Religious Art three times. His play, A Refined Look at existence, first presented in February 1968, was described as "An ironic comedy drama which reworks Euripides' The Bacchae, set in a NSW country town. Daring in form, this was possibly the earliest play to capture the emotional turbulence that characterised the 1960s." In 1960, he married Australian actress Dinah Shearing and the couple had two sons. Milgate retired to the Central Coast, north of Sydney, where he died on Friday, 19 September 2014.
1964 John Fairfax Human Image Prize
1966 Blake Prize for Religious Art
1968 Harkness Fellowship (Commonwealth Fund, New York), two-year tenure
1970 D' Arcy Morris Memorial Prize
1972 Gold Coast Purchase Prize (jointly)
1975 Blake Prize for Religious Art
1977 Blake Prize for Religious Art (jointly with John Coburn)
1978 Six month Residency, Owen Tooth Memorial Cottage, The Karolyi Foundation, Vence, France
1986 Gosford City Art Award – New World
1987 Sydney Morning Herald Heritage Art Award
1991 Mosman Art Award
1993 Outstanding Achievement in Poetry (Editor's Choice), National Library of Poetry, Maryland, USA
1993 CoFA, University of New South Wales, Faculty Research Grant
1995 Positive Images Prize, Pittwater Council, NSW – 'Incident at Avalon Beach', a poem (writing award)
1996 Three months residency, University of NSW Studio, Cite Internationale des Arts, Paris, France
1962 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1963 South Yarra Galleries, Melbourne
1965 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1966 Commonwealth Institute Galleries (by invitation), Whitechapel, London
1967 Johnstone Galleries, Brisbane
1969 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1970 Johnstone Galleries, Brisbane
1971 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1972 Johnstone Galleries, Brisbane
1973 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1974 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1976 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1977 Macquarie Galleries, Canberra
1980 Macquarie Galleries, Sydney
1982 Painters Gallery, Sydney
1983 Barry Stern Exhibiting Gallery, Sydney
1989 Bonython-Meadmore Gallery, Sydney
1989 Long Gallery, Wollongong University, NSW (public exhibition of PhD presentation)
1991 David Jones Art Gallery, Sydney
1991–92 Fourteen Stations of the Cross (17 major oil paintings accompanied by poems read and recorded by Dinah Shearing and Ron Haddrick), toured Orange Regional Art Gallery,
1994 Points of View, Ivan Dougherty Gallery, College of Fine Arts, University of New South Wales
1995 The Art of Rod Milgate, Manly Art Gallery and Museum
1996 Wagner Galleries, Sydney
1998 Artarmon Galleries, Sydney
2002 Journey into self, Gosford Regional Art Gallery, NSW
2012 Allograph, Gosford Regional Art Gallery, NSW
Productions and writings
1966 A Refined Look at Existence (three-act stage play), produced at Jane Street Theatre, University of New South Wales, Kensington, Sydney by Robin Lovejoy
1968 At Least You Get Something Out of That, play commissioned by New South Wales Drama Foundation, produced at Old Tote Theatre Season of Australian plays (including revival of A Refined Look at Existence)
1977 Grass Up to Your Ears and Buckets with Holes in Them (two stage plays)
1978 Incident at Novala Beach (novel)
1979 A Golden Pathway Through Europe selected for workshop production presentation at National Playwrights' Conference, Australian National University, Canberra
1980 A Golden Pathway Through Europe produced at Ensemble Theatre, Milsons Point, Sydney
1981 Intruders and Destiny's Mill (two stage plays)
1982 The Story of Larry Foley (film script)
1983 'Work in Progress', ABC telefilm, The Creative Eye, series on Australian artists
1984 Triage or the Fortunates adapted for radio and accepted for production ABC Radio, Sydney
Wrote Archibald Prize (stage play)
1985 Anniversary Waltz (stage play) Workshop reading of Intruders at Hunter Valley Theatre Company, Newcastle, NSW
1991 Workshop reading of Anniversary Waltz, Iron €ove Theatre, Sydney
1992 The Search for Meaning – Fourteen Stations of the Cross subject of monograph for ABC National Radio, presented by Caroline Jones, produced by Stephen Godley; poems recorded by Ron Haddrick and Dinah Shearing, Catholic Broadcasting Services, Sydney, * * 1992
1993 Incident at Novala Beach Published by College of Fine Arts, NSW University.
1996 Archibald Prize (stage play), Domain Theatre, Art Gallery of New South Wales; director Aarne Neeme
