Mudgee and regional NSW’s most renowned outdoor sculpture exhibition, Sculptures in The Garden, enjoyed a hugely successful first week at ‘Rosby’ with visitors purchasing over 50% of the artworks available from the two-week exhibition. All works will remain on site until the end of the exhibition.
The winning acquisitions were announced by selection panellist and local Councillor, Sam Payne, on Friday evening in front of a crowd of exhibiting artists and Friends of Sculptures in the Garden.
The top acquisition winners included:
$25,000 SIG & MWRC Acquisition Prize :: Ahead by Harrie Fasher (Portland)
$10,000 Friends of SIG Acquisition Prize :: Pensive by Nicole O'Regan (Sodwalls)
$5,000 Moolarben Acquisition Prize :: Runner by François Jaggi (Armidale)
These three acquisitions prizes will all be added to the Lawson Park Sculpture Walk – the real legacy of SIG. The Lawson Park Sculpture Walk began in 2013 as an initiative by Sculptures in the Garden to contribute public art to the community that enhances its public domain via the Arts in Central West NSW. Since then, Sculptures in the Garden has contributed more than 23 acquisition works to the Lawson Park Sculpture Walk, a gift to the region that is a drawcard for visitors and locals.
Other prizes won included:
$5,000 Buchanan Artistic Merit Acquisition Prize for Small Sculpture :: The Great Escape by Alan Kuczynski (Seaforth). The Great Escape will be displayed permanently in the grounds of the new Mudgee Hospital.
$500 People's Choice Award :: Coral Queendom by Katherine Castillo Alfarez (Manly)
$300 The Sculptors Society Artistic Merit Prize :: Sway by Annika Thurbon (Cardiff Heights)
The Great Escape by Alan Kuczynski, Coral Queendom by Katherine Castillo Alfarez, Sway by Annika Thurbon
With artists hailing from across Australia, the breadth of talent who entered the event this year was of exceptional quality and demonstrated the exhibition’s reputation as the leading sculpture event in regional Australia.
The exhibition will run daily until the 21st of November from 10am–4pm at Rosby in Mudgee.