Sculptures in the Garden is proud to announce the 2025 judging panel, featuring leaders from the worlds of art, architecture and regional storytelling. Meet the four expert voices who will select this year’s major prize-winning works.
Read MoreNow Open: Call for Artist Submissions for Sculptures in the Garden 2025
Sculptures in the Garden 2025 is now accepting artist submissions! Be part of regional NSW’s premier outdoor sculpture exhibition, with over $58,000 in prize money and a milestone 15th year celebration in the stunning gardens of Rosby Wines. Entries close 8 August 2025.
Read MoreSculptures in the Garden Celebrates 15 Years: Australia’s Leading Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition Returns to Mudgee in October 2025
Sculptures in the Garden returns to Mudgee for its 15th year from 11–26 October 2025. Discover Australia’s premier outdoor sculpture exhibition featuring top artists, exclusive prizes, and a stunning vineyard setting at Rosby Wines.
Read MoreANNOUNCING THE SELECTION PANEL FOR SIG 2024
The selection panel for Sculptures in the Garden 2024 has been announced…
Read MoreSIG ON A MISSION
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SIG FOR ARTISTS IN THE REGION & BEYOND
This year will mark the fourteenth year of Sculptures in the Garden. From humble beginnings of a few hundred attendees to over 5000 visitors through the gate, the success of the event continues to dwarf previous years. In 2020, the two-day event was extended to 16 days, enabling more visitors to attend, and ultimately driving higher sales for the artists.
The objective of the SIG committee has long been to provide artists with a platform to exhibit their work. However, as the exhibition has evolved, one of the primary reasons the not-for-profit forges ahead year after year is to increase the public art collection available for the community to enjoy. The original public art display established in Lawson Park in Mudgee has now extended to sites in Rylstone, Gulgong, and the grounds of the Mudgee Hospital.
Read MoreHeavy Load by Dave Walsh
TRAVEL ASSISTANCE FOR ARTISTS
The Sculptures in the Garden Committee have established a ‘Travel Fund’ with the intention of helping a number of successful artists with financial assistance towards travel and installation costs at Sculptures in the Garden 2024, Mudgee NSW. The application is open to all artists.
Applications close on 9th August and successful applicants will be notified by September. Final allocations of the Travel Fund will be made at the Committee’s discretion, with consideration given to, scale and complexity of artwork, cost of transport and installation and the location of Artwork / Artist.
Artists wishing to be considered for funding will need to be a SIG 2024 exhibiting artist, provide a project budget as part of their proposal and can apply for up to $800.00 inc GST per artist.
A GUIDE TO PRICING YOUR WORK FOR SCULPTURES IN THE GARDEN 2024
As the closure date for Sculptures in the Garden 2024 submissions draws closer, we’ve received a number of queries from artists about how to best price their work for sale. It’s a question we get asked year after year, and as SIG is now in its fourteenth year, we do have advice to share that may help.
Read MoreSCULPTURES IN THE GARDEN – LIVE ARTIST DEMONSTRATIONS
The 13th annual Sculptures in The Garden exhibition will launch on Saturday the 7th of October, running until Sunday the 22nd of October, and this year, the renowned event will include a number of new features to make your SIG experience more immersive than ever before.
An exciting addition to the SIG calendar of events includes live artist demonstrations from some of our long standing exhibitors. A different sculptor will present their craft each weekend of the exhibition on Saturday and Sunday. Sculptors Ian Marr, Gavin Roberts and Damien Lucas will talk about their profession, show visitors what they do, answer questions and invite guests to participate in sculpture creation.
DAMIEN LUCAS – LIMESTONE CARVING
Saturday 7th & Sunday 8th October 2023
Damien Lucas is a renowned sculptor from Byron Bay who works in a variety of mediums including clay, plaster, stone, wood, steel and bronze. Lucas enjoys the medium of limestone above other types of stone such as marble and sandstone, as it is softer and easier to carve, lending itself well to the technique of rasping which quickly clarifies the forms.
Damien will demonstrate the process of carving limestone over the opening weekend of SIG 2023. He will begin with a block of limestone already "roughed out" so that visitors will be able to get a glimpse of the basic form and where it might be going. Damien will base his sculpture off a small clay model, or "maquette" to guide his creation. Visitors will be able to see the final idea evident in the maquette, which also provides insight into how one may begin to plan a limestone carving with direction to follow.
Visitors will have the opportunity to see the process Damien follows when working with limestone, and to discuss the different types of tools used including mallets, chisels, and rasps.
GAVIN ROBERTS – TIMBER ART SPOON CARVING
Saturday 14th & Sunday 15th October 2023
Gavin Roberts comes from a background of architecture and construction and finds simple pleasure out of creating. An enjoyment for problem solving and working in timber, steel and concrete gives Gavin plenty of opportunity to find the flowing forms and objects from often brutalist products.
Gavin will be demonstrating a form of sustainable small sculpture – The Art Spoon – demonstrating how a simple pruning from a tree can be turned into a usable small sculpture spoon with just an Axe and knife. See and hear how creating a sustainable keepsake of time and place can be rewarding both emotionally and visually.
Gavin will also touch on the art of Kikezuri, a style of Japanese “wood shaving” (or shaping) in which small sculptural shapes and forms are created for the simple purpose of making
something you can keep in your pocket or hold in your hand. Wood shaping is different from conventional wood carving in the fact that you are not in charge of deciding the end result, but rather you must allow the wood to guide you as you shave it as it is meant to be shaped.
It must be noted this demonstration comes with a warning from Roberts – Carving can be addictive! Consider yourself warned.
IAN MARR – SANDSTONE CARVING
Saturday 21st & Sunday 22nd October 2023
Ian Marr draws and carves inscriptions in slate and sandstone, before decorating and gilding them. This art form is part of a continuous interest in drawing and painting, in response to poetic qualities in the environment and in the canon of literature.
As a medium, inscription is an enterprise that relatively few artists employ and is an art of ideas and suggestion rather than imitating and copying the realistic appearances of people and things.
Visitors will be able to watch Marr using a variety of hand tools to carve letters in slate and sandstone, as well as drawing on copper sheets and gilding them with 23 carat gold.
SIG CONTINUES TO CELEBRATE PUBLIC ART IN THE MID-WESTERN REGION
The commitment of Sculptures in the Garden and the Mid-Western Regional Council to public art is an example of how cultural initiatives can have a positive impact on regional communities.
Read MoreReflection by Peter Kasper, winner of the 2015 MWRC / SIG Acquisition prize in Lawson Park
THE LAWSON PARK SCULPTURE WALK – THE TRUE LEGACY OF SCULPTURES IN THE GARDEN
The winning artworks of past Sculptures in the Garden, Mudgee exhibitions can be found nestled along the banks of the Cudgegong River in Mudgee. Like treasures to be found, 29 works have been placed along the Lawson Park Sculpture Garden Walk to be admired by passers-by. Beloved by locals and a drawcard for visitors, the creation and continued development of the sculpture walk is one of the main reasons why the SIG exhibition has continued to take place, now in its 13th year.
Read MorePipe Dreams by Tobias Bennett
SIG 2021 HERALDED A HUGE SUCCESS
The Sculptures in the Garden Committee would like to thank you for participating in the 7th annual Sculptures in the Garden exhibition and helping make the event such a success. We are all very pleased with the results of the exhibition and feedback that we are receiving.
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