THE LATEST NEWS
Second Sun, 2022 by @alexscheibner at rotary park Rylstone, NSW
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.
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Reflection by Peter Kasper, winner of the 2015 MWRC / SIG Acquisition prize in Lawson Park
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.
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Pipe Dreams by Tobias Bennett
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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Ahead by Harrie Fasher, Pensive by Nicole O’Regan, Runner by Franois Jaggi
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.
To our dear community of artists,
As 2021 unfolds we feel almost as stunned as we did last year. We sincerely hope you are all keeping safe and well and most importantly sane during these incredibly challenging times.
As you’re probably all aware, the entry deadline for Sculptures in the Garden 2021 submissions is this Friday. Due to the uncertainty around lockdown we have decided to extend the call for works until midnight on Tuesday 31st of August.
We'd like to remind everyone of the entry criteria. All submissions for Sculptures in the Garden 2021 must be;
Professionally finished for public exhibition. Any work that is not fit for exhibition will be rejected on viewing.
Be priced to sell.
Be the original work of the submitting artist and cannot be listed in any other exhibition catalogue in the lead up to or during Sculptures in the Garden. This includes online exhibitions.
It is difficult to know what the situation will look like come October. If the spread of covid-19 continues to persist throughout September, we may not be able to proceed with the event as currently planned. However, we want to let you know that we are developing a plan to host SIG 2021 in due course. It is likely the event will be extended for a prolonged period to facilitate greater flexibility in regard to delivery, installation and visitation. We'll work with each individual artist to ensure they can exhibit their work in what may become an evolving exhibition over an extended duration. The selection panel will still judge all works and award the acquisition prizes accordingly.
Our decisions moving forward will be firmly based on advice from NSW Health to ensure we proceed in a safe way. We can only control so much, but we will endeavour to provide an exhibition for you to showcase and sell your work after the months you have dedicated to it. We will remain flexible and keep you updated as we have a clearer idea of the details.
If we are forced to cancel the 2021 event entirely we will happily refund the $30 artist entry fee.
Now, for some brighter news! The Buchanan Artistic Merit Acquisition Prize has been confirmed, with the winning acquisition to be positioned in the grounds of the Mudgee Hospital. This will be a wonderful achievement for the successful artist who will receive $5,000 and have their sculpture permanently displayed for the public to enjoy. Eligible sculptures for this prize must be 80cm or less in size in any direction and be free standing.
A huge thank you to everyone who has submitted their entries to date – we are beyond impressed with the quality of submissions. For those who haven't submitted, please do! You now have until midnight on Tuesday 31st of August.
With warm regards and thanks,
Kay Norton-Knight
Sculptures in the Garden Artistic Director
PO Box 3, Mudgee 2850
0428 635 993
E: kay@rosby.com.au
W: www.sculpturesinthegarden.com.au
The brand-new Mudgee Arts Precinct opened to the public on Saturday, August 7.
The precinct is set to become the home of the arts for the Mid-Western region. It will offer a community workspace for artists with resources and facilities to foster art, creative and cultural education. In addition to a state-of-the-art, purpose-built gallery space to host exhibitions, these facilities will nurture the existing arts community in the Central West and encourage a new generation of emerging artists.
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The selection panel for Sculptures in the Garden 2021 has been announced…
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Any visitor who has ever been to Mudgee, and most definitely any local knows that the Lawson Park Sculpture Walk is one of the star attractions in this beautiful region that we’re so lucky to call home.
Lawson Park is a beautiful, tranquil and peaceful setting along the banks of the Cudgegong River that showcases winning artworks from the Sculptures in the Garden (SIG) annual exhibition.
The sculpture walk came to be after Sculptures in the Garden founder, Kay Norton-Knight, along with the exhibition committee, proposed the idea to the Mid-Western Regional Council (MWRC) who deemed it a worthy and important asset for the local community.
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Guide Dogs NSW/ACT have been involved with Sculptures in the Garden since the beginning and in that time over $160,000 has been raised for the organisation.
Guide Dogs have a committee of roughly 30 members with half of their team volunteering to be a part of the sculpture event each year. The volunteers are an enormous support to the event and SIG couldn’t take place without them. The volunteers run the food tent making delicious salads, sandwiches, bacon and egg rolls and sausage sandwiches to feed all of the hungry visitors. They also man the gate collecting donation entry fees, run raffles and supervise parking. They are also very persuasive when asking their husbands, partners and friends to lend a hand over the weekend. With so many jobs to be done, it takes quite a few hands to ensure it all runs as smoothly as it does.
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We are most definitely proceeding with the event and will have a lot to celebrate come October 10th. We are forging ahead for our 10th anniversary year and have put in place plans to ensure that we are meeting all health and safety requirements in relation to COVID-19.
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We wanted to check in with you all to see how you’re faring during this incredibly difficult time and to assure you that the Sculptures in the Garden Committee are still forging ahead for 2020 in preparation for our milestone 10th-anniversary event. I think we can all agree that during these challenging times, we need, more than ever before, something to look forward too and so we are hoping that SIG 2020 can be the light at the end of the tunnel for us all.
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