Arts Gunnedah will once again be holding their annual Art and Ceramics Exhibition this August, and there’s still time to get your artwork in with entries closing on Tuesday.
Now in it’s 52nd year, the event promises, as always to offer an exceptionally high calibre of entries across a broad range of categories. This year’s exhibition will run from Saturday 12-Saturday 26 August from 10am-4pm.
Helen Stanley, President of Arts Gunnedah, says that the show, and Arts Gunnedah itself, has been growing steadily over the years.
“This has been going for 52 years and has of course grown throughout that time and is still going strong. We had approximately 280 exhibits last year and do not have a number for this year as entries are still rolling in.”
Entries are being accepted right up to Tuesday the 1st of August across the following categories:
- Open (any subject, any medium)
- Watercolour
- Graphics
- Printmaking
- Miniatures
- Local Subject / Local Artist (Liverpool Plains Area)
- Mixed Media
- Sculpture
- Novice
- Youth Open 10-14
- Youth Open 15-18
There are some wonderful prizes up for grabs and some exceptionally high-quality judges for the show.
“This year we have Lauren Mackley judging our Art section and she is the Executive Director of the New England North West Peak Arts organisation, Arts North West. And Bridie Moran is judging our Ceramics section. Bridie is an arts researcher, editor and consultant who works in the Newcastle and Sydney region,” says Ms Stanley.
When asked where most of the entrants come from Ms Stanley says, “Our entrants are from our local area and the North West but we do have entries from various regions in New South Wales with a particularly large contingent from Taree.”
Opening night promises to be a delightful community event. Held on Friday the 11th of August, doors will open at 6pm for a night including an official opening, awards ceremony, drinks, and canapes. Bookings are required and tickets can be purchased for $20 per person via The Civic Gunnedah’s website.
Ms Stanley says the show’s success lies in some clever planning and help from local businesses and Council, “We run our exhibition so that it overlaps with the Ag-Quip field days and circulate advertising throughout the town and motels to encourage new visitors to our exhibition. We are fortunate to receive sponsorship for the exhibition from Gunnedah Shire Council and other local businesses and families.”
Arts Gunnedah is an exceptionally strong community group throughout the year, offering low-cost workshops to all ages to be able to learn a new artistic skill.
It is no doubt this community focus and spirit that keeps the group so active and successful.
“Arts Gunnedah have recently gained many new members which is great as we want to continue to grow and in particular, build up a base of some younger members. We have some ideas for workshops aimed at younger people which will hopefully encourage these to have fun with art and consequently become members,” says Ms Stanley.
“We have a core group of long-term members, and we are passionate about encouraging the community to take part in art related activities. We aim to run a diverse selection of workshops throughout the year to encompass many artistic styles and genres.”
For more information about Arts Gunnedah, or the Art and Ceramics Show, visit the website or Facebook page.