By Leah James
Thursday evening, May 22, saw the opening night of the 61st Australian Red Cross Currabubula Branch Art Show.
The inclement weather didn’t deter art lovers who flocked to the show from neighbouring Gunnedah, Tamworth and Quirindi.
Opening night theme was “French”, and patrons embraced the theme attending in outfits with a distinctly arty and French courture.
Celebrated artist James White, a local of Boggabri, was the paintings guest judge. His choice for the art show’s 2025 champion painting Breath by Kathy Ellem was a popular choice with attendees at the show on opening night. When announcing his winner, James said that “the Currabubula art show is an icon” and “is the gold standard for charity art shows”.
The photography guest judge was Gunnedah local Paul Matthews who was twice named Australian Photographer of the Year and is a Walkley Award winner. When judging the entries he said, “this year the standard of entries, I really put it up there at a high level”. His winner for section 6 – Photography Colour was Déjà vu submitted by Digby Brown. Section 7 Monochrome was taken out by Sharon Ritchie from Tamworth and her submission Muster. Gunnedah resident Marg Carr took out second place in both the colour and the monochrome photography sections.
The art show ran from May 22 to 25.
