Arts Gunnedah exhibition to showcase more than 350 works at 55th annual event

ARTS Gunnedah will host the 55th Annual Art and Ceramic Exhibition with more than 350 works from artists in one of the north-west region’s longest-running showcase events.

Opening night will be held on Friday 14 August at the Bicentennial Creative Arts Centre.

The exhibition will award more than $9,000 in prize money across a range of categories

Arts Gunnedah president Tony Moran said the exhibition had grown into one of the region’s premier cultural events.

“There aren’t many large-scale art exhibitions held in Gunnedah and people do like coming to them,” he said.

“There are smaller exhibitions throughout the year, but this is the only major exhibition where artists compete for prizes across a range of categories.”

Mr Moran said the exhibition continued to attract artists of all experience levels, from first-time exhibitors to accomplished creatives who had spent decades refining their craft.

Alongside paintings, the exhibition features a strong ceramics section and junior categories, showcasing emerging artistic talent from across the region.

The opening night dress theme is Flower Power, while there is no overarching theme for the exhibition itself, allowing artists complete creative freedom in their work.

“We’ve got in the vicinity of 300 adult entries and 60 junior entries this year,” Mr Moran said.

“Among the adults there are people who’ve just started painting and others who’ve been painting or working with ceramics for 50 years.”

The exhibition continues to draw entries from well beyond the local area, with works from Terrigal, Toowoomba and Pilliga entered.

Mr Moran said the continued success of the exhibition would not be possible without strong community backing.

“We’ve got 26 sponsors for the exhibition, which is largely where we get the prize money from,” he said.

“We sincerely thank the sponsors, and we’re really pleased to be able to present an exhibition of high quality to the people of Gunnedah and the surrounding district.”

Opening night tickets are $20 for adults and $5 for people under 18.

After the event, the exhibition will be open daily from 10am to 4pm until Saturday 29 August.