There will be wine, nibbles and more than 600 quality art works on show, and the exhibition will continue throughout the weekend.

An estimated 1000 hours of volunteer hours were needed to get the art exhibition up and running and while there will be some sighs of relief come Tuesday morning, the excitement of tonight’s grand opening overshadows the past months of work.

The Rotary Club of Singleton on Hunter are sure they will be putting on yet another great show and Singleton Art Prize coordinator Brian Ellis said it was only going to attract more and more exhibitors each year.

“The exhibition is getting bigger and bigger, we have a broader base of works this year, with works coming from farther afield,” he said.

“I think the use of the internet is going to continue to increase the profile of the exhibition, and the quantum of work.”

Mr Ellis said there would be an overall exhibition winner that would be the Acquisitive painting that would go to Singleton Council.

“What we need now is a gallery. There are 60 works over in the Council building and nowhere to hang them,” he said.

He said Margaret Olley, Max Watters and Phillip Pomeroy were just some of the notable artists represented in the Council collection.

This year’s judge is Marcia Rae who currently teaches from her Hawksbury studio.

Marcia is talented in many fields of landscapes, portraits, interiors and figure compositions. She taught art from 1983 to 1997 and presently conducts tutorials, workshops and art exhibition judging.

The Singleton Art Prize will be held at the Singleton Civic Centre and opens tonight, running throughout the weekend and Monday from 10am to 6pm and also on Tuesday from 10am to 1pm.