The Rotary Club of Singleton on Hunter has created a “once-only” category at this year’s Coal&Allied Singleton Art Prize to commemorate the Centenary of Anzac.
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It has proved to be a popular move as they have received 49 entries and the winner will walk away with $3000.
From an intimate portrait of a lone soldier to a field of striking red poppies, the entries are of a very high standard and very thought-provoking.
Rotarian and Art Prize co-ordinator, David Gausden says a lot of large works have been entered into this category, and from all over the country.
And hanging them, along with other 762 entries is a mammoth task.
For the past ten years, Trish Patterson has been involved with this tedious process.
Unfortunately despite all her experience, she says it never gets any easier because of all the variables, such as the size of each work and their staggered arrival.
“The guys from Rotary put up the hanging frames on Monday and from Tuesday to Thursday the pictures start arriving,” she says.
“We have to try to get the bigger ones up first so they are not lying around on the floor and in the way.”
But then you have to contend with the late arrivals and making sure each picture is hanging in its right category, Trish explains.
She does not do the final check until Friday morning just before the judge arrives.
Fellow and life member of the Royal Art Society, Joe Penn is the man who has to make all the hard decisions this year.
He is a sought after tutor, judge and demonstrator, who trained as a commercial artist at what is now the National Art School, and is well-known for his impressionistic oils of landscapes, portraits and figures.
Wendy Mason-Jones, from The Rotary Club of Singleton on Hunter, says he is a multi-talented artist who works in a variety of mediums and teaches at the Mitchell School of Arts in Bathurst.
“He will also be hosting a mixed media workshop with his talented partner Lesley O’Shea at the convent,” she says.
Ms Mason-Jones and Mr Gausden have both been involved with the organising the Art Prize for many years now and both agree the only way to improve it would be to find a permanent home for the stunning collection of winning work they have acquired.
The Coal and Allied 2015 Singleton Art Prize will open in style tonight with a ticketed event being hosted at the Singleton Civic Centre for more information visit www.singletonhunterrotary.org.au
