Arts in the Valley invites all Kangaroo Valley artists to participate in this year’s Visual Arts in the Valley Festival to be held across the October long weekend, 4th to 7th of October. The festival will be a celebration of local artists and there are several great opportunities for you to be involved.
Salon of Local Artists Prize
The Salon of Local Artists will again be a major feature of the festival, with the prize and exhibition curated and judged by Boe-lin Bastian, Curator at Bundanon, with the finalists’ artworks hung in the Kangaroo Valley Hall. The total prizemoney of $2550 is greater than in previous years and includes the Salon of Local Artists Prize, as well as Highly Commended, Packing Room and People’s Choice prizes. Entrants will have the opportunity to sell their works across the weekend, as well as via the Arts in the Valley online store – 50% of works were sold in 2022.
The full Terms and Conditions for the prize and the Entry Form can be found on the Arts in the Valley website (https://www.artsinthevalley.net.au/visualarts) but it is important to note:
- Artists must reside, or have a studio, within the escarpment of Kangaroo Valley;
- Original works of visual art across many mediums are eligible for entry, however sculpture and ceramics are not eligible for this prize;
- Entries are limited to 3 artworks per artist, and
- Entries open on the 1st of August and close on the 30th of August.
Kangaroo Valley Art Trail
Following the previous successes of the Kangaroo Valley Art Trail, it has been expanded to include several interesting new studios/galleries and new genres, including sculpture. We currently have six studios/galleries but would love to have even more artworks to show off and sell to our art-hungry locals and visitors from the Highlands, South Coast and beyond.
If you would like to have an audience and potential market in the place where you create, please contact the Visual Arts Director at visualarts@artsinthevalley.net.au to discuss.
3 (or maybe more?) Arts of a Kind
Do you enjoy showing your creative process and talking about your work? If this is you, join other artists in this festival innovation. Artists from different genres will be given a provocation or theme for an artwork. They will begin their work prior to the festival but will complete it together in a public space over a few hours on the festival weekend. The artists will have the opportunity to sell their work if they wish. It could be you. Please contact the Visual Arts Director at visualarts@artsinthevalley.net.au to discuss.
Arts in the Valley is a completely not-for-profit association working to support local artists and showcase the best of contemporary art to the Valley. Generous donations and hundreds of volunteer hours go into the Visual Arts in the Valley Festival, but there are still costs, which are simply unavoidable. We therefore need to charge entry fees for the prize and commissions on sales but always aim to keep them to an absolute minimum. We would prefer to have open entry and all monies from sales being returned to artists, however, we do need to cover the considerable costs of producing the festival.
Please be in touch at visualarts@artsinthevalley.net.au if you are interested in participating in any of these activities.
If you would like to be added to the Artist Mailing List, please contact our Manager, Nikki Sharp at info@artsinthevalley.net.au.
Watch this space! Check out the Arts in the Valley website https://www.artsinthevalley.net.au/visualarts, our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ArtsInTheValley or the coming editions of the Kangaroo Valley Voice for the full program of exciting festival events.
Gudula Dornseifer
Visual Arts Director
Helen Lunn
Assistant Visual Arts Director