Sculpture in the Vineyards is the longest running regional sculpture festival in New South Wales.
As with many major Australian and International Exhibitions, the decision was made to hold our festival every 2 years and the first Wollombi Valley Sculpture Biennial premiered in September 2024.
OUR PATRON
We are thrilled that Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC Governor of New South Wales agreed in 2020 to become The Patron of the Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival.
The Governor’s prize was initiated after Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC visited the 2020 exhibition. Read more…
Photo: Governor Beazley at Stonehurst Cedar Creek Winery with sculptor Ayako Saito in 2020, standing in front of Ayako’s work Lunar Shadow. Photo credit Nick Glover.
OUR AMBASSADORS
ARMANDO PERCUOCO A.O.M.
As an original sponsor of Sculpture by the Sea Armando shares his passion for sculpture as a valued supporter of The Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival.
In recent years Armando has been one of our Festival Judges and led Guided Sculpture Tours for local school children.
Photo: Armando Percuoco at his Laguna property Valleyfield
PAUL SELWOOD
Paul Selwood is acknowledged by the Australian art world as one of our finest sculptors of the past forty years.
He has his studio and an outdoor sculpture park in the Hunter Valley devoted to the display of large scale sculptures, many of which have been exhibited in Sydney at Sculpture by the Sea, The Royal Botanic Gardens, and NSW Government House and on the harbour foreshore at Sawmillers Reserve. Internationally he is represented In the UK, USA, New Zealand and Denmark.
JENNIFER WINTEN
Jennifer was fortunate to grow up surrounded by art, in a family of art lovers, collectors, gallery owners and benefactors, gradually building up her own collection of paintings and sculptures. As an ambassador, she aims to build on the connections she has with artists, sculptors and members of the art fraternity to further promote the Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival and to provide ideas and inspiration with the goal of further enhancing the Festival.
Jennifer has assisted, in various roles, with the general organisation, administration, guided tours and sales coordination of the festival and was a foundation donor in 2019.
THANK YOU 2024
The Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival would not be possible without the generosity of our Donors. A huge thank you to all for your ongoing support.
We are a not for profit organisation run by over 100 local volunteers.
SIGNIFICANT DONORS $5,000+
Sandy McIntyre (FD)
Redleaf Group (FD)
Tokoriki Resort (FD)
MAJOR DONORS $1,000+
Chris and Cathie Books (FD)
Draytons Family Wines
Sandy and Peter Dulhunty
Noyce Brothers Wine (FD)
Les & Christine Robertson (FD)
Will Sadler (FD)
Stonehurst Cedar Creek Wines (FD)
Undercliff Winery (FD)
Winmark Wines (FD)
Wollombi Brook Family Farm Stay (FD)
Wollombi Tennis and Sports Association (FD)
Wollombi Wines
Wollombi Valley Arts Council
Wollombi Valley Chamber of Commerce
Wollombi Valley Community Association Inc. (FD)
DONORS
Meg Berg
Sheena Duncan
Andrew Dyer
Shawna Hartley
Michelle Opie and Mark Hopkinson
Laguna Public School P&C
Loris and Lindsay Self
Musgrove Realty (FD)
FD – Foundation Donors are the generous locals who donated the major prize money in 2019.
GRANTS
Cessnock City Council – $3,000 (FD)
PARTNERS
Grape Experience Tours
Hunter Valley Escapes
Sands Promotions
Squiggle – Graphic and Website Design
St John’s Church
St Michael’s Church
SIXT Australia
The Endeavour Museum
The Trading Post
Twine Collective
Watagan Nursery
Will Sadler – Old Wollombi Dance Hall
Wollombi Real Estate
Wollombi Stays
Wollombi Valley Arts Council
Wollombi Valley Chamber of Commerce
Wollombi Valley Community Association
MEDIA PARTNERS
ABC Radio
Hunter & Coastal Magazine
Newcastle Herald
ACCOMMODATION PARTNERS
Capers Guest House
Gray’s Inn
Hollybrook Accommodation and Retreat
Somewhere Unique
Stonehurst Cedar Creek
Undercliff Winery
Valleyfield Escape
Wollombi Stays
SCULPTURE PARK PARTNER
Winmark Wines and Gallery
SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR FOUNDATION DONORS 2019
In 2019 the local community raised an unprecedented $34,000 for prize money.
FOUNDATION PATRONS $5000+
Myrtle House
Noyce Brothers Wine
Stonehurst Wines
Undercliff Winery
Wollombi Tavern
FOUNDATION SPONSORS $2500+
Sandy McIntyre and Ian Kerr
FOUNDATION SUPPORTERS $1000+
John Hartigan
Michael Jarjoura and Annie Snell
Rick and Theresa Jirsch
Matthew Low and Michael Edwards
Ken and Antoinette Maurer
Ant and Alice Parsons
Armando and Gemma Percuoco
Peter Ross and Merryl Naughton
Tony and Carli Royle
Will Sadler
Graham and Isabel Skeates
Somewhere Unique
Sherrill and Tony Thornton
Rick and Jan Turchini
Andrew and Yvonne Turnbull
Winmark Wines
Rob and Jennifer Winten
Jane and Michael Young
DONATIONS
Cessnock City Council – $3000
Wollombi Valley Progress Association –
$1500
Great Northern Trading Post – $1000
Wollombi Tennis Club – $1000
ORGANISERS
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2024
President – Graham Skeates
Vice President – Chris Books
Secretary – Michelle Opie
Treasurer & Public Officer – Rick Jirsch
Vineyard Representatives – Jane Hamshere, Laura Heslop-Shaw
Committee Members – Susan Leith-Miller, Alice Parsons.
OPERATIONS TEAM 2024
Festival Director – Susan Leith-Miller
Assistant to Festival Director – Karen Varker
Senior and Indoor Curator – Wendy Black
Outdoor Curator – Stephanie Vella
Sales Coordinator – Jennifer Winten
Fundraising and Business Engagement – Graham Skeates
Volunteer / Recruitment Coordinator and Gallery Coordinator – Alice Parsons
Guided Tour Coordinator – Camilla Dorsch
Marketing, Artist Coordinator and Event Management – Susan Leith-Miller
Assistant Artist Coordinator – Raymer Jones
Curatorial Coordinator – Michelle Opie
Logistics, Storage and Signage Manager – Chris Books
Lighting Consultant – Andrew Jones
Site Installation Managers –Giles Tester, Samantha Tucker, Ant Parsons, Ellen Mariner
Gallery Managers – Julia Brooke, Nick Brooke, Lesley Williams, Kerri Suratman, Michael Knight, Ellen Mariner, Jane Hamshere, Peter Hamshere, Kellie Jones, Graham Skeates, Alice Parsons, Giles Tester, Camilla Dorsch, Annie Heathcote
Install Photographers – Julia Brooke, Nick Brooke, Nick Glover, Deb Harrod, Garry Musgrove, Graham Skeates, Rachael Thornton, Ben Trollope, Stephanie Vella
Catalogue Editor – Heather McMullen
PR / Media Team – Deb Harrod, Carley Tucker, Jim Wilson, Michael Winnick
Advertising Coordinator – Ros McCool
School Tour Coordinator – Sheree Roberts
IT Consultant – Wendy Wong
Opening Night – Sharon Snyman
Preview Night – Sharon Snyman
Content Writer – Nicholas Glover
Sculpture Note Content Writer – Terry Boyle
Social Media – Stephanie Vella
Graphic Design and Website – Gay Hodge
Artist Transport Coordinator – Mark Hopkinson
JUDGES 2024
Rhonda Davis, is senior curator at the Macquarie University Art Gallery. She has curated numerous exhibitions including Central Street Live which received critical acclaim in 2002. Her research areas include Australian modernism, the influence of the decorative arts and interiors on Australian modernism, the anthropology of art and contemporary art. In 2021, her book on Margaret Preston in Berowra published by ETT Imprint represents the first study of the artist’s life in Berowra. She has written in Artist Profile magazine and judged many art prizes including the Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize.
Terence Maloon, is an esteemed art scholar and museum curator. Formerly the Director of the ANU Drill Hall Gallery for a decade until 2023, he was the specialist art curator at the Art Gallery of New South Wales for two decades, responsible for international exhibitions including Picasso, Matisse, Monet, and Pissarro. He has published extensively on contemporary Australian sculpture and in 2022 and 2023 he was an invited judge on the panel for Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi.
PRIZES 2024
(All Prizes Non-Acquisitive)
Governor’s Prize – Exposure and Prestige and $1000 allowance
Open Prize – $25,000
Highly Commended Prize – $10,000
Small Sculpture Prize – $5,000
Youth Prize – $250 sponsored by Laguna Public School P&C
HSoA Gallery (Hampstead School of Art) Prize – UK solo exhibition opportunity and $5,000 allowance
Artist in Residence@The Foundations Portland Prize – Creative residency and $1,000 allowance
Kangaroo Valley Invited Artist Award – Invitation to exhibit at Sculpture in the Valley 2025 and $500 allowance
All donations to our organisation are tax deductable.
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GUEST ARTIST 2024
In 2024 renowned British Sculptor Isabel Langtry, Principal of Hampstead School of Art in London, was our Distinguished Guest.
Isabel produces large-scale sculptures for public places and has exhibited works on Hampstead Heath and has sculpture permanently installed in Beijing, London, Mallorca, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Slovenia and Galicia.
Isabel has delivered a series of public lectures entitled Sculptures in the 20th Century at the Tate Gallery in London, which then toured to galleries and museums around the United Kingdom and Europe.
While in Wollombi Isabel offered a special prize of a solo exhibition to one of our finalists at the HSoA Gallery at the Hampstead School of Art in London which was won by Ayako Saito for her sculpture ‘From Here to There’.
AUSTRALIA DAY AWARD
The Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival has been recognised as the ‘The Australia Day 2022 Community Event of the Year’ by the Cessnock City Council at an Australia Day Awards Ceremony.
Festival Director Susan Leith-Miller, Festival President Graham Skeates and Festival Founding Members Phillipa Heslop and Jane Hamshere attended the Australia Day Ceremony and were delighted to accept the award on behalf of the Committee and local volunteers who have kept Sculpture in the Vineyards running since 2002.
2022 is the 20th Anniversary of The Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival and preparations are already underway for what we are expecting will be a huge celebration.
MEDIA PARTNERS
Photo above: Opening Ceremony 2019. Photo courtesy of Chris Southwood.