Sculpture for Clyde, the South Coast’s popular sculpture festival, will be held between August 24 and September 1. Now in its third year, the event is expected to attract thousands of visitors to the region, spanning across two venues in Batemans Bay and Bawley Point.
The indoor sculpture exhibition will be staged in the Francis Guy heritage building, in Batemans Bay. The outdoor sculptures will be on display at Terry Snow’s Willinga Park, which will enable visitors to get a rare glimpse of the impressive private sculpture collection by internationally and nationally celebrated artists. The stunning botanic gardens at the venue will also be on show, along with hourly bus tours of the Equestrian Centre, a treat for lovers of architecture.
The number of sculptures on display has increased by 30% compared to the 2018 event. The calibre of work submitted has also been extremely high. The event offers over $60,000 in prizemoney and winners in all categories will be announced at a Grand Opening on August 23. The winner of the Acquisitive Prize, with $50,000 in prize money, will take its place along the Clyde River foreshore.
If visiting the Batemans Bay venue, visitors can also stroll along the foreshore where they will discover five permanent sculptures that have been installed since the inaugural event in 2017. These include:
- “Duet” by Dora Rognvaldsdottir – Clyde Street
- “Bouyansea” by Jesse Graham – Beach Road
- “Dance” by Haruyuki Uchida – Spinnaker Reach
- “Pelicant” by Jesse Graham – Batemans Bay Marina
- “Portal” by John Fitzmaurice – at the end of Mara Mia Walkway
These last two sculptures were crowd favourites at last year’s exhibition and were purchased after the event with local donations and crowdfunding. This permanent Sculpture Walk is the real driver behind the Sculpture for Clyde event. The goal is to create a legacy for locals and visitors to Batemans Bay, with a 3D, outdoor art gallery, open all year round.
The event is also supported by a Student Sculpture Walk. Sculptures created by South Coast students are currently on display in shopfronts throughout the Batemans Bay CBD.
Open weekends from 10am to 4pm, and weekdays from 11am to 3pm. Tickets are $5, purchased online or at the gate, and bus tours are $5, paid at the venue.
The two remaining public works are proposed to be unveiled in Batemans Bay on Wednesday 15th May.
2018’s ‘Sculpture for Clyde’ event, and the incredible generosity of the local community, enabled the acquisition of 3 public works sculptures to be positioned in Batemans Bay.
Jesse Graham’s much celebrated octopus, “Buoyansea”, and recently the very popular “Pelicant”, also by Jesse Graham, are now proudly displayed in Batemans Bay. We are excited that they will now be joined by the 2018 winning entry and acquisition by Haruyuki Uchida titled, “Dance”, and “Portal” by John Fitzmaurice. The wonderful local community purchased “Pelicant”, and “Portal” through a crowd funding campaign following last year’s event.
We are thrilled to be helping create a legacy for locals and visitors to Batemans Bay, with an outdoor art gallery open every day and night of the year!
Artist applications for the 2019 event (to be held from 24th August – 1st September) will close on May 31st.
The Batemans Bay Tourism and Business Chamber, will again be partnering with Willinga Park, to ensure ‘Sculpture for Clyde’ is even bigger and better in 2019. Held from 24th August – 1st September, the indoor sculpture exhibition will again be staged in the Francis Guy heritage building, 5 Clyde Street Batemans Bay. Willinga Park will be hosting the outdoor sculptures once again, which will enable visitors to view the impressive permanent sculpture collection at the venue.
But don’t worry Batemans Bay, you are not missing out… 2018’s ‘Sculpture for Clyde’ enabled the acquisition of 3 amazing sculptures to join “Buoyansea” (the now celebrity upside down octopus sculpture), along the Batemans Bay foreshore. This permanent Sculpture Walk is the real driver behind the event. The Chamber of Commerce and Tourism’s inspired idea is to create a legacy for locals and visitors to Batemans Bay, with an outdoor art gallery open every day and night of the year.
Bay Chamber’s plan for an Underwater Sculpture Park
An underwater sculpture park – with no less than 20 living artworks that promote marine life – may be developed in the waters between Snapper Island and the Tollgates.
The proposal has been positively received by Marine Parks and is backed by the Batemans Bay Chamber of Commerce as a tourist attraction linked to the already successful Sculptures on Clyde.
The park will be established on the sandy ocean floor just off the coast of Batemans Bay and will be linked by a trail of sculptures to one of the beaches between Batehaven and Surf Beach. Sculptures will sit at depths of 20 – 2metres, accessible for both divers and snorkellers by land and by boat.
The sculptures will come from a variety of sources, including from community workshops where everyone gets a chance to be artistic, make a fabulous sculpture – and then sink it! Donations of living sculptures may also come from artists or from the Sculpture on Clyde exhibitions.
The benefits to the community are equally matched by the benefits to the marine environment. In many parts of the world, underwater sculptures are creating habitat for marine life and helping the recovery of destroyed coral reefs.
Nine impressive student sculptures have already been submitted for exhibition in the Student Sculpture Walk which will run in conjunction with Sculpture on Clyde August 25 – September 2.
Three local high schools will also submit students’ artworks for viewing by on a sculpture trail through Batemans Bay’s CBD. The young sculptors will be in the running for a $100 prize, as will the shop owners with the most outstanding display.
A map will mark the spots where local students’ works are exhibited, and families and visitors will be encouraged to walk the CBD in search of these artistic treasures. The end point will lead treasure hunters to the amazing indoor sculpture exhibition of works competing for some of the $60,000 in prize money as part of the Sculpture on Clyde.
Local businesses are being approached this week and asked to exhibit sculpture in their windows.
The nine sculptures already in the collection were created during the Academic Challenge between local schools in which students had one day to make a sculpture using geometric lines and platonic shapes. They had limited resources and were expected to minimise waste, as well as deliver a presentation on the meaning and method behind their creations.
“It was an extraordinary day and a privilege to see these young artistic, mathematical minds at work,” said Sculpture on Clyde committee member and Academic Challenge judge, Frances Harmey.
“I hope many more schools and young artists decide to get involved in our Student Sculpture Walk.”
“And we also need business owners to offer their shop windows to exhibit the work or our young sculptors.”
Anyone interested can contact Frances Harmey at frances.harmey@gmail.com or through the Sculpture on Clyde website and Facebook page.
A booking system, which will allow organisers to monitor numbers and demand for buses to the Willinga Park section of Sculpture on Clyde, is now live online at the Sculpture on Clyde website and through Facebook.
Just go to www.sculptureonclyde.com.au or https://eventbrite.com.au/e/sculpture-on-clyde-tickets-48056209416 or https://facebook.com/events/498931463899270/.
The Indoor Exhibition at 5 Clyde Street is free but a donation for the catalogue will be very much appreciated.
Visitors to Willinga Park may of course drive and use the ample parking, paying a $5 per person fee for the catalogue and a donation to Muddy Puddles children’s disability services. Entry tickets can be pre-booked online.
The dates are August 25 – September 2 and the times are as follows:
- Outdoor Exhibition, Willinga Park
- Weekdays: 11am – 3pm
- Saturdays / Sundays: 10am – 4pm
- Indoor Exhibition, 5 Clyde St Batemans Bay
- All days: 10am – 4pm
Buses departs from the Promenade Plaza, Orient Street bus stop (near the Starfish Deli) and pre-registration is essential. The $15 cost includes the return bus, entry, a catalogue and a donation to Muddy Puddles.
A free bus, with limited seats, will operate Monday to Friday (for this bus you need to purchase a $5 Willinga Park entry ticket as well).
The bus schedule is as follows:
Saturdays and Sundays:
- Bus 1
- Departs Batemans Bay 9.30am, arrives Willinga Park 10am.
- Departs Willinga Park 12pm, arrives Batemans Bay 12.30pm
- Bus 2
- Departs Batemans Bay 11am, arrives Willinga Park 11.30am.
- Departs Willinga Park 2pm, arrives Batemans Bay 2.30pm
- Bus 3
- Departs Batemans Bay 1pm, arrives Willinga Park 1.30pm.
- Departs Willinga Park 3.30pm, arrives Batemans Bay 4pm
Monday – Friday:
- Bus (1 only)
- Departs Batemans Bay 11.30am, arrives Willinga Park 12pm.
- Departs Willinga Park 2pm, arrives Batemans Bay 2.30pm.
“The booking system is essential for us to keep track of visitor numbers and properly cater for transport,” said Chamber of Tourism and Commerce president, David Maclachlan. “We want this to be a sustainable event, happening year after year and adding to our fabulous permanent exhibition, the Batemans Bay Sculpture Walk.”
Batemans Bay’s Sculpture Walk is set to expand this year as plans for the second Sculpture on Clyde power up.
Keep the dates August 24 – September 3 clear because international as well as national and local artists are already expressing their interest in entering a sculpture of distinction, all vying for the $50,000 prize.
Last year’s Acquisition Prize winner “Bouyansea” at Mena’s Point has acquired celebrity status, stopping traffic on Beach Road, and “Duet” by Dora A. Rognvaldsdottir has been installed in the Stockland precinct for everyone to enjoy.
The 2018 winner will also be installed along our waterways and will add to our world class Sculpture Walk.
“There is enormous excitement and interest in our Acquisition Prize,” said Chamber of Commerce President and Sculpture on Clyde committee member, David Maclachlan. “We have had expressions of interest from well-known overseas sculptors.”
“Plans for the 10 day sculpture showcase are well underway and we hope the community will support this event as well as it did last year.”
The inaugural Sculpture on Clyde attracted many locals and tourists who were impressed by the diversity of talent on display. The event also aims to promote Batemans Bay as an Arts destination. Local restaurants and accommodation places are joining in with special packages for the event.
After the huge success last year of the first Sculpture on Clyde event, Batemans Bay is powering ahead with plans for the second competition to choose a suitable sculpture for our Sculpture walk.
August 24 – September 3 will see the town transformed into a vast sculpture park. The plan to create a world class sculpture walk in our town is underway, with the winner staying here and the winning artist taking home the $50,000 prize money.
Our first winner Dora A. Rognvaldsdottir’s shining welded aluminium sculpture “Duet” is in place in the Stockland precinct, and of course our octopus sculpture Bouyansea at Mena’s Point has been stopping traffic since its installation last year.
This year, the artists have been shown a plan agreed to by the Council, where the winner could be installed along our waterways. Both the landscape and the seascape influence the selection of these sites so that each new winning piece will be thoughtfully placed along our foreshores.
The town is gearing up for the expected visitors and many of our local restaurants and accommodation places are joining in with special packages for the event.