Sculpere Newsletter

Editor's Inspiration & President's Letter

“Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.” – Ai Weiwei

INTRODUCING OUR NEW PRESIDENT:

Heather Wilson

Hi all, although I have met many of you as coordinator of the Annual exhibition, as incoming President I thought it would be a good idea to tell you a little bit about myself and my background.

I did a Bachelor of Education at Melbourne State College in the late 70’s and taught ceramics, art and dance in the public system for 36 years. I was Arts and Performing arts coordinator for many years and managed events and budgets for school productions, art shows and all sorts of functions. For many of those years I had a day off a week to do my own work and have exhibited on a regular basis.

Now I am retired and have a Ceramics studio in Narre Warren North. I think the Association of Sculptors is a fantastic group in its support of sculptors and giving artists of all stages of their career opportunities to exhibit their work and I hope I can help to keep the group moving into the future. As in all groups where we are all volunteers a lot of work is done by a few people and I am thankful for the support and encouragement of the committee in this new role.

Sculptors Victoria AGM

The AGM was commenced by a charming and detailed presentation by Dan Agdag.

Melbourne sculptor and film maker Dan Agdag who generously stepped in as our judge at the Annual Awards made a captivating presentation of his very unique sculpture and film work practice.

Dan spoke well creating an inspiring evening.

See his work on https://publicoffice.com.au/

www.marsgallery.com.au

Dan recently was given the Highly Commended Award at the contemporary Small Sculpture Award Exhibition at Deakin University Gallery for his almost magical work. His work is in many major collections.

The Annual Report was presented as points linked to a slideshow below

Dates for Your Diary

Close of Entries Burrinja Arts & Cultural Centre Exhibition 30 November

Close of Entries Herring Island Sculpture Exhibition 7 December

Close of Entries MIFGS 2027 - 22 February 2027

Casual End-of-Year Gathering ☀️😎😃🎉

Let's wrap up the year together! You are warmly invited to a casual and relaxed afternoon catch-up to unwind, reflect, and enjoy some great company.

When: 12:30 pm – 5:30 pm, Sunday 6th December

Where: 1 Anita Court, Doncaster East

If the weather treats us well, we’ll spend the afternoon enjoying the peaceful garden space. It's the perfect chance to chat with fellow sculptors, share stories from the past year, and just completely relax.

Food & Drinks: 🍺🥂🍒
Partners are more than welcome to join the fun! There will be salads, snacks, wine, and soft drinks provided. Please bring along a shared plate of your choice, and any extra BYO drinks you might like.

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

ASV Members’ Visit to the Deakin Uni

The Deakin Small Sculpture Award exhibition was definitely worth a visit. Twelve interested and curious sculptors visited on Wednesday 30th September . The curator explained many features of the contemporary works. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take photos of the works.

Marija Paterson, Andre Sardone and Dan Agdag were among many who had their works displayed at the exhibition

Out of two hundred or more entries, only forty two were accepted. These were all of different mediums: glass, weaving, recycled, pottery, bronze, wood,a pair of painted thongs,plaster and paper.

Studio Spaces

Collins Street Studios | Creative Spaces

https://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/creative-spaces

Red Art Prize

https://www.redgallery.com.au/open-call

Entries Open: 5 June 2026
Entries Close: 20 December 2026

Pyramid Hill Art Show

Bondi Sculpture by the Sea is open for viewing and visiting. 16th Oct to 2nd Nov.

Bondi: - Sculpture by the Sea

Sculptors Panic as Specialty Plaster Used in Artworks to Be Discontinued - The New York Times https://share.google/5kkaKFd2k3fZhDSUR

Melbourne Urban Prize

Melbourne Prize

Members' News and New Members

New Members

A happy welcome to these new members. I hope to see your sculptures in our future exhibitions.
Happy creating.

Kitty Calvert, Brea Lanyon, Daren Mathews and John Parsons

Members' News

VALE FAY GERBER

We have received sad news that a long standing member, Fay Diane Gerber died on 21 September.

Here is a slideshow of Fay's sculpture on the occasion of her centenary.

Fay's friends in Sculptors Victoria will miss her as a friend, as a sculptor and contributor to the world we inhabit.

Rest in Peace, Fay.

“Life is art. Art is life. I never separate it.” – Ai Weiwei

President’s Message

October 15th will be our Annual General Meeting - the format is predictable - a guest speaker, the minutes of the previous AGM, reports on the year’s activities and the election of office bearers for 2027.

I met our guest speaker, Daniel Agdag, when he stepped up to lead the judging team at the Annual and Awards Exhibition. Jude Bridges Tull introduced Daniel after our invited judge was unexpectedly unavailable. And we were so grateful. Daniel’s considered and knowledgeable comments inspired not only the prize winners but all the sculptors and visitors as they took in the exhibition.

And his work is inspiring too - check it out at the Deakin Small Sculpture Prize, Mars Gallery or Daniel’s own website Daniel Agdag

Wednesday 30 September

Hi all members.

The Deakin Small Sculpture Award exhibition is really worth a visit. Please join us at 11.30 am, Wednesday 30th September to view these works.

It is always good to look at works like these as a group and discuss them. We will also be supporting fellow members as some are exhibiting and the artist who judged our work at our Annual is the recipient of a highly commended award. Daniel Agdad will also be talking about his art practice at our AGM in October.

Thursday 15 October

Exciting Artist Presentation at the next ASV meeting which will also be our AGM.

Lot 19 Spring Sculpture Prize

“Hi there,

I wanted to share an upcoming regional exhibition and event that may be of interest to artists part of the Association of Sculptors Victoria.

Since its inception in 2006, the Spring Sculpture Prize has been a key event in the Central Victorian artistic calendar. Featuring over $8,000 in prizes, independent judges with professional arts expertise, and a three-week exhibition, the prize is beloved by artists and visitors alike. This year will be the 20th anniversary of the prize.

The Spring Sculpture Prize is open to both emerging artists and established practitioners, with applications open through the Lot19 website: https://lot19.au/

What’s on at McClelland Gallery!

https://mcclelland.org.au/?mc_cid=93846dc373&mc_eid=a78c852c9c

Sculptures in the Garden Mudgee

Sculptures in the Garden

Heather Wilson

Gargoyles and Garden Ornaments

Bulleen Art and Garden, 6 Manningham Rd,Bulleen. 88503030

Ceramic sculpture

26 September — 20 October 2026

"Sculptures are drawings you fall over in the dark." — Henry Moore

Hello to all 213 members on our mailing list and welcome to Spring.

When I first joined the Association in 1993 or thereabouts there were 45 sculptors on the mailing list. Someone created, printed, folded and posted the newsletter to members - printed matter only rates…. Such a long time ago. And in those days meetings might be attended by 15 members - not every time, but for a particular speaker or issue. That’s a third of the members. These days there are greater calls on our time and attention. We now manage an advanced website - first dreamt in 1998, we have “cloud” computing for our exhibition entry forms - thank you Google. And we manage two, three or four exhibitions every year instead of just the faithful Annual & Awards.

Dates for Your Diary

We send out emails to members regarding late notices for activities - on the other hand AGM's require notice.

Annual General Meeting for the Association of Sculptors of Victoria

Thursday 15 October 7:30pm @ Camberwell Community Centre. Nominations and Agenda items to secretary @sculptorsvictoria.asn.au

Other Opportunities

Red Art Gallery

https://www.redgallery.com.au/open-call/p/-red-art-prize-2027

Gippsland Sculpture Exhibition

7th -18th April 2027

Email Alert

From time to time sculptors receive emails through our website from site visitors. As it happens, as website administrator, I receive copies of those emails. Mostly I am happy to see that a sculptor’s work is attracting attention. Recently however a dozen emails came through - some emails for sculptors who are currently working, others for retired sculptors. The phone number looked weird - a red flag.

So if you receive an email - check it carefully - your contact details are not exposed if you do not respond. You may have a contact for a good commission or you may not. Use your judgement. You may wish to contact me to discuss. 0418 971 897.

Cheers
Jenny Rickards

Mould Making Workshop

www.roweadvanced.com.au

The ASV held another successful workshop demonstrating mould making. It was run by Ryan Cambell from Rowe Advanced Materials/ Dalchem.

12 people attended and enjoyed the experience.

Not only did Ryan demonstrate numerous materials but also various ways of making moulds for more complex figures. He was very easy to talk to and willingly answered all our questions. Everything was set up and organised when we arrived and we came home with a finished mould.

Ryan would be willing to hold further workshops. For more information about their products go to the website or visit their outlet at 141 Herald Street Cheltenham.

Interesting Art

Eltham Rotary 2&3D Art Exhibition

Community Centre 29th August to 6th September

9:00 to 9:00

Melbourne Sculpture Biennale 2026: Soft Systems

OPEN: 8 - 25 October 2026 Billilla Mansion

Now or Never Melbourne Program

Until 30th August
Click to see more info about the Now or Never program: https://nowornever.melbourne.vic.gov.au/program?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=23950370866&gbraid=0AAAAAppkFqUuukEXjjSygbqQwtF3FOG4C&gclid=Cj0KCQjw16_UBhCqARIsAIdOaXyxM9HP-U3X-HpB3n1LUN8rBWHH0r7Ua1dhJQC2z5wTqQIJ6SI55hsaArnSEALw_wcB

Members' News and Social Media

Anne Anderson with Lachlan Drake

Exhibition in the old Kyneton Primary School
As it’s a fun family day out and Kyneton is only an hour’s drive from the CBD, hopefully some of our members will enjoy a day trip to one of the beautiful towns in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges.

Patrick Duffy – Artist Statement

LIFE BEYOND THE BOX: 2026 Exhibition
KANK WOLVERANG GALLERY
30 Main Road, Bakery Hill, Ballarat
10.30 – 5.00 Thursdays to Sundays in AUGUST 2026
Patrick Duffy - The Cardboard Guy 0425820077 Kank Wolverang Gallery

School Holiday Art

Editor's Quote and President's Letter

Hello sculptors - the end of another month is rolling around. Some of us have exhibitions throughout the second half of the year. I see them coming up on the social media feeds - we really should put together a diary list so that groups of us can plan to see and discuss those shows.

Some of the exhibitions run outside the ASV have long lead times between close of entries and the start of the exhibition. This can make it hard to commit to showing your most recent work… will it sell in an exhibition prior to the one entered? Each exhibition has its own idiosyncrasies… we need to be aware of them and to work with them.

Annual & Awards Exhibition 2026

Annual Awards Exhibition Roundup

Patrick Duffey "Equus Machina"

Congratulations to everyone for an excellent exhibition displaying works of such a wide variety of themes, materials and techniques.

There was something for everyone as shown in the wide variety of pieces that received votes in the people’s choice award. This was won by Gillian Govan for her piece Sea Breeze closely followed by Patrick Duffy’s Broken Relics and Equus Machina.

Lots of votes also went to Sue Smales’ Planet Platypus and Julian Guy’s Lyrebird. Our exhibition was much admired, and we sold 11 pieces two via the online exhibition that continued for another week. Rob Anderson as always did a fantastic job of the photography of our pieces.

Gillian Govan "Sea Breeze"

I would like to thank all the people who helped put the exhibition together:

Jenny Rickards, Gillian Govan, Yvonne Monik, Anne Anderson, Jonathan Mendez-Butte, Bonnie Cruickshank and Aukje Van Vark.

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