The Association of Sculptors of Victoria is an inclusive, not-for-profit collective of contemporary artists whose purpose is to inspire,stimulate and advance the appreciation, creation, and exploration of three-dimensional art in society.

President's January Message

You’ve heard of the ‘pub with no beer’, well it’s being built alongside the new freeway from Mitcham to Frankston. It won’t have any guests either, or even any access to it; no-one will ever go there.

And just down the road is a giant, angular, blackbird pecking at a huge, yellow, cubist worm.

These are two of the twelve sculptures being installed along the new road.

Hotel is by Callum Morton who, you will remember, represented Australia at the Venice Biennale in 2007 with his Valhalla, a ruined building made from polystyrene. Architecture predominates in his works the fountain-head being his discovery that his parents’ dream house built by his architect father and in which he lived as a child was in ruins.

And the black bird with the yellow worm, well, that’s by Emily Floyd. Birds have featured a lot in her work and in this one entitled Public Art Strategy she alludes to the sometimes controversial nature of public art.

Other sculptures involve coloured ellipsoids, fallen pylons, red rings, lumps of stone, a silhouette of a little boy and, not surprisingly, a sculpture based on Nolan’s image of Ned Kelly.

These sculptures will be around for a long time to come and will no doubt cause controversy with the attendant attribution of vernacular titles such as ‘Yellow Peril’, ‘The Cheese Sticks and, in England, ‘The Gateshead Flasher’.

This is a unique display of public art and if you want a closer look you can walk or cycle along the 40 kilometre path alongside the freeway. This is an initiative in which we, particularly as sculptors, can all rejoice.

Eastlink will open in the middle of the year in the meantime look up the website, www.connecteast.com.au.

John Wooller

ASV Dates to Remember

Friday 1st February – in the morning we set up the Herring Island exhibition and in the evening we have a preview cruise running from Southbank to Herring Island on Florence on the Yarra
Herring Island Exhibition runs each weekend from 2nd February to 17th February.

Wednesday 13th February
is our monthly meeting at 7:30pm in the Boroondara Community Arts Room, rear Hawthorn Town Hall. Bronwyn Culshaw will talk about her recent trip to Europe and European sculpture.


Friday 15th February
closing date for MIF&GS entries. Send your entry to 39 Turnley Street, Balwyn North 3104. Entry forms and conditions of entry can be downloaded from
www.sculptorsvictoria.asn.au/mifgs_2008_entry.pdf and www.sculptorsvictoria.asn.au/mifgs_2008_guidelines.pdf Bronwyn Culshaw (03) 9857 9153

Wednesday 12th March
ASV monthly meeting – visit to Rudi Jass's studio see more about Rudi at
www.jassdesign.com.au

UPDATE MIFGS 2008


This year’s Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show is going to be a very special one. So, I hope that everyone is working hard on their entries.

We are showcasing some eminent sculptors and are delighted to announce that so far we have: William Eicholt, Ernst Fries, Grant Finck and Matthew Harding.

Our judge is going to be Peter Blizzard OAM.

We also have an $8,000 Prize Pool

First Prize - $4,000
Second Prize - $1,000
Third Prize - $500
People’s Choice - $500
Highly Commended – Morningstar Estate
Highly Commended – Bulleen Art Garden
Highly Commended - Dalchem Pty Ltd

WITHOUT PIER EMERGING SCULPTOR PRIZE $1,000. This prize if for sculptors who have been sculpting for five years or less. This prize will become an ongoing prize. Entries must include how many years a person has been sculpting to be eligible for the prize.

Manyung Gallery Prize $250 cash plus an exhibition at Manyung Gallery.

We thank our sponsors to date which include:

Without Pier Gallery
Manyung Gallery
Outdoor Creations
International Management Group
Morningstar Estate
Dalchem Pty Ltd
Bulleen Art & Garden and ….


IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO REMEMBER FOR SET UP AND PULL DOWN


As the site is a hive of activity with fork lifts, large trucks etc. no children or dogs are allowed on the site. I know some people come down from the country and bring their families. If this is the case - All children must remain in the car. This is a Work Safety requirement and it is policed on site.

Bronwyn Culshaw

Herring Island Exhibition - Opening this Weekend

The actual festival started on 12th January 2008 with an exhibition by members of the Wildlife Art Society of Australasia. All five groups were represented on Australia Day weekend running demonstrations and floor talks - we had a ball.. A visit to Herring Island – whether you take the Parks Victoria punt $2 or cruise in style on Florence on the Yarra $8 each way, is an adventure – enjoy!


The ASV exhibition starts on February 1st with a cruise on Florence on the Yarra. Book for that on 9682 2600 Then we have three weekends to enjoy the adventure of exhibiting on the island. Do drop in and see the work if you can.


We enjoyed the demonstrations - and the hordes of visitors of the Australia Day weekend - all members are invited to come in and demonstrate in one of our time slots - you don't get a huge amount of work done - but you meet interesting and interested people - and Herring Island is a great place to hang out.

The images here are:

John Bishop's Naissance, Demonstration in the courtyard - Australia Day, Robert Lee talking about the restoration of Tanderrum, Jenny Whiteside working on a soapstone piece - Australia Day.

Opportunities for Sculptors

Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2008 - Registrations of Interest

The Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2008 will recognize and reward excellence and talent in urban sculpture. For information and an entry form to be sent to you, please visit www.melbourneprizetrust.org and register your interest, or call (03) 9650 8800.

Toorak Sculpture Festival:

As past selected artists in the annual Toorak village festival of sculpture, we invite you once again to submit an entry to this years 2008 festival of sculpture. You may already have submitted, then you will hear from us shortly, but if not, we welcome an emailed entry by the end of January. if you need more time to submit, please contact us on this email address. tracey@toorakvillage.com.au

This year – 2008, will see the exhibiting of unique & impressive sculptures of both emerging & prominent artists in the shop windows & along Toorak road itself.

We invite all sculptors to submit entries for both interior & exterior exhibition.

  • Medium sized for exhibition in shop windows & displayed on a base.
  • Large sized, extremely robust & able to be fixed to footpaths for exhibition along Toorak road.

Our consultant curator – Malcolm Thomson, presently curator of the Clement Meadmore gallery at the Australian academy of design will assist with the selection of sculpture for the 2008 exhibition. In selecting works this year he will be looking to exhibit a definitive expression of sculpture in Australia today & will be seeking to demonstrate the versatility that exists within this diverse medium. The talent and the skills of the sculptors and the variety of materials used in expressing themselves, in their quest to engage with the viewer, will be sought.

We plan to have prizes of $5,000, $2,000 & $1,000 for the most innovative sculptural works. a prestigious opening in one of the Toorak villages open area foyers with an invited guest speaker. A full colour catalogue, signage, posters & an impressive media campaign. Once again it is proudly supported & sponsored by the city of Stonnington along with many of the Toorak village businesses.

We look forward to receiving entries for the toorak village festival of sculpture 2008. please forward all enquiries to Tracey Cammock – mobile: 0438 542 713 or email: tracey@toorakvillage.com.au

festival director – Tony Fialides



l o r n e sculpture e x h i b i t i o n i n c

If you would like to be part of the team to deliver the 2009 Lorne Sculpture Exhibition please join us at an informal meeting on Sunday, 10 February, 2008 Qdos at 10 am

Enquiries: Jack or Cynthia Wynhoven 98261086 or Vicki McKay 52897199


Expressions of interest are now being call for the 2008 Southern Downs Sculpture Symposium.

The new format includes 5 guest sculptors to be commission to sculpt for communities within the shire as well as positions available for 20 participating sculptor who will be supplied meals, worksplace and power to work on their own creations for a period of 8 days. With and sculpture exhibition in conjunction with Warwick Jumpers and Jazz art and music festival.

Registration fee $500
The format for 2008 is base on the highly successful Mt Gambier Limestone symposium, where sculptors who are not professionals works in close proximity to experienced sculptors. The resulting atmosphere is very enthusiastic with much ideas and skills shared around. We will also be holding school programmes and workshops.
Expression of interest forms can be down loaded from www.sculpturess.com
Could you please place on your the web site

Paul Stumkat
Symposium Director
07 46641774
www.sculpturess.com
www.stumkatstudios.com


SheppARTon Festival

The SheppARTon Festival is looking for entrants to its $1000 acquisitive sculpture award, The Carm Award.
The Festival is in March and applications are due in mid Feb. Sorry about the late notice.
For entry forms please go to www.sheppartonfestival.net.au
or contact me Bianca Furphy on +61 412 461 561

Members' News and Interesting Stuff

The Australian Bureau of Statistics released data today showing:

  • The number of Australians involved in visual arts activities has nearly doubled since 2004, to over 1.4 million.

  • The number of persons involved in sculpture has expanded from 18,900 in 1993 to 94,100 in 2007.

  • 24% of those involved in sculpture had a relevant qualification, in 2007.

  • Victoria, Queensland and NSW have the greatest numbers of people involved in Sculpture in 2007, with Victoria leading by a small margin.

  • The highest involvement rate in all visual arts activities per 1,000 persons is Northern Territory, by a big margin.

Reference: Vol 6281.0

Geoff Williams


Bulleen Art and Garden
is offering their usual range of art workshops, great exhibitions and all round interesting stuff.. take a look at http://www.baag.com.au/