21st Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival

'Don't Lose your Grip' by Steve Coburn. Credit: Nick Glover.

Sculpture in the Vineyards will present the 2024 Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival from 14 to 29 September.

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For 16 days, including three weekends, the entire Wollombi Valley will be in Festival Mode as the Sculpture Festival returns for 2024. Now in its 21st year, the Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival is Australia’s longest-running regional outdoor Sculpture exhibition, and this year, indoor sculptures will also be on show (and for sale) in six local galleries.

Large outdoor works will be exhibited and for sale at two vineyards and many public spaces throughout the historic villages of Wollombi and Laguna. The festival will feature 182 works by award-winning Australian and International Sculptors and offer over $40,000 in cash prizes.

“The festival is run by over 100 local volunteers who keep the galleries open as well as help install, curate and run Village Walk and Talk Tours,” said Festival Director Susan Leith-Miller.

“We are so excited that our Judges for this year’s event are Rhonda Davis and Terence Maloon. Rhonda is a senior curator at the Macquarie University Art Gallery, has curated numerous exhibitions, and has judged many art prizes.

“Terence is an esteemed art scholar and museum curator responsible for international exhibitions including Picasso, Matisse, Monet, and Pissarro and was an invited judge on the panel for Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi.

“We are also very proud to announce that renowned British Sculptor Isabel Langtry will be a distinguished guest artist.”

Isabel is offering one of the lucky finalists a special prize of a solo exhibition at the HSoA Gallery at the Hampstead School of Art in London UK.

“This is an incredible opportunity for the winner. We envisage that 2024 will be the biggest festival so far, and we expect well over 3500 guests to the valley,” said Susan.

The Governor’s Prize will also be awarded to one of the finalists again this year. Offered by festival patron and Governor of NSW, Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley, the winning sculpture will be displayed in the Sculpture Walk at Government House for a year after the festival's conclusion.

Visitors can picnic among the sculptures, enjoy the local vineyards, restaurants, cafes, and taverns, and visit the six indoor galleries. For more information, visit www.sculptureinthevineyards.com.au