The much-anticipated hArt24 exhibition entrants were judged last month at the Broadford Hall, with the event well attended by over 150 art enthusiasts and community members.
Into its third year, the exhibition awards prizes to first place and highly commended artists across five categories, with prizes made possible thanks to funding from Mitchell Shire Council.
In the adult’s section of the exhibition, the first prize was awarded to Terri MacDonald for her watercolour representation of a Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, and in the open category, it was Val Corke’s Mountain Brushtail Possum in coloured pencil that most delighted the judges.
A First Nations Artist category premiered at the exhibition, and Indigenous artist Briony Myerscough was highly commended for her artwork titled Marara-Tree with carved designs.
Ms Myerscough used earthy coloured acrylic paints for the background, and a Posca marker to create the stunning geometric patterns, lines, and shapes for the tree.
The Youth Artists category attracted 30 entrants, and three were highly commended, earning them a cash prize of $300 each.
Funding from Engage Victoria presented an opportunity for 25 of these youth artists from Broadford Secondary College to work with artist in residence, Cassie Lynch.
Ms Lynch visited the school and worked with the students in the weeks leading up to the exhibition.
Maisie Broome used acrylics to paint Northcote Verandah, and Natasha Syngaris used oils to paint a self-portrait titled Bindi, while Eleanor Jones painted Still life with rubber duck.
Eleanor said her winning piece was fun to do and that she had developed as an artist through the classes, learning a new lighting technique.
“We were studying additive and subtractive colour, so my teacher set up a still life with LED lights, and the point of the assessment was to focus on replicating the colours.
“I did a few sketches of the different compositions I could do, and I just like the duck, I thought he was fun,” she said.
Eleanor said she will use her prize money to purchase a travel easel so she can paint more landscapes and might even replenish her art supplies.
Highly commended in the junior category was Dusty Norton’s work titled Girl in the watercolour painting.
The judging panel included Mitchell Shire Council Youth Councillor for the Environment Evie Birks, Acting Mayor and Councillor Nathan Clark, and Taungurung Elder and artist Aunty Joanne Honeysett.
Mr Clark said they were asked to look at each entrants’ unique qualities and their self-expression.
“My first time ever judging an art competition, it was a nail-biting experience. It generated a lot of anxiety for me, and it was very difficult to find the winner amongst so many fantastic talented artists,” he said.
Seymour’s GoArt studio participated in this year’s exhibition, contributing almost 40 artworks, and the Broadford Singing for Fun Group entertained the crowd from beginning to end.
Broadford Singing for Fun Group member Robyn Audeum said the club enjoyed performing, and noted that this was their third time singing at the hArt exhibition.
The exhibition closed on Sunday, August 4, and with the voting for the Peoples Choice awards yet to be tallied, there is more exciting news to come, so stay tuned!
