Upcoming Exhibitions

Anchored by the Muswellbrook Art Prize, Culture Harvest is an Autumn Arts Celebration incorporating visual art, contemporary dance, music and performance with events leading up to and throughout the exhibition of the Muswellbrook Art Prize. Better still, all events are free!

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BEASTMAN 4 to 9 March @ Muswellbrook Indoor Sports Centre

See urban artist Beastman (Bradley Eastman) create a large scale mural at the Muswellbrook Indoor Sports Centre, Monday 4 to Friday 8 March, with the official launch on the morning of Saturday 9 March. Skate deck painting workshop also run during the week and open to all.

YEILD 6.00 - 7.30pm Friday 8 March @ a location to be revealed!

A live performance of painting, music and dance performed by singer, musician and producer Zackari Watt, contemporary dance company Catapult Dance, and painter and mixed media artist Ben Kenning.

OPENING NIGHT - MAP 2019 6.00pm Saturday 9 March @ MRAC

Be first to see the finalist works on exhibition as part of the 46th Muswellbrook Art Prize. Enjoy complimentary food an drinks on offer by Upper Hunter gallery sponsors Hollydene Estate Wines, Hunter Belle Cheese and Pukara Estate. Cast your vote for the People’s Choice Prize and be sure not to miss the adjudicator announce the three acquisitive prize winners for 2019

DISCOVERY MAP 10:30am Sunday 10 March @ MRAC

Wrap up the Muswellbrook Art Prize launch weekend’s events by joining some of the finalists ‘in conversation’. Discover more about their art making and their practice as an artist.

EXPLORER MAP - ROUTE 1 CERAMICS PRIZE 10.30am - 2.30pm Sunday 5 May @ MRAC

Newcastle Studio Potter artist and tutor, Nicola Purcell will introduce you to slab construction techniques, working to build a simple vase or cup which you will then decorate with a coloured slip decoration.

Bookings are essential. Call or email MRAC to register.

EXPLORER MAP - ROUTE 2 WORKS ON PAPER PRIZE 10.30am - 2.30pm Saturday 6 April @ MRAC

Discover how much fun you can have with a pair of scissors! 2011 Muswellbrook Art Prize winners Catherine and Jennifer Strutt, AKA ‘The Strutt Sisters’, will ignite your creativity and guide you in discovering your inner artist through a quirky collage workshop. For beginners through to established creatives!

Bookings are essential. Call or email MRAC to register.

EXPLORER MAP - ROUTE 3 PAINTING PRIZE 10.30am - 12.30pm Friday 26 April @ MRAC

For young lovers of art - tour the Painting finalists of the Muswellbrook Art Prize before joining Muswellbrook artist Tia Gabriellah in painting Impressionistic inspired, colour injected landscapes using acrylic on canvas. For ages 6-16.

Bookings are essential. Call or email MRAC to register.

Examining the history of the Muswellbrook Art Prize reveals a collection of works attained not only as acquisitive prize winners, but so to through donations by artists, gifts by cultural bodies, and purchase by Muswellbrook Shire Council on the advice of adjudicators.

Art Tracks II, the second in the exhibition series to accompany the Muswellbrook Art Prize, explores the 61 history of the Prize, showcasing the works that form the nucleus of the Muswellbrook Shire Art Collection. Art Tracks II goes further, inviting us to contemplate relationships with water - from shipping, to recreation, to ecosystems, to the water cycle itself.

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Exhibiting from 10 March to 5 May 2019. Opening night 6pm Saturday 9 March 2019. Free entry with refreshments courtesy of Hollydene Estate Wines, Hunter Belle Cheese and Pukara Estate

Artwork: Roy Fluke, Shipyard Nocturne, Whyalla 1961 (detail), oil on hardboard, Muswellbrook Open Art Prize 1961.

Since 1985, the Muswellbrook Art Prize has grown and evolved and is today one of the richest prizes for painting in regional Australia. Finalists for the 46th Muswellbrook Art Prize in 2019 vie for a total of $71,000 prize money across four prize categories: Painting ($50,000 acquisitive), Works on Paper ($10,000 acquisitive), Ceramics ($10,000 acquisitive) and People’s Choice ($1,000 non-acquisitive).

Astute adjudication of the Muswellbrook Art Prize over the years has yielded an excellent collection of modern and contemporary Australian paintings, works on paper and ceramics from the Post War period of the 20th Century and into the 21st Century, with the winning acquisitive works forming the nucleus of what is now known as the Muswellbrook Shire Art Collection. Previous winners of the Muswellbrook Art Prize include such key figures as David Aspden, Sydney Ball, Richard Larter and Fred Williams. The Upper Hunter Region is also well represented with a number of local artists being successful in winning the Prize including Peter Atkins, Dale Frank, Lyn Nash and Hanna Kay.

Along with Muswellbrook Shire Council, who since 1958 has acted as sponsor and administrator of the Muswellbrook Art Prize, Bengalla Mining Company Pty Limited has generously sponsored the Prize for the past 20 plus years., their commitment ensuring the development of the Muswellbrook Shire Art Collection.

Exhibiting from 10 March to 5 May 2019. Opening night 6pm Saturday 9 March 2019. Free entry with refreshments courtesy of Hollydene Estate Wines, Hunter Belle Cheese and Pukara Estate.

 

Artwork: Alec Baker, Ngura (Country) 2017, acrylic on linen, 122 x 152cm, Winner 45th Muswellbrook Art Prize 2018, Painting, Muswellbrook Shire Art Collection.