Wagga Wagga Art Gallery is an innovative public art gallery serving the largest inland city in New South Wales. The Art Gallery is located in the architect-designed Civic Centre in the heart of the Cultural Precinct. Its facilities include large temporary exhibition spaces, a Community Gallery program for work by local artists, an Artist in Residence studio and a stand-alone gallery to display the National Art Glass Collection.
National Art Glass Collection
This custom designed gallery showcases the National Art Glass Collection. This prestigious title is due to the national significance of this collection as it reflects contemporary art glass practice from its development in the 1960’s to the present. Acquisitions are made each year and there are approximately 400 works in the collection. Located on the first floor of the gallery is an exhibition explaining the history behind the Art Gallery and its collecting of art glass, and a general history of studio art glass in Australia. Throughout the year there are displays of the works from the collection as well as touring art glass exhibitions.
National Student Art Glass Prize 2012 |
The latest winner of Wagga Wagga Art Gallery’s acclaimed National Student Art Glass Prize was announced on Friday, 23 March by renowned Australian glass artist and jeweller Blanche Tilden. A crowd of glass enthusiasts and patrons of the arts gathered outside the National Art Glass Gallery, on the banks of Wollundry Lagoon, as the Prize was awarded to Christopher Boha, from the South Australian School of Art, for his work Pile of bones, an exploration of home, distance and emotional territory.
Christopher Boha is a doctoral candidate at the South Australian School of Art, University of South Australia. Boha’s work featured in the inaugural National Student Art Glass Prize in 2010, when he received a Highly Commended certificate for The Space In/Between: 24 Weeks, an installation featuring origami flowers in glass domes.
His winning piece this year will be acquired for the National Art Glass Collection. Christopher himself will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to attend masterclasses at North Lands Creative Glass in Scotland, UK, one of the world’s most prestigious centres for the study and development of glass as an artform.
The Prize was awarded by two of Australia’s most respected experts in the field of glass, Canberra-based artist Matthew Curtis and, from Wagga Wagga, artist and teacher Denis O’Connor. The judges also awarded Highly Commended certificates to three other entries in the Prize: Christine Atkins from the School of Art at the Australian University in Canberra, for her glass and LED wall installation Refractions IV; Kayo Yokoyama from the Sydney College of the Arts at Sydney University, for her blown and engraved piece Homeland Standing Together; and Zoe Woods, also from the South Australian School of Art, for her wheel-cut series, Microcosm 4.
The National Student Art Glass Prize is a biennial competition, established to reward and promote innovation and excellence in contemporary glass within the student sector. Works by thirty students from universities across Australia are featured in this year’s exhibition, which is on display at the National Art Glass Gallery until June 17.
The Prize was initiated and curated by Michael Scarrone, Curator of Glass at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, who says that “the range of techniques in this year’s NSAGP have surpassed my expectations and the passion and dedication shown by the lecturers, tutors and demonstrators of the five universities involved is a clear indication of the inspirational environment they provide.”
Exhibition Dates
When: Friday 16 March – Sunday 17 June, 2012
Where: National Art Glass Gallery, Wagga Wagga Art Gallery
General Collection
The General Collection includes works in a wide range of different media by significant Australian artists and practitioners with links to the city of Wagga Wagga and the Riverina region.
Temporary Galleries
The Art Gallery presents an engaging program of temporary and touring exhibitions in the large and impressive lower floor galleries from local, regional, state and national sources. The Art Gallery also curates exhibitions from the Collections, and from artists living and working in the region, as well as developing exhibitions for tour to other public galleries across Australia.
The exhibition program is developed up to 24 months in advance to provide a range of quality touring exhibitions from across Australia, to link in with special national and state festivals, and to curate exhibitions from the permanent collections and other sources that are relevant on a local level to the city and region.
Links Gallery and E3 art space
Two exhibition spaces at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, the Links Gallery and the E3 art space, have been set up specifically to provide a venue for artists from Wagga Wagga and the Riverina region to showcase their work. Applications are accepted on an annual basis for individuals and groups to hire these spaces for exhibitions.
Education and Public Programs
Stimulating Education and Public Programs activities and events are organised for all ages including workshops, artist's talks, lectures, guided tours, concerts, performances and special activity days. The Mural Project is also run as a special program for schools in the district. The Gallery liaises with schools in the city and region to develop effective programs linked with the school curriculum. The Gallery produces education materials to support these programs and to provide further access to and enjoyment of the exhibition experience. Guided tours can be arranged by appointment with the Gallery’s Trained Volunteer Gallery Guides.
The Gallery Shop
The Gallery Shop offers a range of handcrafted giftware, including cards and books, art journals and the work of Riverina artists. Specialist books and Gallery publications including exhibition catalogues for touring and temporary exhibitions, and catalogues documenting the National Art Glass Collection and the Margaret Carnegie Print Collection are also available. Friendly and experienced staff are on hand to assist with purchases.
Opening Hours:
Tuesday – Saturday: 10.00am – 5.00pm
Sunday: 12.00pm – 4.00pm
Closed: Mondays, Good Friday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day, New Year’s Day
Admission free
Contact Details:
Civic Centre, Baylis Street, Wagga Wagga
PO Box 20, Wagga Wagga NSW 2650
Telephone: 02 6926 9660
Facsimile: 02 6926 9669