Displayed at the Maitland Regional Art Gallery until March 6 2022, the Archibald Prize finalists for 2021 showcased a great variety of painting styles.
The Archibald Prize is Australia’s most prestigious portrait prize, having been awarded since 1921. Named after J. F. Archibald, the editor of The Bulletin who left a bequeath for the prize it is currently worth $100,000.
Every year the Archibald Prize visits regional centres around Australia, which lets people who can’t get to a major city enjoy the art. This year, Maitland was one of the lucky towns to get the collection for a few weeks.
The Winner Guy Warren at 100 by Peter WegnerPacking Room Prize Winner Kate by Kathryn Longhurst. The painting voted as favourite by the people who unpack and hang the paintingKerry O’Brien All Along the Watch Tower by James PowditchDel Kathryn Barton is a Good Listener by Matthew ClarkeLes by Matthew KentmannFirass by Jeremy EdenFozzy by Julian MeagherMaking Noise by Kirsty NielsonProfessor Mabel Lee by Hong Fu
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Following on from her work in Newcastle, Rebecca Murray has transformed the look of Beaumont Street Hamilton (New South Wales, Australia). Telephone pillars are now the Beaumont Street Pillar People, each distinct and reflecting the shops they sit outside of.
We discovered them on a Sunday morning walk down the street while getting a coffee. Well known for its eateries, the addition of street art adds to the fun of going to Beaumont Street.
Smaller electrical boxes haven’t been forgotten either, because each is transformed to a mouse sized building. It was fun to see what the next one would be painted as.
Decorating the pavement along Beaumont Street mosaics located outside many businesses add even more colour. Unfortunately, foot-traffic has damaged some of them over the years, but many are still in good condition. We are not sure which artist did the mosaics and planted boxes, but they are colourful and great to see.
While walking around, don’t forget to look up because there are some great old buildings there too. We enjoyed our Sunday morning walk here, great coffee and food, along with the great artwork.
Mosaic outside Scots KirkBeaumont Street MosaicDecorated Planter Box
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Looking for something to do in Orange after we arrived in the late afternoon, we discovered Cook Park. Named after Captain James Cook, the park is a beautiful escape, with shady trees, grassy picnic areas and a duck pond. Laid out in the Victorian style when designed in 1873 many of the original straight paths remain.
We walked along the avenues of trees pleased to escape the summer sun and spent some time relaxing near the duck pond. As a surprize, a metal sculpture of a dragon sits in the pond.
Many people were enjoying the grassed areas with family picnics along with others simply walking around enjoying the gardens.
A greenhouse with seedlings, ferns and orchids was interesting to walk through, with hundreds of potted plants on the shelves.
Also, in one corner of the park sits a small war memorial with an old, World War One German field gun and a cannon. The cannon previously defended Sydney but was moved here as a memorial in 1906.
A great place to relax and if you have kids, there’s plenty of space for them to run around.
Avenue of trees in Cook Park OrangePath Running Through the ParkReflections in the PondTrees and Greenhouse in Cook ParkInside the GreenhouseFK 16 77mm German Field Gun24 Pound Smooth Bore Cannon
To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.
