The Emerald Arts Society 49th Annual Art Exhibition had its opening on Saturday 3rd of November and it was a packed house when the awards were announced.
As well as representatives from Cardinia Shire, the Mayor, Cr. Collin Ross, Deputy Mayor Cr. Brett Owen and Cr. Jeff Springfield, there were teachers from the local schools, representatives from local groups and businesses within the community, and, of course, artists with their family and friends.
With over $4000 in prizes there were plenty of awards on offer, the most prestigious being Best in Show for Adults and Best NextGen Artist (under 20 yrs). Our congratulations go to Maxwell Wilks and Mitchell Edwards respectively.
There were also 7 best category awards for the Adults, which were awarded to Chris Britton (Printmaking), Judi Roberts (Pastel), Aldo Bellemo (Drawing), Barbara Thomas (Photography), Annette Slattery (Other Media), Sue Jarvis (Oils/Acrylics) and Kay Craig (Watercolour).
In the NextGen section there were there were winners in 3 categories, Poppy Rumoller in the U10’s, Noah Charters (U15) and Shana O’Brien (U20).
Our judge for this year was professional artist, Peter Smales who was impressed with the high standard and the wonderful diversity in style and medium. Our congratulations go to all those who won awards as well as everyone who entered the exhibition, helping to make it such a wonderful display.
The arts society is very grateful to the Shire of Cardinia for its support as well as all the businesses and groups that regularly contribute to our art exhibition. This year we had 8 Gold Sponsors who each donated $250. Together with all the other donations we receive, large or small, we are able to offer multiple prizes and reward as many artists as possible for their efforts.
We are looking forward to 2019 when we will be celebrating our 50th year as an arts society in your community!
