Every two years we present Sculpture in the Garden at Wollongong Botanic Garden. The exhibition includes a $30,000 Wollongong Acquisitive Sculpture Award, and a People's Choice Award.
The most recent Sculpture in the Garden was held from 18 March - 30 April 2023. This was our biggest exhibition yet, with 23 sculptures from local, national and international artists on display.
If you’d like more information about Sculpture in the Garden, email or call (02) 4227 7111.
Past exhibitions and the permanent collection
All previous winners become part of our city's permanent public art collection and can be viewed at Wollongong Botanic Garden during opening hours.
Winner: Banksia by Deborah Redwood (below, photo by Tad Souden).
(located at the Turpentine Lawn / grid reference N9 on the Garden Map PDF, 76 KB)
Watch our YouTube interview with Deborah Redwood to learn more about her winning work.
Two works were also highly commended:
- The Bush Custodians by Camie Lyons
- The Monolith of Contemplation by Selby Ginn.
The 2023 People's Choice Award was a tie between two works:
- Enlightened by Nature by Julianne Brandt
- Memorial for Black Summer by Danny Ivanovski.
You can download the 2023 catalogue below to see other works featured in the exhibition.
2023 Sculpture in the Garden catalogue PDF, 3506.39 KB
Note, Anna and Michael Rofka from Germany were selected as a finalist to exhibit, but sadly could not get to Australia to install their work Water Lily (#12 in the catalogue). Saskia Everingham’s work Bottoms Up! (#23 in the catalogue) was removed from exhibition due to unforeseen challenges with the Duck Pond site.
Winner: Curious Dream of an Architect by Fatih Semiz (below, photo by Tad Souden).
(located near the Japanese Tea House / grid reference L6 on the Garden Map PDF, 76 KB)
Three works were also highly commended:
- Splash by John Fitzmaurice
- Evolve by Laura Nolan
- My Greatest Lament by Mark Cuthbertson
The 2021 People's Choice Award went to Evolve by Laura Nolan.
Winner: Steel City by Michael Purdy
(located near the Kawasaki Bridge / grid reference L3 on the Garden Map PDF, 76 KB)
Winner: King Coal by Louis Pratt
(located in the Flowering Trees and Shrubs Collection / grid reference P6 on the Garden Map PDF, 76 KB)
