Sculptor Ingrid Morley is congratulated by her partner Brian Sinclair in front of her award-winning Sculpture for Clyde work, The Past is Just Behind. Photo: Supplied.
An annual South Coast art festival is gearing up for a return following its cancellation last year.
Sculpture for Clyde comprises outdoor, indoor and student sculpture exhibitions, with entrants competing in various prize categories.
“We’ve had good interest,” event founder David Maclachlan told Region.
“We’re just producing the catalogue at the moment … There’s some good stuff, that’s all I can say!”
This year’s event sees it return after the 2025 outing was cancelled amid funding concerns.
The event’s winning sculpture in the Acquisitive Prize category will be selected to join the Sculpture Walk on Batemans Bay’s foreshore.
A change for this year’s event is a reduction in the amount awarded to the Acquisitive Prize winner to $50,000.
The prize had been increased from $60,000 to $100,000 for the 2024 event.
Mr Maclachlan said the impacts of the cost of living were behind the decision.
He said some sculptors were unwilling to submit larger works that “may not sell, may not win anything”.
He believes the decision to reduce it will expand the pool of entrants.
“What we realised doing that is we missed out on a lot of the in-between large sculptures.
“We figured we’re going to get more in that [middle] range for the outdoor sculptures.”
The event has also added two major prize categories and made all entries eligible for the Acquisitive Prize (rather than curating a shortlist).
Mr Maclachlan said a new addition would be collected this week. It is expected to be installed later this month, bringing the total number of public sculptures in the area up to “16 or 17”.
He pointed to the other prize winners from past Sculpture for Clyde events, which were joined by ‘Mina’ in late 2025.
The 3.5 metre tall gorilla was installed at Corrigan’s Beach Reserve as one of 22 artworks by artists Gillie and Marc that were donated to Eurobodalla Shire Council.
“That’s awesome,” he said of the total.
But he said the impacts went beyond having more creativity in Eurobodalla Shire.
“The basis of the model was the acquisition of public art, because we had no sculptures in Batemans Bay prior to the event. … A lot’s happened since [the first event in 2016].
“We brought sculpture and the importance of sculpture to the fore within the shire, certainly within Batemans Bay.”
Mr Maclachlan said behind-the-scenes work was continuing.
“We’re anticipating a good event … It’s a really welcome event.
“Last time it got 25-odd thousand [attendees]. We anticipate similar numbers.”
He said data supplied by the council had shown 86 per cent of attendees at their 2024 event had travelled from outside the area in a “phenomenal result”.
“It’s a tremendous drawcard.”
He said there were still opportunities for people to get involved, though artist entries had closed.
“We’re happy with the number of volunteers that have put their hands up – if anyone else wants to, we’re happy to have them helping out. … We’re always calling out for volunteers.”
Sculpture for Clyde 2026 will be held between 30 May and 7 June in Batemans Bay on the NSW Far South Coast.
Follow updates or find out more through the event’s Facebook page or its website.
