Wagga Wagga, the full story…

Just as we’d posted the snap of the winner of Wagga’s National Student Glass Art Prize last week, we received the whole shebang in longhand, so to speak…

National Student Art Glass Prize: Winner Announced

The inaugural winner of the National Student Art Glass Prize (NSAGP) was announced at the official launch of the Prize exhibition on Friday evening, 12 March, by Kay Hull MP, Federal Member for the Riverina. A crowd of patrons of the arts and glass enthusiasts gathered in front of the National Art Glass Gallery as the Prize was awarded to Belinda Toll from the Australian National University for her work Time contained, an exploration of the notion of memory.

Belinda graduated with first class honours in glass at the end of 2009 from the School of Art at the Australian National University. Time contained, a series of dark orbs with glimmering images hidden inside, was chosen from a field of twenty-four students of art glass from across Australia. Three students were also Highly Commended: CJ Taylor from the South Australian School of Art for Leviathan (towards away), featuring video projection through a glass screen; Kirsten Costello from Monash University for The Fancy Rats; and Christopher Boha, also from South Australia, for The Space In/Between: 24 Weeks, an installation featuring origami flowers in glass domes.

All of the artworks on show displayed an extraordinary range of virtuoso skills in every technique, beautiful, evocative and thought-provoking. The judges, who had the challenging task of selecting a single winner out of so many outstanding pieces, included Maureen Williams, one of Australia’s most prominent and internationally recognised glass artists, Barbara McConchie (former head of Craft ACT) and Cath Bowdler, director of Wagga Wagga Art Gallery. The exhibition was curated by Wagga Wagga Art Gallery’s Curator of Glass, Michael Scarrone, who said at the opening that he was “completely blown away by the support of the art glass community and Wagga Wagga City Council.”

Belinda Toll will take up her prize later this year, an all-expenses-paid trip to attend two master classes at North Lands Creative Glass in Scotland, one of the world’s most renowned centres for the practice and development of art glass. The two master classes are Building of Form, a solid glass casting and slumping master class led by Anna Matouskova, and An American/Venetian Experience, which will focus on Venetian off hand glassblowing techniques, neo-classical forms and clean line in blown glass, led by Dante Marioni and Benjamin Moore. Time contained will become part of the National Art Glass Collection at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery, and will be on display, with all the works selected for the exhibition, until Sunday, 6 June.

NSAGP conceived and exhibition curated by Michael Scarrone. For further information, please contact Michael Scarrone at Wagga Wagga Art Gallery on 02 6926 9670

Looks like a great time was had by all…