The Gang and Leah hitched a lift up to Moruya on Thursday night with SEAR head honcho Andrew Grey for the launch of the Basil Sellers Art Prize 2010. This was our first foray into the Prize’s melee – and what cool running Monika McInerney and her crew make of the proceedings.  You’re not allowed to see any artwork until after copious drinkies and chat. So civilised! And a great way to heighten the general anticipation –  the final hang remains a mystery until after the speeches and announcement of the winning work.

We’re reliably informed that there were a number of severely ruffled feathers apropos the final cut. Ah well, such is the reality of the Art Comp biz – and an affirmation, frankly, that the judging process is healthily removed from the small-p politics of the local arts coterie. Something to be applauded. Of course, when you put a triumvirate of David Broker, Anni Doyle Wawrzynczak and Kristian Pithie in charge of the filleting knife, then you’ve got to expect a professional and incisive result.

Stan Squire, a breath-of-fresh-air-self-effacing Pambula boy with a passion for surfing and living the utopian dream, was a very worthy winner of the prize…

“There are three hundred and fifty eight billion sides to every story” was his explanatory note for the work; Lost in Paradise/Martian style. Wunderbar.

There was a goodly smattering of the Bega Valley Shire mob represented on the walls, so there were plenty of smiles all round…

…especially from Sue, who scored a red dot straight up…

…and Anneke, Tanja and Bernard, all happy to have made it through the cull. 

It was such a treat to catch up with David and Anni (we’d not met Kristian before)…

…we’ll definitely have to entice them further south in the not-too-distant future.

Random shots here (sorry peeps, we lost quite a few in the editing suite.)