Over 200 people visited the annual Waste > Art & Design Competition exhibition in the Armidale Plaza from 10-14 November. The competition, sponsored by Armidale Dumaresq Council, pro-vides an opportunity for all residents in the Armidale Dumaresq Council area to communicate the waste reduction message and showcase their artistic and creative talents.
The People’s Choice Award received 184 entries with only a few votes between the most popular works. Receiving the most votes with their entry Roadkill, Maria & Ian Rummery also took out first prize in the Open Community category. Their work cleverly depicted the dead body of a kan-garoo made from recycled car tyres.
Maria explained “When travelling along the highways around our region, and approaching a dark shape on the side of the road, there is a short space of time in which ones’ mind struggles to make sense of what we see. Could it be a gnarled log, an animal road victim, a burst truck tyre? This artwork attempts to capture that fleeting moment in our psyche, before our eye sees the truth.”
The standard of entries was high this year making it difficult for the judges and viewers to pick a winner in the different categories. Coordinator Hayley Ward said it was pleasing to see the com-petition supported so well by local schools and community members with a substantial increase in entries from last year.
This year’s theme for Primary Schools was renewable energy. Year 4W from Ben Venue Public won first place with their work Turbine Hill. Second place went to Year 3 Enrichment Class Drum-mond Memorial Primary School for their piece Nura (Anaiwan for Sun). And 5/6 Enrichment Class, also from Drummond Memorial Primary School, won third place for their work Sally the Solar Roller. All three pieces included recycled and pre-used materials.
The High School theme was Climate Change with Duval High School winning all three places. First prize went to Lily Owen for her untitled work commenting on Australia’s reliance on coal; Tiarna Styles asked the audience to Open Your Eyes with her entry placing second; and third place went to Jannala McNally with Heads in the Sand.
In the Open Community section first place was awarded to Maria & Ian Rummery for their work Roadkill, made from recycled tyres. Second place went to Andrew Wallace for his work Hidden in the Soot made from old laboratory tripods and based on a carbon mol-ecule. NE Building Recyclers claimed third prize with their raised garden bed made from recycled timbers and old olive oil cans.
Congratulations to all the entrants for their creative and inspiring works.
Calendar subscribe
