Philip Spelman (NSW), Cyan Forest, Sculpture by the Sea Bondi 2025. Photo: Charlotte Curd
More than 100 artists who have repeatedly exhibited at the Sculpture by the Sea event have come together to accuse the federal funding agency of acting like a “closed shop” in the way it operates, and highlighting the agency’s disconnect with the popular exhibitions in Bondi and Perth which boast 700,000 visitors annually.
Signatories to the letter include acclaimed artist Ken Unsworth; this year’s $70,000 winner of the Sculpture by the Sea Prize, Walcha sculptor James Rogers, who has exhibited for 21 years; Australian luminary Ron Robertson-Swann; and Sydney-based sculptors Lucy Humphrey and Clara Hali. Some 85 per cent of eligible artists have signed the open letter.
“Few, if any, Australian art exhibitions have Sculpture by the Sea’s international reputation with artists around the world,” states the letter, which was directed to Arts Minister Tony Burke and circulated to at least eight federal MPs.