Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition ready for biggest year yet in 2023

It’s been a staple of the arts calendar of the area for 35 years – now this iconic exhibition, which helped its locals recover from devastation in 2020 – expects to boom this year.

The late Diana Keir with a popular art installation. Picture: Supplied

A decades-long art exhibition has been buoyed by a surge in the popularity of its niche place of residence and the doubling of the prize money on offer.

The Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition will in 2023 offer $10,000 for the Diana Keir Art Award and is expected to be the biggest it has been in its 35 year history.

The award was named in memory of celebrated local artist and beloved community member Diana Keir who tragically died in 2019.

Following her death, her friend Alex McCarthy created a foundation to support the exhibition, which Mrs Keir held close to her heart.

Exhibition co-ordinator Michele Lane said the biennial event’s return was much-anticipated.

Deane O'Brien with the late Diana Keir at opening of the Shadowland exhibition by artist Celia Mede in the Seas Gallery.

Caroline Taylor's first prize Original Works 2D winning Broken Tree. Picture: Supplied

Michele Lane's first prize Peter Walker Award winning The (En) titled Space. Picture: Supplied

She said the prize money increase, which jumped for $5000 to $10,000, was “generous” and hoped it would lead to an increase in attendance for the exhibition.

Sections of the exhibition include an area for children and youth, photography and digital art, and the overall theme for 2023 is “precious moments”.

Another of the exhibition’s co-ordinators, Glenda Taylor, said she was looking forward to the photography section.

“It’s back bigger and better at this year’s exhibition and digital art has been included for the first time so there should be some interesting artwork to view,” she said.

The exhibition is supported by the Art Gallery of South Australia and is a feature of the KI calendar.

Art Gallery curator and artists Nici Cumpston and printmaker Olga Sankey are set to judge the 2023 instalment.

Ms Sankey’s father has a unique connection to the island, with her father once working as a lightkeeper at the Cape du Couedic Lighthouse.

KI is amid a resurgence in the aftermath of the horrific 2019-20 bushfires which devastated about 38 per cent of the island.

Developers have also taken an interest in its potential, with two major tourism plans being unveiled late last year.

Kangaroo Island Council mayor Michael Pengilly said he was anticipating an increase in tourism to the area as the resurgence continued.