Historic Sydney house reborn as dynamic gallery
Rhonda Sharpe has won the 20th annual Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize, which is on display in the suburb’s newest art gallery.
A home steeped with history nestled in a suburb bursting with artistic heritage has been unveiled as a new gallery, exhibiting the 20th anniversary exhibition of the internationally celebrated Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize.
In Sydney’s eastern suburbs, the 124-year-old St Brigid’s building has transformed into The Woollahra Gallery at Redleaf, which will showcase a program of contemporary art curated by gallery co-ordinator Sebastian Goldspink – with a touch of history.
“We have a really dynamic and buoyant exhibition program,” Goldspink said.
Exhibiting 52 works each measuring up to 80cm in any dimension, the works were selected from a record 844 entries submitted from across Australia, New Zealand and Britain. The 19 previous winning works will be displayed in the gallery along with the work of this year’s prize winner, Northern Territory-based artist Rhonda Sharpe.
Judge Joanna Capon said the sculpture, titled Desert Woman with Mustache, Coolamon and Pretty Clothes, won unanimously because of its originality and charm. “Bearing in mind we’ve all had a tough few months, or year or two, we thought something that actually was joyous as well, and we found this was a joyous, joyous thing,” she said.
Woollahra mayor Susan Wynne said despite taking four years, transforming the space had become the council’s “labour of love.” “This will be one of the legacies we will leave,” she said. “All this knowledge and history have come together to create something truly beautiful.”
Designed by English architect Frederick Moore Simpson, the building was the family home for Captain Arthur Lassetter and was variously the HQ for the Royal Commission on Espionage, the Woollahra Arts Centre and most recently the Double Bay Library.
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