The Kangaroo Island Easter Art Exhibition is back where it belongs, Easter, just a year later than planned. The theme, On the Edge, is unchanged and remains relevant to artists and the wider community.
Artists contribute to daily life by beautifying public places, recording the things that matter, interpreting our natural world and enriching our culture.
Once every two years the artists of Kangaroo Island come together in the biggest single celebration of the island’s creativity at the longstanding Easter Art Exhibition in Penneshaw Town Hall.
The 2020 event has been re-scheduled twice, first due to the Bushfires and then due to the COVID pandemic. Organisers are pleased to announce the Kangaroo Island exhibition will return to its official opening on Good Friday 2 April 2021 and the revised edition of the official entry form has been released. Entry forms are due to Project Manager Fleur Peters no later than Sunday 28 February 2021.
The re-scheduled event in 2021 has been expanded to two weeks, including the first week of the school holidays. It is an opportunity for budding artists, youth and children, professional, and experienced artists to display their talents to a wide audience. Extended opening hours on several evenings over the period will enable as many people as possible to see the exhibition allowing for potentially changing restrictions to the numbers permitted in the hall.
Such a major event, presented in a non-traditional art space, requires countless hours of planning and immense organisation. In 2020 this has been extra challenging.
The show is convened by Artists Collective KI, a not for profit arts organisation, made possible by the generous support of members, benefactors and sponsors prepared to get involved in any way they can. Every effort counts and these contributions, big and small, are an investment in the life of the community.
Sponsors and supporters are represented at opening night together with a usually significant gathering of the arts and wider community on Kangaroo Island.
We are honoured to have the Art Gallery of South Australia’s continued support of the exhibition. Join judges Director AGSA Rhana Devenport, together with Director of Guildhouse Emma Fey for the awarding of a total prize pool more than $10k, culminating in the inaugural Diana Keir Art Award.
For that award, and in honour of her late friend Diana, Alexandra McCarthy is building up a corpus of funds to support a substantial cash prize – $5k for the overall 2021 winner in the themed category for artwork produced in any medium. Donations can be made to Guildhouse, a South Australian not-for-profit that supports visual artists, craftspeople and designers. The Easter Art Exhibition page of Kangaroo Island Artworks website has more information and you can download the entry form.
Save the date now and commit your support to this much beloved and anticipated community event, Good Friday 2 April at 6:30pm to meet exhibiting artists and supporters, view and taste their wares, and celebrate 2021 prize winners and everyone that makes it all possible.