The winning entry in the first Sculpture in the Garden Wollongong, King Coal by Louis Pratt. Photos: Jen White.
Surprises are lurking around every corner of Wollongong Botanic Garden, including elaborate and intriguing sculptures.
The garden’s extensive natural collection includes Australian forest and grassland, flowering trees and shrubs, palms, the rose garden, rainforest, succulents, a bush tucker garden and the latest display, unveiled last year, of prehistoric cycads.
However, Wollongong City Council also regularly adds to its non-living collections through its popular Sculpture in the Garden competition.
Held biennially since 2016, the competition is open for entries for 2025, offering a $30,000 Wollongong Acquisitive Sculpture prize, a $3000 People’s Choice award, and for the first time, a $10,000 Ephemeral prize for site-specific works using non-permanent materials.
The winning sculpture for acquisition will be permanently installed at a site within the garden, while up to 18 entries will be temporarily on exhibition, from 1-30 April, 2025.
The previous winner of Sculpture in the Garden, Deborah Woodward’s Banksia.
The four-week exhibition will also offers a range of free, open-to-the-community events including workshops, artist walk and talks, buggy tours and after dark adventures as part of Wollongong Council’s commitment to engaging diverse communities through art.
According to the council, the exhibition provides a platform for artists living in Australia to win prizes, extend their professional practice through community engagement and showcase their sculptural work.
“The biennial sculpture exhibition transforms the beautiful natural setting in the Wollongong Botanic Garden into a temporary exhibition space,” the council said.
”Involving artists and the community, this project is a creative response to the unique local environment and creates a strong ‘sense of place’.”
Previous winners are Deborah Woodward’s Banksia (2023), Fatih Semiz’s Curious Dream of an Architect (2021), Steel City by Michael Purdy (2018) and King Coal by Louis Pratt (2016).
Each year about 500,000 people visit the sprawling garden set over 27 hectares, including the historic Gleniffer Brae, which sits above the garden and looks over the city and out to the sea.
The garden is open every day of the year apart from Christmas Day, from 7 am to 6 pm on weekdays and 7 am to 6:45 pm on weekends. Click here for more information about the garden.
For more details about Sculpture in the Garden Wollongong and how to enter, click here. Entries close at 10 pm on Monday, 11 November.
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