Collective of Albany artists take home second annual Southern Art and Craft Trail Exhibition Award

A collective of young Albany artists exhibiting as a group for the first time has won the 2022 Southern Art and Craft Trail Exhibition Award.

Voted by those who attended as having the art trail’s best quality exhibition, The Nature of Creating took home a prize worth $2000, sponsored by Regional Development Australia Great Southern.

The 2022 edition of the annual art trail was held from September 24 to October 9, with studios and exhibitions across the south of the State opened up to the public, from Nannup to Lake Grace and everywhere in between.

The inaugural award was presented last year to Kronkup artists Meleah Farrell and Narelle Clark.

This year’s winners set up a market-style exhibition on a property in Torbay, featuring a display of their wares in marquees with a relaxed atmosphere including a firepit and hang-out area.

The artists also held two workshops during the art trail, with donations taken for Gondwana Link.

The group was formed by friends Nicola Thomas, Carter Wight, Kaysanne Knuckey and sisters Zoe and Amy Kerr, with the original aim of sharing art and craft knowledge, before they decided to join this year’s Art Trail.

“It was just an amazing opportunity to be involved in such a big art event where there are so many people that travel around to look at all the different venues,” Knuckey said. “None of us had ever really done much in the way of exhibiting things before, so it was just less intimidating to all do it together over a couple of weeks.”

Each member creates art with a nature or sustainability focus — Thomas makes artworks from local seaweeds, Wight creates seafloor contour pieces, Knuckey forms hand-shaped wood and clay items, and the Kerrs create ceramic and crochet pieces.

The Nature of Creating will be back again for the 2023 art trail.

“We’ll definitely run it again next year, the artists that are involved might change but it will still be all tied in with nature and a sustainable mindset,” Amy Kerr said.

ASWA chair Merry Robertson said the group of young artists represented the next generation of makers in the Great Southern, and as well as hosting the most popular exhibition, they were “role models” for teenagers interested in working in the arts.

“With close to 260 visitor surveys returned the clear winner was evident,” Ms Robertson said.