Each year an eminent Australian artist judges the drawing award. Previous years judges have included Kevin Connor, Ann Thomson, John Wolseley, Nicholas Harding and Cherry Hood among many others.
Kedumba is a Gundungurra word meaning ‘shiny, falling waters’.
The Kedumba Collection pays respect to Elders past and present and recognises that the Dharug and Gundungurra Traditional Owners have a continuous and deep connection to their Country.
It is acquisitive and each year an eminent Australian artist, judges the drawing award. Previous years judges have included Kevin Connor, Ann Thomson, John Wolseley, Nicholas Harding and Cherry Hood among many others. The resultant Kedumba Collection of Australian Drawings is considered to be one of the best in Australia.
For the first five years the Award was held at the Fairmont Resort in Leura. Artists, nation-wide were invited to participate and the judge asked to select a drawing that would enrich and enhance the Kedumba Collection. The Collection was exhibited in the Kedumba Gallery, developed in 1996, in a one hundred year old building, in the grounds of Blue Mountains Grammar School. As the Collection grew a Trust was formed and it became a public Collection and the responsibility of the Trustees.
As the Collection grew storage became an issue and Orange Regional Gallery kindly cared for and exhibited the drawings for many years. It was always intended that the Collection would return to the Blue Mountains and this occurred in 2019, not to its previous space but to a free standing building, now converted to a gallery and generously provided by the Blue Mountains Grammar School.
Over the years works have been lent to institutions and in 2014 fifty one drawings exhibited at Tweed Regional Gallery.
The Kedumba Collection is housed in a gallery space generously provided by Blue Mountains Grammar School at Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney.
The Kedumba Drawing Award is held in November each year. The Kedumba Collection also runs a program of curated exhibitions throughout the year, drawn from the extensive artworks of the collection. This gives regular visitors the chance to see the full breadth and depth of the Kedumba Collection.
For details of opening hours and directions, please click here.
For 35 years the Kedumba Drawing Award has been one of the pre-eminent awards for drawing in Australia. The addition of the $20,000 prize money will ensure that the Award continues to grow and build on its success for many years to come.
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