The 2019 cohort of Sturt School for Wood graduated in a ceremony on the front lawn at Sturt, on Saturday 23 November.  Around 500 guests were in attendance for the event and the opening of the student exhibition in Sturt Gallery. Over 90 items of furniture and objects are on display until the 8 December. Visitors, including many Alumni of the School, were overwhelmed by the quality of construction and design that this year’s students achieved. It was a great day for all the students marking the end of a challenging, but life-changing experience.

Sturt Summer School 2020

Classes are filling fast, so don’t delay if you want to secure your place for this terrific, creative experience in the summer holiday. With 24 adult courses on offer, there is something for everyone. Full course details are on the Sturt website where you can also enrol securely. Alternatively, you are welcome to enrol in person or by phone at the Sturt Gallery which is open 7 days, from 10.00am-5.00pm. Phone: (02) 4860 2083.

Highlights this year include: Interpreting the portrait through drawing with Barbie Kjar; Surface texturing metal for jewellery with Nicola Bannerman; Stories I tell: contemporary Chinese ink on rice paper with Tianli Zu; Woodcut printmaking with Michael Schlitz; Interwoven: creating coil woven forms using colour, texture and expressive movement with Michele Morcos; and Automated sculpture with David Archer.

We also offer accommodation and meal packages and lunches for day students, and don’t forget our five, one-day Children’s Courses in ceramics, textiles, painting and mixed media, including morning tea and lunch each day.

We look forward to welcoming you to Summer School.

Sturt Artisans’ Night Market

Friday 13 December 3.00pm-9.00pm

Join us for our signature end-of-year event that will also include the opening of two new exhibitions in Sturt Gallery: Land & Sky – Southern Highlands by Photographer, Tony Sheffield, and Pulse – Artists’ books by the Southern Highlands Printmakers.

The Artisans’ Night Market in the Sturt gardens will include live music, food stalls – including Billy Chan The Dumpling Man, Half a Duck Gourmet Pies and Sturt Coffee offering homemade cakes – wine tastings with Bird and Barrel, as well as the Exhibitions opening at 6.00pm. 

Artisan stalls include: Ceramics by Aleida Pullar, Katherine Mahoney and Simon Bowley; Woodwork by graduates of the Sturt School for Wood; Mark Jones Leatherwork; Ironmongery by Steve Hogwood; Jewellery by Vetro e Metallo and Corinne Snare; Textiles by Sylvia Riley and Gillian Clapham; and Handmade Shoes by Robert Bishell.

Current exhibition

Twelve – Sturt School for Wood Graduating Exhibition 2019 – until 8 December

Sturt’s world-class Wood School, training Australia’s future fine furniture makers and designers since 1985, end-of-year exhibition in Sturt Gallery.

Entry to Sturt Wood School has become highly competitive requiring exceptional commitment from the lucky ‘twelve’ students that are selected each year. Prepare to be impressed by the volume and quality of the work that will be on display in this important exhibition showcasing emerging talent. 

The Exhibition is supported by many important woodwork industry leaders including: Timberbits; Studio Woodworkers Australia; Colen Clenton; HNT Gordon; Japanese Tools; Gifkins Dovetail; Felder Group; Dunstone Design; Jim Davey Woodworking; and Lie Nielsen Tools.

Sturt’s next exhibition

Land & Sky – Southern Highlands, Tony Sheffield photography – 13 December-9 February
A minuscule part of the land mass of Australia, the Southern Highlands – rising to a peak of 863 metres – is Tony Sheffield’s canvas for this exhibition. During the past 18 years, Tony has lived and worked in the area as chief photographer for Highlife magazine, promoting all that makes the Southern Highlands an area of outstanding natural beauty.

This collection of new works depicting the area's undulating high-country landscape, flora, farm life and scenic waters, was photographed in freezing misty dawns and crimson sunsets to both inspire and reveal the essence of the Southern Highlands.

Working with five cameras of mixed media, including silver gelatin darkroom techniques dating back to the 1890s and recent digital discoveries, Tony’s aim in this exhibition is to demonstrate the complete and true meaning of Fine Art Photography in its role expressing the world around us.

Land & Sky will be opened at 6.00pm on 13 December by special guest, Peta Seaton AM.

Pulse – Artists’ books by the Southern Highlands Printmakers – 13 December-9 February
An exhibition by 18 members of Southern Highlands Printmakers of Artists books responding to the many meanings inherent in the word ‘pulse’.  

The artists have creatively interpreted ‘pulse’ in various forms of drum beats, life and light, environment and landscape, pulse of the earth in plant cells, the political pulse and the ancient world. Print techniques include etching, silkscreen, linocut, collograph and digital reproduction.

Full details of all Sturt courses, exhibitions, residency programmes and events can be found on our website www.sturt.nsw.edu.au or to make a booking or enrol, call Sturt Shop on +61 2 4860 2083 or email shop@sturt.nsw.edu.au.

Mark Viner
Head of Sturt