Tweed Gallery opens Olive Cotton Award and new exhibitions

TWEED Regional Gallery will launch three new exhibitions this month, headlined by the 2025 Olive Cotton Award for photographic portraiture.

The Olive Cotton Award celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and features works by 65 finalists.

The exhibition opens on August 16, with winners to be announced at the gallery on August 30.

Gallery director Ingrid Hedgcock said the award had become one of the most respected in the country.

“The Olive Cotton Award is a nationally recognised event for photographers and gallery visitors alike, and we’re already feeling the excitement build around who the winner might be,” Hedgcock said.

“All finalists are to be congratulated in what is a superb exhibition and I’m sure our gallery visitors will enjoy the selected works.”

Seven Northern Rivers photographers are among the finalists — Adam Bailey, Lisa Sorgini, Craig Tuffin, Joel Benguigui, Paul Blackmore, Elise Derwin and Tajette O’Halloran.

The award carries a $20,000 acquisitive first prize, with Director’s Choice awards of $4000 also to be announced. Winning works will join the gallery’s permanent collection.

Alongside the Olive Cotton Award, the gallery will present solo exhibitions by regional artists Nickolla Clark and Dean Stewart, both opening on August 15.

Clark, an Arakwal Bundjalung artist and winner of the Bundjalung Award at the 2024 Wollumbin Art Award, will present Water Connects Us All. The exhibition uses ochre painting to explore cultural connections to waterways linking Arakwal Country to the sea.

“Nickolla’s works draw on important teachings passed down from her ancestors – the matriarchs who strongly advocated for the health of Country – and highlight the urgency to sustain our waterways,” Hedgcock said.

Clark will also appear at a Meet the Artist event on August 17.

Dean Stewart’s exhibition Material Memory deconstructs and rearranges found objects to reflect on how materials hold stories and spark memory.

“Dean Stewart’s exhibition is a celebration of memory in playful ways I think our audience will enjoy,” Hedgcock said.

Water Connects Us All runs until November 9, Material Memory until November 30, and the Olive Cotton Award exhibition until November 23.