About Castaways Sculpture Awards

The City’s iconic Castaways Sculpture Awards returned this spring, taking over the Rockingham Foreshore from Saturday 26 October to Sunday 3 November 2024.  

Castaways is an annual outdoor sculptural exhibition showcasing artworks created from repurposed materials at the Rockingham Foreshore.

Castaways started in 2008 as a community arts project to raise awareness around the discarded items or ‘castaways’ washing up on local beaches and has continued to expand and evolve. Today, Castaways provides an important opportunity for emerging and professional Western Australian artists, schools and local businesses to be a part of a regionally-recognised arts program that continues to promote sustainable values.

Castaways Sculpture Awards consists of three exhibitions, with a prize pool of $27,000 (non-acquisitive):

Kelly Robbins, 'Pin Cushion Protea', 2024, street sweeper brushes, fan blades, steel tubing. Image credit: courtesy the artist. Kelly Robbins, 'Pin Cushion Protea', 2024, street sweeper brushes, fan blades, steel tubing. Image credit: courtesy the artist.

Main Exhibition 

The Main Exhibition showcases outdoor sculptures set against the backdrop of the Rockingham Foreshore.

Western Australian artists are invited to enter their sculpture for selection.

Sculptures must use recycled and repurposed materials, and must include a 30% visible aluminium component to be eligible for the Major Award. 

Kelly Robbins, Pin Cushion Protea, 2024, street sweeper brushes, fan blades, steel tubing. Image credit: courtesy the artist.

Liliana Stafford, 'Bird House', 2024, recycled glass, sea glass, wire, pebbles, stones, driftwood. Image credit: courtesy the artist. Liliana Stafford, 'Bird House', 2024, recycled glass, sea glass, wire, pebbles, stones, driftwood. Image credit: courtesy the artist.

Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition

The Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition celebrates the intricacy of small-scale three-dimensional artworks.

Emerging and professional artists are invited to create indoor sculptures using recycled and repurposed materials.

The Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition is held at the Rockingham Arts Centre, just a short stroll from Rockingham Foreshore.

Liliana Stafford, Bird House, 2024, recycled glass, sea glass, wire, pebbles, stones, driftwood. Image credit: courtesy the artist.

Settlers Primary School, 'Where to From Here?', 2024, tin cans, plastic bottles, chicken wire. Image credit: courtesy the artist. Settlers Primary School, 'Where to From Here?', 2024, tin cans, plastic bottles, chicken wire. Image credit: courtesy the artist.

Schools Exhibition

Primary and secondary schools are invited to design and create a sculpture from recycled or repurposed materials for public exhibition alongside emerging and professional artists. A number of benefits have been reported by teachers, including student collaboration, belonging to a community event, and the pursuit of knowledge and new skills.

Castaways aims to introduce to young people how values and important messages can be effectively promoted through engaging channels – important for future community leaders. The Castaways Schools Exhibition is displayed on the Rockingham Foreshore in Churchill Park, alongside the Main Exhibition.

Settlers Primary School, Where to From Here?, 2024, tin cans, plastic bottles, chicken wire. Image credit: courtesy the artist.​

2024 Finalists

Main Exhibition

Sean Adamas, Richard Aitken, Stuart Bryce, Sheryl Chant, Moira Court, John Dakin, Stephanie De Biasi, Tom de Munk-Kerkmeer, Paul Fontanini, Claire Garcia-Webb, Damien Gavillet, Richard Hammer, Terrence Humble, Cath Inman, Joan Johnson, Lee-Caroline Johnson, Amanda Kirk, Rene Lehner, Rachael Lemon, Scott Michell, Marite Norris, Kim Perrier, Kelly Robbins, Garry Robson, Ed Stafford, Liliana Stafford, Kyle Sutton, Nicholas Thompson, Ben Veljacich, Mike Walmsley, Andrew Wilmott and Erica Zaino.

Winners

Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition

Gary Aitken, Lesley Barrett, Amanda Benn, Sherri Brown, Sheryl Chant, Carol Clitheroe, Tom de Munk-Kerkmeer, De Passey, Lisa Dymond, John Eden, Sky Edwards, Linda Fardoe, Paul Fontanini, Sam Huxtable, Cath Inman, Janice O’Meara, Eleanor Pease, Margaret Rothery, Robin Scantlebury, Valerie Schönjahn, Emily Smith, Ed Stafford, Liliana Stafford, Nicole Steenhof, Carmen Tyrer and Chris Winspear.

Winners

Schools Exhibition

Bungaree Primary, Charthouse Primary School, Endeavour Schools, Living Waters Lutheran College (Primary), Living Waters Lutheran College (Secondary), Ridge View Secondary College, Rockingham Beach Education Support Centre, Settlers Primary School and South Coast Baptist College.

Winners

2024 Guest Artist Sally Stoneman

Sally Stoneman studied art education at Curtin University, later gaining a Graduate Diploma of Art Education at Mount Lawley College of Advanced Education. Soon after she studied painting and printmaking at the National Art School in Sydney. Her work has covered a range of mediums from painting to printmaking, and woven to wood forms. For the past 10 years, her practice has focused on the use of recycled wire both in large-scale outdoor sculpture and small-scale gallery works. She is a regular exhibitor at Sculpture by the Sea, both at Cottesloe and Bondi, winning the WA Sculpture Scholarship at Sculpture by the Sea Cottesloe in 2018.

The concept of environmental fragility is a conscious consideration in her art practice. She endeavours to evoke literal and metaphorical symbols of the Australian landscape and cultural heritage through the use of materiality. The recycled ‘rabbit proof fence’ from the wheatbelt and Murchison regions of WA forms the basis of many of her works.

Podcast

Listen to Castaways Curator Lyn Di Ciero interview Sally about her involvement in Castaways, her most successful artwork, and her advice for emerging artists.

Listen here

Castaways Team

  • Castaways Curator Lyn Di Ciero wearing glasses and a black shirt.Lyn Di Ciero

    2024 Castaways Curator Lyn Di Ciero is a visual arts writer, curator and filmmaker who established the Artist’s Chronicle in 1991, the longest-running independent visual arts magazine in Western Australia’s history. Di Ciero is also a former Visual Arts Feature Writer for The West Australian newspaper (2010-2016). She was the Australian manager for the School of Colour in the 1990s, which included operating distance education across Australia, and has documented several art collections, including the City of Belmont, the City of Rockingham Town of Mosman Park and Perth Airport.

    She has curated the City of Rockingham Castaways Sculpture Awards since its inception, and the annual Soroptimist International of Fremantle Help the Homeless Act Auction, which raises funds for critical services for the homeless and at-risk homeless in the community. From 2020 to 2022, she was the curator of the Mandorla Art Award, Australia’s most significant thematic Christian art prize.

    Since 2013, she has explored filmmaking as another form of storytelling in the visual arts, with her filmography including commissions from the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the City of Rockingham and St John of God Health Care.

  • Schools are provided guidance with their sculptures from the 2024 Castaways Schools Facilitators.

     

    Jacq Chorlton.Jacq Chorlton (Funkydory)

    Jacq creates award-winning wearable art, recycled materials sculpture, painting, ceramics, community art and more. She has been a participant in Castaways on nine occasions, winning three awards.

     

     

     

    Rachael Lemon 

    Rachel Lemon.Rachael is an award-winning artist who has been selected for Castaways and the Rockingham Art Prize. Her community art projects include art classes and workshops for all ages and assisting the Baldivis Brumby Girl Guides, students from St Munchin’s Primary School and Ridge View Secondary College’s art club. In 2023, she led school guided tours at Castaways.

  • Following the close of entries, the independent 2024 Selection Panel met to select finalists from the submitted artworks.

    Olga Cironis

    Olga is a multidisciplinary artist who explores the murky undertones that history and memory have on personal and shared identity. All the while examining and questioning notions of belonging in today’s cultural globalisation. Her installations are loaded with meaning in which she examines and challenges social and cultural norms and lays them bare to be newly interpreted.

    Castaways 2024 Selection Panellist Olga Cironis

     

    Greg James

    Greg is one of Western Australia's finest sculptors with over 25 years of experience specialising in life-size bronze figures. He is renowned for his iconic public artworks, including The Fishermen, Bon Scott and Pietro Porcelli in Fremantle. Greg’s sculptures attest to his attention to detail and his ability to capture the essence of his subjects. His work is interactive and tactile, inviting participation from the public. Inspired by people, his work celebrates the beauty and sensuality of the human form and explores concepts of the human condition.

    His studio was founded in 1993 and can be found at J-Shed, Fremantle, where a gallery displays local artists alongside his work. The loft gallery overlooks the busy studio where his unique sculptures are created.

    Castaways 2024 Selection Panellist Greg James

  • Once the finalists' sculptures have been installed for the exhibition, the independent judges select the winning artworks for each award category.  

    Main Exhibition and Maquette and Small Sculpture Exhibition 2024

    2024 Castaways judge Stuart ElliottStuart Elliott

    Stuart is a respected Western Australian artist, lecturer and writer. For the past 27 years, he has produced several major solo shows for both commercial and public spaces, undertaken many commissions and conducted local and international residencies. His vaguely orthodox studio practice has undergone experimentation in terms of the nature of the work itself and the methods and circumstances under which it has been pursued. In 2005, he was awarded a fellowship through ArtsWA to further develop his work through a more radical, experimental process and media. He received a Life Time Achievement Award from Artsource in 2010 and an Ignite grant from BHP in 2015. For the past 20 years, he has lectured part-time at universities and TAFE. At present, he is the Senior Art Collection Technician for Edith Cowan University.

     

     

    2024 Castaways judge Angela McHarrieAngela McHarrie

    Angela is a Western Australian artist with a multidisciplinary practice. She graduated from Curtin University with a Bachelor of Art in 2007 and was made a member of the Vice Chancellor's List in recognition of academic excellence. Angela maintains a strong commitment to exhibiting and she is represented by Stala Contemporary. She has completed a significant number of public artworks over the past 15 years and her work is held in public, corporate and private collections.

     

    Schools Exhibition 2024

    2024 Castaways judge Fleur CasonFleur Cason

    Fleur is an art educator and artist who currently serves as the Gifted and Talented Visual Arts Coordinator at Applecross SHS. In this role, she oversees an enrichment and extension program designed to extend opportunities for gifted and talented young artists, reflecting her passion for advocating for the Arts in education. She founded ArtBox, an art school dedicated to nurturing children's creativity which continues today under the direction of dedicated art educators. Fleur also pursues her own eclectic and sustainable art practice, spanning various disciplines, including drawing, painting, and assemblage, upcycling found and recycled objects and materials.

     

     

    2024 Castaways judge Louise HardwickLouise Hardwick

    Louise, Arts Lead Teacher at Tranby College in Baldivis, is a dedicated art educator with over two decades of experience teaching visual arts in secondary schools in Australia and the UK. Louise's teaching philosophy revolves around fostering independent thinking and creative expression. Her dynamic curriculum not only nurtures students' imaginations but also focusses on developing their technical abilities. Within her classroom, Louise cultivates a culture of artistic appreciation and innovation, urging students to push boundaries and embrace challenges. Through her passion for teaching, she empowers students to discover their unique artistic voices and reach their full potential.

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