Open Program Exhibition Gallery
With more exhibitions than ever before, the 2021 Open Program features more than 80 artists, turning Ballarat’s cafes, bars, businesses and laneways into an immersive arts experience. Featuring both established and emerging artists, the Open Program brings Ballarat to life with photographic art at every corner.
Open Program Award Winners
The 2021 Open Program First Prize is awarded to Alexander Martino for their exhibition Eureka! Street. at Drive Cafe, receiving a cash prize of $2,000. Eureka! Street. is an ode to the beauty of Ballarat suburbia, captured on 35mm film. Catalysed by the artist’s move back to their childhood suburb of Ballarat East, the exhibition features street views and neighbourhood oddities. Martino’s first solo show sought to evoke nostalgia and pride in local viewers, and intrigue in visitors and locals alike.
We extend an enormous thank you to our judges Anthony Camm, Manager Eureka Centre; Kate Gerritsen, Public Art Coordinator, City of Ballarat; Tony Long, Photographic Artist; and Kiri Smart, Curator, Art Gallery of Ballarat.
The judges said, “Bright and fresh, yet bittersweet, his works conjure distant, but distinct memories. Childhood joy of sunny summer days, kicking down the street with a couple of coins in your pocket, knowing every house on the way like the back of your hand. Alexander Martino is recording things as they are now, but his photographs exude nostalgia and warmth.”
Honourable mentions were given to:
Peter Berzanskis, Vestiges
Jane Fitzgerald, Rooftops
Chan Hong Yui Clement, People Watching
The People’s Choice Award winner is Alan Moyle for their exhibition Integral Cognition at Hydrant Food Hall, receiving a cash prize of $500.
Anthony AndertonLost Footsteps – The Forgotten China Odyssey of Robert Logan Jack
Gor Gai Thai
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Ballarat Astronomical SocietyCurator Judith Bailey Spectra
Ballarat Municipal Observatory and Museum
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BMPS – Barbara Oehring, Margot Sharman, Pam Davison & Sue JacksonMiracle
RJM’s Wine Bar
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Madeline Bowser and Ben MetherellA Juxtapostion Of Perspectives
Websters Market and Café
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Brett Leigh DicksINSIDE: Photographs of Decommissioned Australian Prisons
The Mallow Hotel
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Alastair Firkin and Helen MyallThe landscape and people of the Kyrgyz Republic
Mitchell Harris Wines
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Starry KongYou can’t walk this earth forever. Someday you will have to fly.
The Tin Roof
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David Mac PhailLooking Forward. Looking Back. The Snagger and the Gun.
1816 Bakehouse
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Craig Menzies / Shards of ArcadiaWe Go to Whence We Came
The Gatehouse Ballarat
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Angus O’CallaghanAngus O’Callaghan’s Melbourne: a city in flux, 1968-1971
Johnny Alloo
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