Art lovers hanging out for Grammar gallery opening

By CAITLIN CROWLEY

A SMALL army of volunteers has been assembled to transform the Toowoomba Grammar School (TGS) hall into one of the biggest galleries in regional Queensland this weekend, for the return of Grammar Art Show.

Hundreds of pieces from across the country are being unpacked and painstakingly hung ahead of Friday’s sold-out opening night event.

Art Show President Jodie Humphreys (pictured below) said it was exciting to see the months of hard work coming together.

“It is massive – I think we have more than 350 volunteer spaces over the weekend to pull it all together,” Humphreys said.

“We do have a lot of country artists who contribute and it’s always really fun, patching together how they’re going to get their art here.

“Calling on friends and neighbours and families at the school to bring their art in – it’s wonderful.”

The annual showcase set a new sales record in 2022 with more than $480,000 worth of art sold to collectors nationwide and overseas.

Work from 250 artists will be on display this year, but demand to be featured was much higher.

“We always invite the artists from the previous year who have sold and then this year we had 400 artists apply for another 50 new spots,” Humphreys said.

“So that’s a really great position to be in, but also really difficult because we’d love to have everybody’s art here but we just can’t fit it all in.”

While many of the works are priced in the thousands of dollars, visitors will be able to pick up pieces for as little as $25 thanks to a new addition to the program, TGS Under Wraps.

“We’ve asked a lot of our artists and the school community to paint little A5 paintings – but they don’t sign them so nobody don’t know who has painted what,” Humphreys said.

“They’ll be sold for $25 each, so it’s a little bit of a surprise and you find out who the artist is once you buy what you like.

“We wanted to involve the students a little bit more and make art more affordable and all of the proceeds from that are going to Yalari foundation.

“We like to have a big, broad range of different types of art because art is such an individual thing and we want people to walk in here and find something that they absolutely love.”

Grammar Art Show opens to the public Saturday March 25 at 9.30am and works can be previewed at the event’s website.