2025 Waste 2 Art Awards: ‘Year of Toys’

Gilgandra’s 2025 Waste to Art award winners were announced at a special event on Friday, May 16 at the Gilgandra Art Gallery. Surrounded by family and friends, the entered artists were keen to see who scooped up the prizes for their ‘Year of the Toys’ artworks.

By Lucie Peart

Netwaste’s Bill Tink presenting the award for Community Function to winner Brendan Schembri for his work ‘Daughter’s Toy Box’, with mayor Doug Batten and judge Amy Naef.

Gilgandra Shire Council’s, mayor Doug Batten, officially opened the event and congratulated the entrants on their artworks.

Bill Tink from Netwaste, who runs the competition on behalf of member councils, congratulated all this year’s entrants, and said the judges including himself, and local artist Amy Naef, had a tough time picking the winners from the entries.

The Gilgandra winners for Waste 2 Art will go on to represent the town at the regional showcase in Dubbo later in the year. Artworks are currently on display at the gallery until the end of the week, with voting still open for this year’s ‘People’s Choice’.

The 2025 winners are:

Overall Winner – ‘Collecting Birdies’ by Nicole Harte.

Open 2D – ‘Buttons’ by Judy Shalhoub.

Community Function Winner – ‘Daughter’s Toy Box’ by Brendan Schembri.

Community 3D Winner - ‘Tanker’ by William Herbert.

Community 3D Highly Commended – ‘Tractor’ by David Wilson.

Primary 3D Winner – ‘Rosalina’ by Adelaide Mudford.

Primary 3D Highly Commended – ‘Crocodillis Maximum’ by Hugh Harvey and Janos Rajan.

Community 2D Winner – ‘Kooka’ by Brian Roberts.

Primary Functional Winner – ‘Recycled Ballerina’ by Floss Harvey.