2025 Winners Announced

It was close, very close this year, but we announced the winners of Waste 2 Art.

Broken Hill. Congratulations to all the entrants! You can still see them on display till 21st June at the GeoCentre.

We would like to thank Dennis Hebbard from Willyama Arts, Hestor, Verity and Asma from Slag Heap Projects & Clinton Kemp from Amanya Mitha Indigenous Arts for judging the artworks.

Thanks to the team at Netwaste Bill and Heather for supporting us to run this amazing event.

Thanks to Trevor Dart, Kathy Graham and their teams at the GeoCentre and Broken Hill Art Gallery. They have gone out of their way to host this exhibition for us.

Our sponsors: Harvey Norman, Broken Hill Bank, Willy Nilly Art, Headspace, Danns of Broken Hill, Broken Hill Physiotherapy, My Maid, Headspace, First National Broken Hill, Steeline & The Shed

Our partners Lifeline – Jodie and Brandon at the Tip Shop and Ruby.

Krystle Evans, Clark Barrett & Susanne Jones for facilitating workshops for the community.

The Art Exchange team; Annette Herd for project coordination and the Committee / Volunteers Nicky Wright, Marcus Kruger, Nieves Rivera, Linden Eager & Greta Hector

The President of the Art Exchange, Susanne Jones who curated this amazing exhibition

And for Lorraine-Lee Tyerman for the photography and catalogue production.

Reimagine Waste into Art – From Trash to Treasure

Waste 2 Art is an annual community art competition and exhibition, held across regional NSW Councils and organised by NetWaste. This inspiring event showcases art, creative works, and functional objects crafted from reused waste materials. The goal is to challenge perceptions of ‘rubbish’ while celebrating sustainability through arts and crafts.

We have a dedicated Facebook Page you can join to get news and share ideas with the community.

Broken Hill Waste 2 Art Program

This event is proudly organised by the Broken Hill Art Exchange and Lifeline Broken Hill, with generous support from Broken Hill City Council’s Community Assistance Grants program.

It takes a community to organise an art competition and exhibition and we are very grateful for all the support.

Prizes are sponsored by local businesses including: Broken Hill Bank, My Maid Cleaning, Headspace Broken Hill, Broken Hill Physiotherapy, The Shed, Willy Nilly Art, First National Real Estate Broken Hill, Danns of Broken Hill, Steeline, Harvey Norman, Hill FM & 2BH. We also thank the GeoCentre, 2DryFM, ABC Broken Hill & Broken Hill Times for your ongoing support.

2025 Theme: TOYS

This year's theme—Toys—is broad and open to interpretation. Participants can create art from broken toys, craft playful objects from waste, upcycle discarded playthings, or explore other imaginative approaches.

For inspiration, check out the NetWaste video and start rethinking how waste can be transformed into something fun and meaningful.

You can create and enter artworks from any manmade waste material.

Calling All Metal Artisans!

We’re particularly excited to encourage local metal artisans to enter the competition. Broken Hill boasts a talented community of craftspeople creating incredible art and sculptures from waste metal, and we’d love to see more of these works featured in this year’s exhibition!

Rules

Netwaste have implemented a new rule that no new items can be used in creations. Previously entries have often included craft supplies, purchased frames etc. but this year the entire creation must be created from waste.

Entries should not exceed a size of 1 cubic meter or a weight of 10kgs to be displayed in the exhibition. The artist can supply a framed hi-resolution A3 print if its too large.

Maximum two entries per artists.

Community Workshops

The Art Exchange will host free artist-run workshops to inspire the community along with crafternoons for artists to drop in and work on their art together.

Competition Details & Important Dates

·        Registration: Closed - for registered artists, the entry form is here with the closing date 20th May

·        Artwork Delivery: Saturday 31st May @ GeoCentre between 10.30 & 12.30

·        Exhibitions Open to Public: 2nd June – 14th June Tipshop 2nd June - 21st June GeoCentre

·        Winners Announced (Judges and Peoples Choice): Event Saturday 14th June 11am - 12pm at the GeoCentre

·        Regional Exhibition Details: Local winning artworks couriered to Dubbo on 11th or 12th September

Competition Categories & Prizes

🏆 Preschool (New category just for Broken Hill with no regional equivalent): 2D or 3D ($50 1st Place, $50 Peoples Choice)
🏆 Primary School 2D ($200 1st Place, $100 People’s Choice)
🏆 Primary School 3D ($200 1st Place, $100 People’s Choice)
🏆 Secondary School 2D ($200 1st Place, $100 People’s Choice)
🏆 Secondary School 3D ($200 1st Place, $100 People’s Choice)
🏆 Community 2D ($200 1st Place, $100 People’s Choice)
🏆 Community 3D ($200 1st Place, $100 People’s Choice)
🏆 Professional Artists ($200 1st Place, $100 People’s Choice)

Bonus Prizes

🏆 Overall Prize – Best Artwork for the Theme of Toys ($200)

🏆 Overall Prize – Best Artwork in Metal ($200)

🏆 Overall Prize – Best Artwork Group Entry (2 or more artists $200)

Any questions? Contact us at our dedicated Waste2Art email

Join us in turning waste into art and creativity into impact! ✨♻️