Wallarobba Outstanding Local Artist Award

The Wallarobba Outstanding Local Artist Award was delivered through the Hornsby Art Prize from 2017 – 2022. It was created to celebrate and support highly talented local artists, whilst sharing the locally developed bodies of work with the community. The Award was given to the artist that produced the most outstanding work, in any category, and who was a resident of the Hornsby Shire. The Wallarobba Outstanding Local Artist Award included a cash prize and a fully funded exhibition at Wallarobba Arts and Community Centre, sponsored by Hornsby Shire Council. Previous winners include Lyndall Beck (2017) ( YouTube video link), Ross Phillips (2018), Rona Sissons (2019) and Maide Welch (2022).

Maide Welch

Maide Welch won the 2022 Wallarobba Outstanding Local Artist Award with her painting, Sweet Temptation. Maide is a well-established artist and has been painting for decades, attending an art school in New York in the 1980s and working in London before undertaking a Fine Arts degree at Curtin University. Her work has been included in exhibitions in Sydney, New York, and London; most recently in the Collabor8 Women’s Prize at Ellipsis Gallery in Woolloomooloo in November 2023. Her art is held in various private collections in Australia and internationally.

_{Images left to right – Maide and Chris Welch; Sweet Temptation}

Inside/Out – Maide and Chris Welch exhibition

Maide’s exhibition, in partnership with her husband Chris, was held at Wallarobba Arts and Cultural Centre, from 5 - 17 March 2024. Their exhibition showcased over 70 works including paintings, drawings, etchings, prints and ceramics, produced over a lifetime of making art together.