QUEANBEYAN’S 2016 Clearwater Sculpture Prize is finished for the year, leaving both artists and organisers mightily satisfied.

Thousands of visitors, they report, attended Saturday’s River Festival and members of the public cast hundreds of votes for the people’s and children’s choice awards over the whole weekend.

Judges, sculptors Phil Spelman with Nick Stranks and Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council rep Peter Bray were hard at work judging the impressive 24 entries in the lead-up to the announcements on the river foreshore.

Tallying is complete now and this year’s winners of the People’s Choice ($1000) and Children’s Choice ($500) were Gregory McLean for “River Culture” and Tom Buckland for “Carpflute” respectively.

While the 2016 Clearwater Sculpture Prize ($5,000) overall winner was Sian Watson for her work “Panacea Dogs”, a packet of dingo-type creatures prowling on the riverbank, the Clearwater Encouragement Award ($1,000) went to McLean, also for “River Culture”.

Previous winners in the competitive exhibition had works on show too – Chris Harman with “Red Reeds” and Freya Jobbins with “Unfamiliar Landscape,” made of reused plastic, dolls’ houses, cars toys and wire mesh all installed, floating, in the river.

A little drama brightened up the weekend show, too, when somebody reported to the local police that there was a dead body lying on the riverbank. That turned out to be Stephen Harrison’s coat-infused plaster, clothing and canvas print installation, titled “let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings.”

The ever-vigilant Queanbeyan constabulary arrived in great numbers and once satisfied, had a good laugh.

For information on future sculpture events email [email protected]

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