Article from 'The Cootamundra Herald' 22.2.03 An auspicious beginning to a new drawing event is how Mr Hendrik Kolenberg described the inaugural staging of the Blackfriars Trust Acquisitive Drawing award. Mr Kolenberg, Senior Curator for drawing, prints and watercolour at the Art Gallery of NSW, said he was impressed by the quality of the 37 entries in the Blackfriars Trust acquisitive award, expressing his difficulty as judge of the event in selecting works for acquisition. Artists from across the country submitted works for the inaugural award, which is part of the Coolac Festival of Fun and is currently being shown at the White Ibis. Mr Kolenberg selected four works for the trust, with acquisitions totalling $2500. The entries acquired by the trust are : Denis Clarke's "St Peter's, Factory Wall - Study II"; Susanna Chen Chow's "By the Water"; Peter Griffen's "Above Thredbo"; and Sue McDonald's "Landscape with yellow ochre". Two other works were highly commended: Alan McClure's "Better Than Watching TV" and Jude Fleming's "Metropolis Walk". Mr Kolenberg said he was pleased to come to Cootamundra for the first time to judge this drawing award and was delighted to walk into the White Ibis and see the huge variety of works awaiting him. Stating his pleasure that the trustees of the award had avoided prizes and opted for acquiring artworks, Mr Kolenberg said they now have the responsibility of caring for the works acquired and have the basis to form a wonderful collection. Thanking the trustees, Mr Kolenberg wished them all the best for future exhibits, telling those gathered at the exhibition on Saturday afternoon that he hopes there are three times as many entries next year and the task of selection the acquisitions is three times as hard for the next judge. Coolac Festival of Fun director Peter Batey also paid tribute to the Blackfriars Trust committee for starting such an enterprising drawing award. "It is fantastic to see this standard of drawings exhibited in the region," he said. "It is great to see the trust doing this and I hope it inspires others to enter into the same sort of patronage whether it is in the visual arts, music or in young people's artistic endeavours." Exhibition curator Graham Cossey explained the aim of the award is to promote excellence and innovation in Australian works on paper. Mr Cossey thanked all those involved in getting this acquisitive award up and running, including Hendrik and Julianna Kolenberg for travelling from Sydney to assess the works for purchase, Neil Overton and Fred and Brenda Goldsworthy for their input and Anne Van Dyck for cataloguing the works entered. Mr Cossey went on to thank Eva and Kevin Moriarty from the White Ibis for providing the terrific space to hang the exhibition and also Peter Batey for allowing the Blackfriars Trust award to become part of the Coolac Festival, a festival that is known Australia-wide. The Blackfriars Trust Drawing Acquisitive award exhibition will continue at the White Ibis until March 9.