What an awesome opening we had at 1000 £ Bend, with over 1,000 people attending. A huge thanks to all who gave up their time to make the festival opening a happening thing; our volunteer management & operations team, the NZ crew (Cinzah, Cracked Ink, Liam Moore) who created a collaborative masterpiece along with some other spontaneous contributors.
Great Earthquake & Dj Mike Zun who kept the sounds coming throughout the night, 1000 £ Bend who kept the Bloody Mums & Rum Bums flowing throughout the night, our sponsors, and of course the extremely talented artists.

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The Award Show Judges

We were extremely lucky this year to have three judges for our Award show that are intimately involved with the urban art scene in Melbourne.

Din Heagney or ‘the art pimp’ is a well-known writer, curator and artist. Former director of Platform Gallery and editor of Un Magazine, Din has written for numerous galleries and museums including the NGA, Gertrude, West Space, Pages, Nylon and Monument.

Luke Matthews is director of Gorker Gallery in Fitzroy, a gallery that is home to many street art shows from both international and Australian artists. Luke and Gorker Gallery has, and still does play an important role in the professionalisation of street art as a form of fine art in the gallery. While Gorker itself, is a modest urban industrial converted warehouse that makes this form of art feel right at home.

Alex McCulloch, director of Metro Gallery, has recently opened one of the biggest international street art shows ever to be put on in Australia. On the Wall, including works by Banksy, Blek le Rat, D-face, and Swoon, amongst other massive street art names, is a rare show to come to Melbourne, and a huge contribution to the cause for revealing street art as fine art, to the public.

Thanks to Din Heagney, Luke Matthews and Alex McCulloch for spending the time going through all the works in the show, and presenting the Best in Show award, and four further highly commended awards. For those of you who couldn’t make it (or couldn’t hear over the crowd!)….here were the winners!…

Winner of the Best in Show award presented by the City of Yarra and the
Melbourne Stencil Festival Association ($1000 cash prize):

Jussi Two Seven for Go East

Winners of the Highly Commended awards presented by Avant Card ($300
each):

- Junky Projects for his sculptures – Don’t Shoot, A Very Important Date, The
High Priest, and Mercenary Sentinal.

- John Koleszar for CMYK Koleszar

- Jonathan Wakuda Fisher for The Black Ships (A Promise and a Threat)

- Ben Osborne-Macpherson for 295 Victoria Street

Congratulations to all our winners and thank you to all artists for being involved in this years festival. The amazing standard of work seen in the award show is just the tip of the iceberg, with so much more to see during the festival in our live painting, exhibitions at the YSG and Brunswick Street Gallery, works created in the Collingwood Underground, and donated pieces for our Charity Auction on the 24 October at 1000 pound bend.

Grab a program from 1000 £ Bend, or download one here so you don’t miss out!