JINDABYNE came alive over Easter with the Lake Light Sculpture on the foreshore the centre of attraction.

Crowds flocked to see Jindabyne's flagship event, and they were thrilled to see not only the event return to the Easter calendar, but the high calibre of artist’s creations.

Over 70 sculptures lined the Lake Jindabyne foreshore for both daytime and evening viewing. Plus, over 30 sculptures were exhibited in the Small Sculptures at Horizons, Lake Jindabyne.

With perfect weather and glowing nights, just under 22,000 visitors eagerly visited creating an exciting atmosphere. From sunrise to sunset, the nightly ‘Light It Up’ quickly became a crowd favourite, celebrating the unique illumination aspect of Lake Light Sculpture.

Next year marks the 25th anniversary of Lake Light Sculpture, and the committee is already dreaming big!

“Twenty-five years is a huge milestone - and we’re inviting the whole region to get involved,” said Chair Dani Kell.

“We’ve got Easter landing at the start of the school holidays, so the timing is perfect to create something unforgettable for 2026.”

Over $43,500 in prize money was awarded across 13 categories this year with the esteemed judging panel of Rebel Penfold-Russell, Denise Ferris and Anwen Keeling making tough decisions due to the high quality of entries.

Lake Light Sculpture 2025 was made possible by an enormous collective effort, with more than 70 sponsors and partners helping financially support the not-for-profit event. With the support extending to volunteers, artists, and an enthusiastic new event committee who all worked tirelessly to bring the event back to life.

Award Winners

Major Award

The $10,000 Major Award sponsored by Mountainside was won by Sian Watson for her piece titled “Gathered Skylark”.

"The winning sculpture was a beautifully realised sculpture, well-crafted and with the enigmatic qualities of a long-lasting artwork that makes a viewer think, rewards repeated viewing and continues to be meaningful on further sightings. The work is sophisticated in both its form and concept, the simple lines carrying a multitude of ideas. The birdlike human hybrids are larger than life beings - poised, monumental and connected in harmony,” said the judges, Rebel Penfold-Russell, Denise Ferris and Anwen Keeling on selecting the winner.

 

Illumination Award

The $5000 Illumination prize sponsored by Snowy Regional Solar and SunPower was awarded to Jordan Tarlington for his creation titled “Clarity”, a lightbulb moment.

While simple in nature, it captured visitors’ attention with its glow.

 

Clean Energy Environment Award

Ulan Murray and Rachel Burns have submitted and been awarded prizes on numerous occasions at Lake Light Sculpture, and this year they won the Clean Energy Environment Award for their detailed sculpture titled “Echo of the Ribbon Gums”.

The $3000 award was sponsored by Boco Rock and their community grant in association with Snowy Monaro Regional Council.

 

Emerging Artist Award

Sponsored by Thredbo Resort, the $3000 Emerging Artist for 2025 was awarded to Tom Buckland for his collection of sculptures titled “Flock”.

 

Youth Award

It’s great to see young artists submit their creations, and the $2000 Youth Award, sponsored by Rebel Penfold-Russell and family was captured by Jessica Hellyar for her piece, “The Everlasting Whoops-a-Daisy”.

 

Waste To Art Award

The $1500 Perisher sponsored award was won by Madelaine Last for her “Conspiracy at Copper Tom”. Madelaine said she thought up the concept on a previous Jindabyne visit where she camped at Copper Tom.

People’s Choice

The People’s Choice award has always been a sought-after accolade by artists, where visitors vote for their favourite sculpture.

Co-sponsored this year by Belle Property Escapes, NewsExpress Jindabyne Newsagency, Jindabyne Real Estate and Sticky Fingerz, the $6000 winner was Madelaine Last for her popular piece “Conspiracy at Copper Tom”.

 

Secondary School Award

Sponsored by Snowy Hydro, the $2500 prize winner was Snowy Mountains Grammar School – Secondary Students for their creative work titled “We live Among The Stars”.

 

Primary School Award

Sponsored by Snowy Hydro, the $2500 prize winner was Jindabyne Public School Year 1 for their work titled “Joyful Jingling Jellyfish”.

 

Early Childhood Award

Gidgillys Childcare captured the $1500 Early Childhood Award sponsored by Snowy Hydro for their work “In the Night Garden”. The centre of attraction in their piece being Gerturde the scarecrow.

 

Community Award

The $2000 Snowy Hydro sponsored Newcomer Award was won by the TS Orion Navy Cadets for their entry titled “TS Scrapwave”.

 

Newcomer Award

The $1000 South East Arts Newcomer Award was won by Michael Ferriss for his work titled, “Framework of Growth”.

 

Major Small Sculpture Award

The Smalls have always been an important part of the Lake Light Sculpture, where artists can submit delicate artistic creations.

The $2500 Smalls Major Award, co-sponsored by Jindabyne Pharmacy and Mountain Munchies was awarded to Maria Zylinski for her work titled “Cocoon”.

 

People’s Choice Smalls

The $1000 Bendigo Bank Tumbarumba sponsored Small Sculpture People’s Choice award went to Alexander Dalton for “Patch and Mum”, a detailed bronze sculpture of a Southern Right Whale mother and baby.

 

Life Member

Todd Costa was awarded Life Membership for his contribution to Lake Light Sculpture since its inception in 2002.

Starting at the festival in 2002, both as a contributing and emerging artist, Todd worked behinds the scenes to help stage the event. From those early days, he toiled each year to assist with showcasing the sculptures as best as possible through way of lighting.

As an artist he has won the environment award, the encouragement award and the Illumination award 4 times.

In 2012 when high lake levels cancelled the event, and the committee somewhat disbanded, Todd stepped up to become Lake Light Sculpture director from 2013 for several years.

He was also responsible for installing the cabling for all the electrics, which we note is above the high-water level mark. He also encouraged artists to bring more than one sculpture, and to also create some smaller pieces, which is what we see today with artists exhibiting multiples sculptures.

 

The Big Chairlift

There were some magnificent creations this year, but none captured the public attention quite like the “The Big Chairlift” from local artist Darragh Walsh.

This sculpture created quite the stir, the replica Mt Perisher double chair at 400% the size stole the limelight to the extent the Jindabyne Chamber of Commerce created a fundraiser page to keep the sculpture in Jindabyne.

The community contributed $25,000 to buy the sculpture within 48 hours of going live. Notable contributions were $5000 by Mayor Chris Hanna from his own pocket, and Doppelmayr Australia’s Shaun Turner adding $5000 on Sunday morning to get the fundraiser across the line.

The Big Chairlift will now reside in Jindabyne forever in a new location, most likely Banjo Paterson Park where it will be visible as you drive into town and first see the lake.

 

Thank You Committee

A big shout out to the 2025 Lake Light Sculpture committee, who have contributed huge hours to organise and stage what was a very successful event.

The Lake Light Sculpture will celebrate its 25^th year next year in what is sure to be an even bigger and better event for Jindabyne.

Follow Lake Light Sculpture website and on social media Facebook and Instagram to stay in touch.

 

Event Highlights

• 22,000+ visitors enjoyed four days of small and large sculptures and glowing nights on the lake.
• $43,500 awarded across 13 categories - from major artists to school groups.
• “The Big Chairlift” stays in town - thanks to a $25K community fundraiser.
• Planning already underway for our 25th anniversary in 2026!

 

Survey

Lake Light Sculpture wouldn’t be possible without the support of artists, sponsors, volunteers, and community.

To help Lake Light Sculpture plan for an even bigger 2026, they're inviting visitors to complete a survey

short post-event survey: 

Every response helps to secure future funding and build a stronger event.