31/08/2026
INTRODUCING OUR 2026 ART PRIZE JUDGE — MURRAY BIRD
We are incredibly lucky to have Murray now living in our community, and we are thrilled to introduce you to our 2026 Inverell Art Prize Judge, Mr Murray Bird!
A huge thank you to Alison from A•K•Bellinger Gallery for the introduction and connection. We are so excited to have Murray be part of this year’s Art Prize.
And when we say Murray has quite the resume… he really does!
Born in Sydney in 1969, Murray studied art at Hornsby TAFE in 1988, where he was awarded a Certificate of Fine Art.
From 1989 to 1994, he studied fine figurative drawing and painting at the Julian Ashton Art School in Sydney. In 1992, he was the winner of the Sir William Dobell Scholarship for Drawing and was awarded a Diploma of Fine Art with Distinction from the Julian Ashton Art School.
From 1994 to 2016, Murray was a teacher at the Julian Ashton Art School.
In 1997, he was the winner of the A.M.E. Bale Travelling Scholarship, travelling throughout Europe for approximately a year and studying collections in major cities.
Between 2003 and 2015, Murray held seven solo exhibitions at Dickerson Gallery in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as participating in numerous group exhibitions, including the 2014 Journeys West exhibition at Orange Regional Gallery.
In 2016, Murray moved from Sydney to Bukkulla, north of Inverell, to his family property, where he now produces wool and lambs. Since moving to Bukkulla, he has also sold his work through A.K. Bellinger Gallery in Inverell.
Quite the artistic journey — and now we’re lucky enough to have Murray as part of ours! ❤️
We can’t wait to have him judge this year’s Inverell Art Prize. It’s shaping up to be a BIG one! Murray Bird
🖌️ Artists — don’t forget to get your entries in as soon as possible!
ONLINE FORM - https://form.jotform.com/InverellArtGallery/inverell-art-prize-2026-entry-form
🥂 And don’t forget to book your Opening Night tickets. You definitely won’t want to miss this year’s event! Link in bio.
Inverell Art
Stay tuned… there’s plenty more to come! ✨
