The large logistical exercise began when a big truck rolled up to the Goulburn Regional Art Gallery (GRAG) on January 12.
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Its precious cargo was 57 artworks of all shapes, sizes, subjects and mediums belonging to finalists in the 2023 Archibald Prize.
On Friday night, January 19, results of the subsequent curatorial challenge were on full display as 'The Archies' touring exhibition came to GRAG.
Some 120 people attended the ticketed event which started in the Goulburn Civic Centre courtyard with music, food, drinks and speeches.
Ms Dal Pozzo said Goulburn was one of six centres to host the touring exhibition. It is the ninth time it has done so in the gallery's 40-year history.
"It's really exciting and it's wonderful for the community and visitors alike because it is one of Australia's most iconic and world renowned art prizes," Ms Dal Pozzo said.
Works ranged in size from six centimetres to four metres square with subjects including sports stars, celebrity chefs, scientists, artists, actors and "local heroes."
Ms Dal Pozzo described it as a "hot event" with people attending from Canberra, the Southern Highlands, Cowra, the South Coast and further afield..
Winning artist, Julia Gutman, was unable to attend. But her oil, textile and embroidery on canvas portrait of singer-songwriter, Montaigne, took centre stage.
However finalists, Bowral artist, Zoe Young, Michael Simms, Sally Ryan, Charles Mouyat, Luke Cornish, Charlotte Ruth, Oliver Shepherd, Patrice Wills and Oliver Shepherd did attend.
Ms Dal Pozzo said finalists had embraced the Prize's portraiture challenge and produced works that spanned the breadth and depth of artistic practice.
"While it is a painting prize the artists are highly creative and push the boundaries," she said.
The GRAG director said without last year's expansion, the gallery would not have been able to host the Prize. The work, funded by a $119,000 state grant and the council, transformed "under-utilised" space to enlarge the exhibition footprint, added lighting and new walls.
Ms Dal Pozzo said it would enable touring exhibitions but also display of the Gallery's permanent collection. It was the largest expansion in 40 years.
Art Gallery of NSW acting public programs director, Sally Webster was impressed. She described it as a beautiful gallery and thanked the team for its work.
"The Archibald prize is unmatched in its democratic spirit," she said.
"The 2023 Prize has lived up to its history. The works are lively, disparate, popular, engaging, enlightening and occasionally sobering.
"The exhibition offers portraiture as artistic endeavour but also of the human spirit and pays tribute to the stories each of us hold and draws them out in an incredibly unique way."
The Archibald Prize is on exhibition at the gallery, corner of Bourke and Church Streets, Goulburn until March 3.