PRESS RELEASE: Wollombi General Store & Artisan Collective Barn Become a Creative Centrepiece on the Wollombi Valley Sculpture Trail
A full program of hands-on workshops — from leatherwork to sculpture-making to a two-day photography intensive — gives 2026 festival visitors a reason to get involved.
As the Wollombi Valley Sculpture Festival returns to the region from 12–27 September 2026, the tastefully refurbished Wollombi General Store and its Artisan Collective Barn will sit at the creative centre of the action, with the walkable sculpture trail more centred on Wollombi village this year, alongside sites at Undercliff Winery and Laguna.
A Gold Sponsor of the festival’s Small Sculpture Prize, Wollombi General Store and the Artisan Collective will exhibit over 20 sculptures alongside the local artisans who work there year-round — but the real invitation this year is to get involved.
Across the festival’s full 16 days, the barn will run hands-on workshops with local makers: leatherwork with Laguna Leather, block painting with Polina Karuso — working from fellow sculptor Ross Fletcher’s Liar Bird as her subject — sculptural relief and vase-making with Laguna-based artist Chelsey Teale, botanical art with Penny Walton, dried floral design, and a specially designed two-day photography workshop that sends participants out to photograph the festival’s own sculptures in changing light.
Notably, several sessions run midweek rather than only on weekends — including a Monday sculptural relief class, a two-morning photography workshop spanning Monday and Tuesday, and a Thursday vase-making session — giving festival visitors a genuine reason to stay in the valley beyond a single day.
“The barn has always been a working space, not a display case,” says Matt Low, owner of Wollombi General Store. “During the festival that becomes the whole point — people can walk the trail, then come in and actually make something with the artisans. That’s a different kind of experience to looking at sculpture from a distance.”
One of those makers has a particularly good story this year. Polina Karuso, who runs her painting workshops from the barn, appears in Season 2 of ABC’s Portrait Artist of the Year, premiering Saturday 16 August at 7:30pm on ABC and ABC iview — a month out from the festival. Visitors to the barn during the festival can also catch Karuso at work in person, with quick 15-minute live portrait sketches offered from her studio alongside her scheduled workshops.
The atmosphere will be as much a part of the experience as the workshops themselves. Maker Polina Karuso plans to play casual acoustic guitar outside her studio through parts of the festival, with impromptu and visiting musicians also expected in the barn’s courtyard garden across the three festival weekends.
Alongside the barn, the store itself — a 175-year fixture of Wollombi village life — remains open daily throughout the festival: coffee and breakfast by morning, lunch through the day, wine and dinner by evening.
“With Grays Inn confirmed as this year’s Festival Hub right next door, and the trail more centred on the village than it’s ever been, Wollombi General Store finds itself at the true centre of the 2026 festival,” Low said. “It’s a natural extension of what this place has always been to the village — somewhere people gather.”
Workshop bookings and the full schedule are available at www.wollombigeneralstore.com.au. Spaces are limited and several sessions are already booking out.
MEDIA CONTACT
Matthew Low 0414 653 085 (owner) — [email protected]
Euan Wilcox 0409 988 457 — [email protected]
Daniela Riccio 0407 224 150 — [email protected]
