Winner: Bridges and Bloodlines, Emma Bugg
December 2nd, 1981
Price : $18 500
Everything comes from somewhere.
Everyone comes from somewhere.
Our stories connect the dots, forming bridges across time. Linking generations, marking the present, and carrying knowledge forward.
For me, the Bridgewater Bridge goes beyond infrastructure. It’s a thread woven through my family’s history. My parents grew up on opposite sides, my mother in Huonville, my father in Brighton. Both born in 1955, they met in 1977, crossing the river, converging their lives, and creating new generations.
This necklace is designed to be shared - worn between two people. It is a metaphor for the connections bridges create. Made from brass, copper, steel, aluminium, iron, zinc, basalt, bone, cast concrete, found objects, and enamel, it reflects both the old and new bridges, blending natural and man-made, raw and refined.
Just as the original bridge was hand-drawn with human precision and the new one is shaped by cutting-edge technology, this piece bridges past and future, holding memories while making way for what’s to come.
Materials: copper, brass, aluminium, iron, steel, enamel paint, bone, concrete with artists hair, basalt, found objects.
Documentation photography: Eden Meure
H=50cm x W=140cm x D=4cm
Copper, iron, brass, zinc, steel, enamel, aluminium, basalt, found objects, bone, cast concrete with artist's hair fibres
Highly Commended: In the Balance, Alexandra Pitt
February 18th, 1973
Price : $8 800
Vision, ingenuity, memory, connection. A portal to the other side. Transformation as we pass beneath the old; an altar to the Industrial Age. A tunnel-wrap of steel ribs and buttresses. The new; a monumental structure, a warm grey curve arching across the water, seemingly floating above the Bridgewater Jerry. We search for the Black Swans as we hang in the balance.
H=155cm x W=155cm x D=6cm
Drawing/Painting - Indian ink, Pastel and Gouache on Saunders Waterford paper with collaged mokulito print on Kozo paper
Highly Commended: Welcome Home, Brie Ratten
April 5th, 2000
Price: $2,800
Welcome Home is a 52 second hand drawn animation depicting a father working away from home. He is stuck in the draining monotonous loop of office work and struggling to sleep on his mother’s couch. The cycle breaks, his tiredness faltering, and a calmness washes over him as the trees fall away, revealing The Bridge with a view of the mountain behind. He smiles, knowing soon, he will get to see his loving family. The Bridge is not just a link between two places, but like an airport arrivals gate, it is an opportunity of physical connection between loved ones. This animation is based on my late father’s experiences of working away from his family, and the pure joy he would feel in the back of a taxi toward Hobart, seeing Kunanyi welcome him home. The New Bridgewater Bridge will be celebrated as a symbol of connection and love by families like mine.
Digitally drawn animation
Contractors Award Winner : New and Old Bridge, George Simonetis
October 21st, 1065
I wanted to represent the old and the new Bridgewater Bridge by combining them together.
H= 40cm x W= 700cm x D= 100cm
Steel sculpture
Juniors Award 15-18 Winner : Building Blocks of the Future, Adam Willson
18 years old
Price : $750
In August, I was lucky enough to get a tour of the location where much of the fabrication of building pieces occurred. I took this incredible photo, composed of a man in high visibility, explaining the project to those touring the facility, with the massive joining pieces of the bridge stacked behind him. The photo represents the jobs, coordination and hard work associated with this project. Pops of colour, dramatic weather and a clear sense of purpose drive this photograph.
Medium – Photograph
Juniors Award 15-18 Highly Commended: From the Land, Xayla Wilson
15 years old
$50
My piece is made with rocks and shells that have been collected along the Derwent River, representing the water and the land where the bridge has been built.
Medium - shells, rocks, paints, canvas and glue.
Juniors Award Under 15 Winner: Bridge Love, Jack Crump
14 Years Old
Price: $170
My dad is so excited by the bridge that he drives out most weekends to see its progress and likes us to go with him. He remembers his dad taking him to see the construction of the Bowen Bridge and in that way, it bridges 3 generations.
Medium – Paper, alcohol markers and fine liners
Juniors Under 15 Highly Commended : Grandpa’s Bridge Recipe, Frida Barclay
12 years old
Price : $150
I created this still life to honor the old Bridgewater Bridge and the materials that made it strong—concrete, timber, and steel. These objects sit together like ingredients in a recipe. The blue background represents the Derwent River, which has carried the bridge’s reflection for many decades. My painting is a tribute to the raw materials and engineering that have provided safe passage for people for 80 years.
Medium – Canvas and Oil Paint