behind the scenes of queensland’s swell sculpture festival
A chinwag with the team bringing the dazzling SWELL Sculpture Festival to life this September 11th to 20th on the Gold Coast/Yugambeh Country.
Just as springtime in Queensland couldn’t get any more beautiful, SWELL Sculpture Festival is just about to ramp things up a notch. Unfolding across the Gold Coast this September 11th to 20th, SWELL is Queensland’s largest outdoor sculpture exhibition, featuring over 300 artists from across the world. From exhibitions on the beach to seaside cultural galleries, there’s something for every kind of art lover at SWELL this year. We caught up for a chinwag with the festival’s founder and artistic director Natasha Edwards and executive director Dee Steinfort to find out how they go about bringing this spectacular event to life.
Tell us about SWELL Sculpture Festival and what goes on there. Natasha Edwards: We work with over 300 artists across our main exhibition and SWELL Fringe, as well as have pop-up exhibitions across the Gold Coast.
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What does the day-to-day of being the directors of SWELL look like in the lead up to the festival? Dee Steinfort: Each day is unique as we program to deliver our annual exhibition. We work with a small, dynamic team and a huge community of artists, so in the lead up to SWELL our days move constantly between the creative and the practical. We’re supporting artists to realise ambitious works in a public landscape, curating the exhibition and programming, meeting with partners and stakeholders, walking the coastline, solving site and installation challenges, and working through all the less glamorous but essential details that allow a major outdoor exhibition to happen safely.
Ironically, for a festival that lives so beautifully outside, a lot of those months are spent behind our laptops! And then everything shifts. In the final months, we move onto the beach and the planning becomes physical – placing sculptures, building the festivities, working alongside artists and site crews, responding to weather and tides, speaking with media and watching this familiar stretch of coastline transform. That moment when hundreds of individual conversations, drawings, decisions and ideas suddenly become SWELL is still incredibly exciting for us.
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How did you decide what work to feature at SWELL 2026? Dee: SWELL is an open application – anyone can apply through an online process, then a curatorial panel lead by Natasha selects the works for each year.
How does the outdoor nature of the festival inform the way attendees interact with the art? Natasha: One of the most glorious things about SWELL is the outdoor-ness. Inviting people outside to view art is special – nature is a spectacular backdrop. The stunning landscape, the light at different times of the day and the weather wonderfully impacts how the artworks are experienced. The variability of this is what is so exciting. People who are regular gallery visitors come to SWELL as well as those who would never normally view art in a gallery. It is a very welcoming atmosphere to immerse at one’s own pace.
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Some of the artworks that are featured at SWELL are gigantic. How does everything get transported, and who is involved in setting the pieces up? Dee: Planes, trains and automobiles! The artists work alongside our crew to set up the artworks. It is our favourite time of year to see the artworks and programming unveiled and become one.
What are your favourite works that will be featured at this year’s edition of SWELL? Natasha: This year we have artists from all over Australia, as well as artists from Finland, New Zealand, Argentia, USA and Hong Kong. They are all fabulous in their own right! We also have the wonderful Patricia Piccinini exhibiting with us as our invited artist, which we are thrilled about!
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For folk who are new to sculptural art, what are your tips for making the most of SWELL? Natasha: We would recommend you jump online and plan your SWELL adventure – there are guided walks each day at 10am, and this is a great way to meet artists and learn from our curators about the artworks. If you have time to stay and play, visit for a few days, view the sculptures at sunrise, daytime and night to get different perspectives. Book into a workshop or masterclass. The sculpture trail is a 1.5km gentle flat walk along the ocean pathway – there is also SWELL Fringe to enjoy refreshments at afterwards. We have a park and ride from 9am to 5pm from Currumbin RSL. The artworks are truly spectacular, so wander through and enjoy!
This rad chinwag was brought to you in partnership with SWELL Sculpture Festival. To snag tickets to SWELL Sculpture Festival this September 11th to 20th on the Gold Coast, pop this-a-way. Plus, take a gander at the full program on SWELL’s website.
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