Moree residents and visitors have just one month left to view the 2019 Archibald Prize exhibition before it closes at Bank Art Museum Moree (BAMM) for another nine years.
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Only able to travel to Moree once every nine years, the prestigious exhibition opened for just three and a half days in March before COVID-19 restrictions forced BAMM to shut its doors to the public for nine weeks.
Originally meant to end on May 1, it was looking highly likely that few would get to see the 2019 Archibald Prize in Moree in person, which BAMM interim director Kate Tuart said was devastating.
While the team at BAMM continued to share the exhibition digitally, via social media, they were thrilled Art Gallery NSW decided to extend the famous show's stay in Moree to July 25 to make up for the time lost during the lockdown.
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"It's really incredible," Ms Tuart said.
"We were originally going to get the exhibition for six weeks, but now it's getting more time open to the public than we'd originally planned.
"It's wonderful."
The 2019 Archibald Prize exhibition reopened to the public on June 1 and since then, Ms Tuart said it's been well received by locals, regional visitors and travellers from across the state and beyond.
"We're seeing a lot of different groups come in than we normally would," she said.
"Normally at this time of the year we get a huge influx of tourists driving north for winter, so it's mostly tourists from down south, but we're getting a lot more state-wide visitors - people that had booked all these wonderful holidays that they can't go on, so are touring around NSW instead.
"Lots of people are travelling to us and then going to Lightning Ridge for a cultural experience.
"There's been a lot of locals and tourists coming along.
"It's nice to see the faces of those tourists who don't know it's on who walk in and are quite surprised that they've stumbled across the Archibald Prize in Moree."
The Archibald Prize exhibition is on show at BAMM until July 25. Entry is $5 for adults, with eftpos available. Visitors will be asked to register their details and sanitise their hands on entry, as well as practice social distancing.
The Young Archies exhibition, featuring works by Moree children, is also on display until July 25.
