From last year's Sculpture by the Sea ... above Twisted Reality, by Tomas Misura, and below, Bondi Fashion Accessory, by Frank Malerba. Photos: Sandra Burn White.

Bondi's Sculpture by the Sea ... and other NSW outdoor art highlights

For many Sydneysiders, the Sculpture by the Sea exhibition ... stretching along the fabulously spectacular Eastern Suburbs coastline between Tamarama and Bondi ... has become something of an annual spring pilgrimage. And, it draws plenty of visitors from around Australia and overseas, just as it attracts significant artists from around the globe as well.

Indeed, the idea spread to Perth's Cottesloe Beach five years ago and next year will be taken up by Aarhus, Denmark's second-largest city — surely an export to gladden the heart of Princess Mary, who apparently played a role in kindling Danish enthusiasm about the idea.

This year's Sydney event will open to the public from Thursday, 16 October, to Sunday, 2 November. More than 100 sculptures, selected by Ron Robertson-Swann OAM, sculptor, and Axel Arnott, Head Curator, Sculpture by the Sea, will be on display over the two-kilometre coastal walk.

But while Sculpture by the Sea grabs the majority of headlines and the biggest crowd, it isn't the only outdoor art event accessible in New South Wales at this time of year. The lads and lasses at Tourism NSW also have the following suggestions:

§ Sydney Architecture Walks, run by a group of obviously self-deprecating architects whose aim is squarely set on "aesthetes, literati, voyeurs & for locals who love familiar terrain from a different viewpoint. Top speed: 5kmh. Warning: may contain traces of nuts." The tours generally run Wednesdays and Saturdays and some Sundays during spring and summer, take two hours or a bit more, and cost $25.

§ You can drive yourself or join a local tour bus for the annual Sculpture in the Vineyards at Wollombi in the Hunter Valley. Wollombi regards itself as an arty little town and each year presents large-scale outdoor and site-specific works by local, regional and city-based artists. This year's show starts today (6 October) and runs for three months.

§ The Sculpture Symposium is an installation of sandstone masterpieces by artists from around the world, set on a hill in the desert north of Broken Hill. A dozen sandstone sculptures highlight the skyline, all with a story to tell.

§ Take a self-guided walking tour of the sculptures exhibited throughout the grounds of Mistletoe Sculpture Garden in the Hunter Valley.