The official opening of The Spirit of Anzac exhibition will be held at Town Hall this Friday, April 24 starting at 7pm.

Artworks from amateurs right through to professional artists from around the area will feature in the exhibition which will run from Saturday, April 25 to Sunday, May 3.

The Spirit of Anzac competition is being run by Forbes Art Society, in conjunction with Forbes Services Memorial Club, with a $2000 aquisition prize for the winning entry.

Forbes Art Society president Keith Mullette said he expects close to 50 entries for the competition.

“We’ve had quite a bit of interest,” he said.

“Everyone in the art society is putting something in and we’ve got some artworks already in from Grenfell, Orange, and we’re told that one’s coming from Dubbo.

“It should be a good show.”

The requirement to enter was that all artworks must depict what is known as ‘The Spirit of Anzac’, so the brief is open to interpretation.

“I’m sure there’ll be a lot of poppies, but it should be very varied,” Mr Mullette said.

“We’ll have everything from a collage of sceneries and photographs of military people to scenes of tombstones and memorials and all sorts of things.

“The interesting thing is there’s been a lot of interest - people are talking about how hard it is to come up with an idea.

“There’s lots of thinking about the meaning of Anzac Day.”

The judge of the competition will be Ted Lewis, a renowned landscape artist from Orange.

The winner of the $2000 acquisition prize will be announced at the opening on Friday, with Forbes Services Memorial Club to keep the winning artwork.

“It’s a good prize, that’s why we’ve got people coming from all over with entries,” Mr Mullette said.

Most of the artworks on display will be for sale.

Forbes RSL sub-branch president Michael Walker will open the exhibition.

Mr Walker invites everyone to go along and check out the exhibition following the Anzac Day service on Saturday, April 25.