The planned exhibition held at the Manning Regional Art Gallery will transfer to the gallery's social media channels and website as stay at home orders remain in place for NSW, a result of the current COVID outbreak.

The show boasts eight Mid Coast regional artists among the 60 finalists:

"Due to these current public health orders it is impossible to bring the judge, (Sydney-based) Wendy Sharpe to our regional area," gallery director, Rachel Piercy said.

"So, for the first time in the 30-plus-year history of the prize, judging will take place remotely and virtually."

A virtual walk-through will be conducted with Wendy this week to complete the judging before the prize is announced via the Manning Regional Art Gallery social media and website, Rachel said.

The gallery team are currently installing the exhibition with the hope to re-open to the public soon, however in the meantime they are creating a digital walk-through to allow visitors to view the exhibition virtually.

"Regardless of all these restrictions we are so glad we can continue to support our creative community and will continue to promote the show to both our local community and digitally through our website and social media channels."

An exhibition celebration is being planned for the last weekend of the show (October 9), with updates to follow depending on the public health orders.

For more information and events from the Manning Regional Art Gallery, head to Home - Manning Regional Art Gallery (nsw.gov.au) or the gallery's Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ManningRegionalArtGallery

The biennial Naked and Nude Art Prize, previously the Manning Art Prize, commenced in 1990 and is a partnership between the Manning Regional Art Gallery and its Friends group.

Now 31 years on, the prize is a prestigious national event on the Australian arts calendar, open to artists in a variety of mediums. This year the prize pool is $31,000.

The winning entry is acquired by the Friends, and donated to the MidCoast Council's permanent collection.