Local finalists shine in this year’s national art prizes

5 July 2011

The finalists for this year’s prestigious Sunshine Coast Art Prize and Noosa Gallery Travelling Scholarship have been announced and there is a strong representation from local artists.

Kevin Oxley, L.M. Noonan, Gary Myers and Susan Schmidt have been included in a selection of 40 finalists for the nationally acclaimed Sunshine Coast Art Prize (SCAP), after well over 400 entries had been submitted from right around the country.

The Travelling Scholarship attracted over 150 submissions and eleven Sunshine Coast artists were chosen from this exclusive pool.

Rene Bahloo, Johanna De Maine, Shannon Garson, Ken Munsie, Stephen Roberts, Di West, Greg Windsor, Carol Forster, Veronica Cay, Lyn Braiden, Elizabeth Woods are all local artists who are now in the running to win the Noosa Regional Travelling Scholarship for study or training interstate or overseas to the value of $12,000 and solo exhibition at the Noosa Regional Gallery.

To be displayed simultaneously in both the Noosa and Caloundra regional galleries, the two exhibitions complement one another with SCAP attracting the very best in contemporary Australian 2D art and the Travelling Scholarship focussed on 3D works.

Community Policy and Programs Portfolio Councillor Jenny McKay said the Sunshine Coast Art Prize was one of the richest acquisition art prizes in Australia.

“With a total of $26,000 in prize money this year’s winner will receive $15,000 cash and a four-week residency prize valued at $5,000,” she said.

Council’s Cultural Heritage and Collections Manager John Waldron said that both awards had attracted a number of new artists this year which is reflected in the final selection.

“Every year we attract a dynamic range of media and artists,” he said.

“The artists, who participate, whether they are younger emerging artists or more established professionals, consistently produce an extremely high standard of art work.”

In addition to the local talent, the final forty for SCAP includes: Chris Bennett, Sue Beyer, Yvonne Boag, Deidre But-Husaim, Gary Christian, Simon Collins, Meg Cowell, Matt Coyle, Robert Fenton, Shayle Flesser, James Freiberg, Michelle Hamer, Pei Pei He, Rohan Hutchinson, Fiona Kennedy-Altoft, Julia Kennedy-Bell, Karla Marchesi, Christina Markin, Paul Milburn, Deb Mostert, Colin Peile, Nic Plowman, Margaret Loy Pula, Alberto Sanchez, Ben Smith, Melissa Smith, Paul Snell, Kurt Sorensen, Walter Stahl, Mark Threadgold, Steve Tyerman, Jan Van Dijk, Amanda van Gils, Fiona White, Joshua Wiffen and John Worth.

The 40 artists selected to exhibit in the Noosa Gallery Travelling Scholarship are: Peter Biddulph, Barbara Cheshire, Samuel Condon, Geoff Cotton, Mimi Dennett, Michael Eather, Kym Frame, Susan Frisch, Todd Fuller, Darren Gilbert, Michal Glikson, Mandy Gunn, Dion Horstmans, Irianna Kanellopoulou, Jennifer Ashley King, Sheena Larsen, Ange Leech, Bim Morton, Angela Nagel, Geoff Overheu, Caroline Phillips, Mark Richards, Giles Ryder, Pamela See, Avital Sheffer, Belinda Smith, Linelle Stepto, Jacek Wankowski and Melinda Willis.

This year the SCAP and the Travelling Scholarship are fortunate to have Maura Reilly judging the respective forty finalists selected for each exhibition. Maura Reilly is Professor of Art Theory at the Queensland College of Art, Griffith University and has held senior administrative museum positions in New York City, and from 2003 to 2008, as founding curator of the Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum.

People are encouraged to attend the gala openings for both events where the winners will be announced. The SCAP winner will be announced on Thursday 21 July and the Noosa Gallery Travelling Scholarship will be announced Thursday 4 August.

As with previous years the awards are set to have a dynamic Public Program of events. These additional events hope to encourage visitors from all walks of life to enter the gallery to enjoy and be challenged by the work displayed. To keep up to date with all the latest SCAP and Travelling Scholarship news visit www.scap.org.au or www.travellingscholarship.org.au respectively.

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Event information:

Noosa Regional Gallery Travelling Scholarship

Sunshine Coast Art Prize 2011

Contact details for local artists:

Local finalists for Noosa Regional Gallery Travelling Scholarship

Local finalists for Sunshine Coast Art Prize

High resolution images for all the artists are available upon request.

Media enquiries:

Fresh PR & Marketing, Helen Perry. Ph: 0431 065 964

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