2014 People’s Choice: Tessa McOnie, Gateway to the Soul – Alfred Umbagai, image courtesy of the artist.
The Sunshine Coast Art Prize, presented by the Sunshine Coast Council attracts some of Australia’s best contemporary and emerging visual artists and has grown from a one category $15,000 prize into a major regional award with combined prize money over $125,000.
Ant McKenna, heading the Cultural Programs team of the Council said that the Award has grown from being a small regional prize when it first began into something that is outstanding on a regional level in Australia.
‘In a regional area, the ecology is small and so the industry often develops a “survival of the fittest” attitude and that can be very damaging. But when you work collaboratively, anything is possible.
We are working in partnership with a number of awards across the Sunshine Coast and this means more prize money, more exhibitions, stronger promotional reach and ultimately more opportunities for local artists.’
Forty finalists to the Award will be announced on 29 May and will exhibit their work at Caloundra Regional Gallery between 20 August and 11 October. McKenna said that the Council has also been working hard to diversify the audiences that are interested in arts and culture on the Sunshine Coast.
‘We are seeing dramatic growth in attendance at exhibitions, programs and creative showcases and partly that’s why we are looking at things like New Media and Street Art, projections,animations and videography.’
These mediums attract a lot of young applicants, and he feels that is creating a positive influence on the arts sector in the region.
‘In a regional area, usually the audience of a gallery is much older, but we are seeing a lot more younger people engaged, submitting Art Prize applications and getting involved in our programs and activities, and that’s really exciting for us.’
McKenna said that working collectively with other awards in the region like the Eumundi Sculpture Prize, Sculpture On The Edge, Kenilworth Art Prize, The Holmes Art Prize, among several others has been a strengthening factor to the arts on the Sunshine Coast.
‘Through an intelligent and collaborative approach to creative and cultural industry development, Council is working towards positioning the region as a major destination for cultural tourism in Australia,’ he added.
For details about all the awards, visit the Council’s gallery website.
