The winners of the inaugural Georges River Art Prize announced last week after being selected from more than 300 entries.
Ross Skinner was named as the winner of the Georges River Prize, Geoff Harvey as the winner of the Sculpture Prize, and Steve Lopes as the winner of the Local Artist Prize.
Matthew Hong was named the winner of the Georges River Little Artist Prize and Ann Yang as the winner of the Georges River Youth Prize.
The winners were announced last Friday by Georges River Council mayor Kevin Greene last Friday.
There were two presentations. The winners of the Youth Categories were announced at the Kogarah Library and Service Centre on Friday afternoon, and the winners of the remaining awards were announced at the Hurstville Museum and Gallery on Friday evening.
The inaugural Georges River Art Prize was created after combining the St George Art Awards and Kogarah Art Prize as a platform for local artists to showcase their work.
The new biennial Art Prize has more than $20,000 in prizes.
Councillor Greene hailed the entries as a testament to the enthusiasm, interest and passion for the arts in the local area.
“Congratulations to all of our winners. Winning these categories shows your skills and creativity as artists,” he said.
The public will now get to name their favourites entries in the competition.
The winners and finalists’ works for the Georges River Art Prize are on display from November 4 to December 13.
The Georges River Art Prize and Sculpture Prize are on exhibition at Hurstville Museum and Gallery, and the Georges River Youth Prize and Little Artist Prize are on show at Kogarah Library and Service Centre.
Visitors to the Georges River Art Prize exhibition are being encouraged to vote for their favourite artists.
Those artists with the most votes will then be awarded the Georges River People’s Choice Prize and Favourite Young Artist Prize to be announced on Friday, December 1.
Councillor Greene highlighted that the Art Prize is an important cultural event for the community and it demonstrates Council’s commitment to providing opportunities for artists to share their work within the local community.
“The Art Prize is also a valuable addition to existing Sydney-based art prizes, and with the inclusion of two local youth prize categories distinguishes it from other competitions, as few other prizes have a dedicated youth category,” he said.
Councillor Greene also thanked media partner Chinese News and Media Group for their
support of the Art Prize.
Judges for the art prize wre Kon Gouriotis OAM, Fellow of the Royal Art Society Greg Hansell, and Western Sydney University Art Curator Monica McMahon.
“It is fantastic to have such high calibre industry professionals judge this year’s entrants,” Cr Greene said.
Winners awarded:
Georges River Art Prize – $10,000 acquisitive,
Winner: Ross Skinner – Yellow Calla Lilies
Highly commended:
Chee Yong – Self-portrait as a ghost
Moritaka Suzuki – Still life with porcelain vase
Clifford How - Scoured
Georges River Sculpture Prize – $5,000,
Winner: Geoff Harvey – Black swan
Georges River Local Artist Prize – $4,000 acquisitive and a solo exhibition,
Winner: Steve Lopes – Scarborough Park
Georges River Little Artist Prize (7 - 12 years of age) – $200 materials voucher,
Winner: Matthew Hong – Rescue Mission
Highly commended:
Natalie Tsang – My selfie
Nicolette Tsang – Light me up
Chloe Huang – Still vases
Georges River Youth Prize (13 - 17 years of age) - $300 materials voucher,
Winner: Ann Yang – Abandonment
Highly commended:
Leo Park – Korean peninsula
Wendy Tang – Polar bear’s scarf
Larissa White – Geometric statue