$24,000 in prize money was awarded at the 2025 QPRC and Bendigo Bank Art Awards exhibition opening and ceremony on Saturday 24 May.
More than 65 local artists were celebrated at The Q Exhibition Space for another extraordinary annual event.
'These awards are always a fantastic way to celebrate our local arts community and this year's entrants put forward a collection of incredible works,' said Mayor Kenrick Winchester.
'I had the honour of selecting the Acquisitive and Highly Commended for the Mayor's Heritage Art Award. The works really impressed me, and it was an honour to meet their makers on the night.'
Goulburn Regional Art Gallery director, Yvette Dal Pozzo, and ACT Galleries, Museums and Heritage director Dr Anna Wong were this year's professional arts judges.
The judges said the exhibition celebrated the breadth and depth of artists living and working in the QPRC region, noting that 'with entries from emerging to established artists, spanning textiles, glass, painting, and assemblage, the exhibition is a vibrant and engaging showcase of the area's artistic talent.'
Congratulations to:
- $7000 QPRC Major Acquisitive Award – 'Budawang II' by Alison Alder
- $3000 Mayor's Acquisitive Heritage Award – 'The Burrow and Beyond' by Kahli McLeod
- $1000 Mayor's Highly Commended Heritage Award – 'Coming back from the front gate' by Ray Monde
- $3000 3D Art Award – 'A pain in the Chest' by Lisa Stevenson
- $1000 Highly Commended 3D Art Award – 'Vernacular temperament' by Martin Rowney
- $2000 Youth Emerging Artist Award (16-25) – 'The Storytellers Gaze' by Abbie Johnson
- $3000 First Nations Award – 'Spring' by Rhonda Kennedy
- $1000 Highly Commended First Nations Award – 'My Heart my Country' by Gail Neuss
- $2000 Bendigo Pick Award – 'Uncertainty' by Roland Aronsen
- $1000 Bendigo Pick Photography Award – 'Thirty Six' by Fiona Little
The judges described the major prize winner Budawang II by Alison Alder as a beautifully crafted woven work which stood out as a compelling portrait of the natural environment in the region. An abstract weaving with a range of beautiful block colours, it was created with wool dyed with native plants foraged at the foothills of Mt Budawang.
The judges said that 'the work not only conveys the artist's deep connection to the land – it is quite literally made from it.'
Lisa Stevenson's A pain in the Chest, winner of the 3D Art Award, the judges described as a 'delicate woven sculptural work created by a single length of jute, that through connective stitching formed the intricate curves and form of the human heart.'
Mayor Kenrick Winchester said the brush strokes in The Burrow and Beyond by Kahli McLeod, winner of the Mayor's Acquisitive Heritage Award, were extraordinary in their fineness. He said that 'the artist has conveyed the personality and attitude of the Bare Nosed Wombat beautifully through its stance in this painting.'
In describing the Highly Commended work by Ray Monde, 'I was taken by Coming back from the front gate, with its unique style and collage technique, incorporating paper cuttings from a variety of sources, arranged and overpainted forming a whimsical representation of our landscapes beyond the city limits, out in our rural region.'
Uncertainty by Roland Aronsen won the Bendigo Pick Award, which the Bendigo judges found evocative, with exceptional fine detail that expresses emotion.
Thirty Six by Fiona Little won the Bendigo Pick Photography Award, with the Bendigo judges impressed with the contrast of the work between light and dark, along with the contrasting nature and infrastructure of the building.
The $1000 Viewer's Choice Award is now open for voting until Saturday 14 June, the final day of the exhibition.
Make sure to get along and cast your vote, or to purchase one of the works. The exhibition is at The Q Exhibition Space and is open Tuesday-Saturday 10am-4pm.
Photos from the evening can be found on Council's Flickr page.
