The Whitsundays Arts Festival Art Prize Exhibition 2022 is a national award for 2D and 3D artworks. The acquisitive Art Prize awards the winner with $5000 cash and the artwork will be acquired into the Whitsundays Regional Council Art Collection.

Non-acquisitive awards for Local Artist, Young Artist, 2D Works on Paper, 2D Painting and 3D sculptures will be awarded $1000 each. The R&K Kenyon award for 2D artworks in the 16-25 year category, will receive a $200 framing voucher.

A non-acquisitive People’s Choice Prize of $1000 cash will be awarded to the artist receiving the most votes during the Exhibition.

• Entrants must be 16+. A maximum of two (2) applications per artist.

• Entries must be the original, unaided work of the entrant, executed within the two years prior to the entry closing date.

• The Whitsundays Arts Festival Art Prize is open to any Australian resident living and working in Australia in any two-dimensional (2D) medium (excluding photographs) or three-dimensional (3D) sculptures.

• All works entered in the prize must be available for display, and for purchase (should it be selected as a finalist), for the duration of the exhibition

• Whitsundays Arts Festival will act as sales agent for the finalist artworks. All works sold will attract a 30% commission. GST where applicable will be added to the listed price of work at the time of sale. When possible, entrants will be promptly advised of sales, and must provide bank account details for payment of works sold.

• Artwork which has already been sold will not be eligible for inclusion and no further correspondence will be entered into.

• 2D artwork that is flat, possessing height and width, but no depth, including drawing, painting, print-making medium, textile or work on canvas (excluding photographic prints) is eligible for the 2D prize.

• 2D artwork must not exceed 155cm (height) x 120cm (width) inclusive of frame. Bas or low-relief artwork in which materials protrude slightly from a flat background to a depth of no more than 5cm is also eligible.

• If 2D works are framed (a stretched canvas is considered framed) they need to be fitted with D rings 100mm from the top of the work and Picture wire. All works must be display-ready. It is at the Festival’s discretion how unframed works are displayed.

• 3D works must not exceed dimensions of 100cm height; base not more than 75cm x 50cm and maximum weight of 16kgs.

• 3D works need to be of appropriate construction to ensure they pose no risk to the safety of the public.

• Submission of two artwork images per entry is mandatory. The first image must be a full image of the artwork.

• No work submitted shall have been entered into the Whitsundays Arts Festival Art Prize Exhibition in any previous year.

• Artists pre-selected for the Whitsundays Regional Council Art Prize Exhibition will allow their works to be reproduced by print and electronic media in the advertising and promotion of the exhibition and for the exhibition catalogue.

• If the work is selected as the winner of the major prize, the artist must be able to transfer the full title of the work to Whitsundays Regional Council.

• All expenses incurred in the submission of the entry are the responsibility of the applicant.

• Whitsundays Arts Festival will exercise every care with works submitted, but will not be responsible for the loss of, damage to, or breakage or damage caused by any exhibits in its custody or for the insurance of exhibits either in transit or on exhibition. Exhibitors may wish to arrange their own insurance.

• Whitsundays Arts Festival reserves the right to determine the most appropriate method for displaying 2D works and 3D works, and to refuse to display any works deemed inappropriate or unsafe.

• Executive Committee members of Whitsundays Arts Festival Inc are not eligible to enter the prize.

• To be eligible, all entrants must complete an online application to Whitsundays Arts Festival by the entry closing date being 5:00pm AEST Monday 1st August 2022. Entries received after this date will not be accepted.

• Please ensure you have submitted the correct information on your entry, no additional changes can be made after the submission has been completed.

• A complete online submission means the upload of the following:

  • Artist contact details

  • Entry fee of $30 (non-refundable) for each entry (maximum of 2 entries) payable by credit card online. Any application not accompanied by the appropriate entry fee will be ineligible.

  • Two print quality jpeg images (one of these must represent the work in its entirety). Images must be JPEG format only (300dpi, 2MB).

  • Each file name should be clearly labelled with the artist’s surname, first name, image number and title of the work eg SMITH_Jane_01_MyPlace; SMITH_Jane_02_MyPlace

  • An Artist Statement about the nominated work (125 words maximum). This should address main themes and concepts presented in the artist’s work and how these relate to submitted work.

  • Optional - Artist CV (no more than 1 x A4 page).

  • By submitting the images, entries warrant that they are the copyright owner of the images or have permission from the copyright owner to submit the image for the purpose of promoting the Exhibition.

• Whitsundays Arts Festival Executive Committee members and those involved in the administration or judging of the Exhibition are not eligible to enter.

• All entries submitted will be presented for review by a pre-selection panel from which finalist works will be selected to exhibit in the Whitsundays Arts Festival Art Prize 2022 Exhibition.

• Artworks will be shortlisted by a professional panel based on a set of curatorial rationale including concept, workmanship, and originality.

• Once the pre-selection process has been completed, all entrants will be advised of the outcome. Finalists will be announced on 22 August 2022.

• Each year an independent judge is invited to select the winners of the Whitsundays Arts Festival Art Prize awards from the finalists in the Whitsundays Arts Festival Art Prize Exhibition. The judge for the 2022 awards is Tracy Cooper-Lavery, Director, Gallery & Visual Arts at HOTA Home of the Arts Gold Coast.

• The pre-selection panel and judge’s decisions are final, and no correspondence will be entered into.

The finalists selected for the Whitsundays Arts Festival Arts Prize will receive further details on participation in the Exhibition.

The artworks will be exhibited in the Whitsundays Arts Festival Art Prize 2022 Exhibition from 23 September until 30 September 2022 at Coral Sea Marina Resort.

Freight of the finalists works to and from the exhibition must be organised by the Finalist Artist. Artwork must be delivered by 20 September 2022.

Return of finalist works will occur approximately 1 week after the closure of the Exhibition.

• Whitsundays Arts Festival Art Prize assumes all entries are original and are the works and/or property of the entrant with all rights granted therein.

• Entrants grant Whitsundays Arts Festival a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty free copyright licence to use and authorise the use of images of artworks chosen for the Exhibition, together with relevant artist statements:

  • to promote the work/s, the artist, the Exhibition and the Prize

  • the promotion of future Whitsundays Arts Festival competitions

  • in publications including catalogues and marketing material

  • in materials associated with the Exhibitions or future similar exhibitions (and including in advertising materials, social media and display material)

  • any other use of the work will require permission from the artist, unless permitted by the Copyright Act 1968.

• By submitting this entry, the entrant is consenting to the use of their content information for the purposes of receiving information about the outcome of their entry in the Whitsundays Arts Festival Art Exhibition.

• Should the contact information provided change between the time that the entry is submitted, and the results are announced, please contact the Whitsundays Arts Festival via email at secretary@whitsundaysartsfestival.org to update your details.

• The name of finalists and images of finalist artworks will be published on the Whitsundays Arts Festival website once a decision has been made.

• The Entrants permit Whitsundays Arts Festival to reproduce biographical information and images of shortlisted works in promotional material associated with the Whitsundays Arts Festival and exhibition. Whitsundays Arts Festival will attribute the artist as the author of the work wherever the work is reproduced unless it is reasonable in the circumstances not to do so.

• Finalists acknowledge that it will be impracticable for the Whitsundays Arts Festival to prevent visitors taking photographs of artworks at the Exhibition and that entrants will not hold Whitsundays Arts Festival liable for any unauthorised photography.

• In completing the entry form and paying the entry fee the entrant agrees to these Terms & Conditions.

• If a dispute arises relating to the administration of the Whitsundays Arts Festival Art Prize Exhibition, the parties agree to negotiate to settle the dispute with the assistance of an agreed independent third party, or if no agreement can be made, by a mediator from the Australia Mediation Association before litigation.