2008 Redlands Westpac Art Prize

Background

Redlands is very conscious of the importance of the arts in completing the education of young Australian men and women. The Art Prize was instituted in 1996 to establish a teaching collection to expose Redlands students to works of art by leading Australian artists.

Now in its 12th year the Art Prize is one of Australia's most respected awards. In celebration of the School's international ethos, in 2007 the prize will be open to a broader range of artworks including sculpture, prints and photography.

It is an annual art prize for contemporary work which must be an original, recent work by an Australian or International artist and not previously exhibited in other awards or competitions. The Prize is acquisitive and by invitation only. All artworks on exhibition are offered for sale.

In 2004 a new format was introduced. In the interests of encouraging both established and emerging artists to exhibit their work, a minimum of twenty "established" artists will be invited to participate and each, in turn, will nominate a "new" artist for inclusion.

Three awards are offered. The main prize of $20,000 is sponsored by Westpac. The "nominated" artist award is $5,000 and is sponsored by Konica Minolta. Both awards are acquisitive, the winning paintings going into the Redlands Contemporary Art Collection. The third award of $1,000 is the Viewers' Choice.