40,000 reasons to get your 2017 Art Awards submissions ready now!

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Jo Duke, Curator, Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum with Chin Ching Soo, Specialist, Communities and Communications, Rio Tinto Yarwun Operations and Jessica Ksiazek, Advisor, Communications and Communities, Queensland Alumina Limited and Rio Tinto. Photographer: E. Korotkaia

40,000 reasons to get your 2017 Art Awards submissions ready now!

Queensland's much loved Rio Tinto Martin Hanson Memorial Art Awards, hosted by the Gladstone Regional Art Galley & Museum, will start calling for entries from 5 October 2017.  

Artists from around the nation have the opportunity to take home the coveted overall prize of $15,000 sponsored by Rio Tinto, in addition to a lucrative prize pool of $25,000, thanks to the generous support of local individuals, businesses and industry, including Queensland Alumina Limited, Anderson's Auto City, Gladstone Area Water Board, Australia Pacific LNG, Gladstone Ports Corporation and McDonald's Gladstone & Boyne Island.

Now in its 42nd year, the Art Awards have established themselves as a nationally recognised event, annually receiving hundreds of submissions from around Australia. 

Gallery & Museum Curator, Jo Duke, said, "The Awards are fabulous as they allow the Gladstone Region to see what contemporary Australia is making, both from a national, state and local perspective."

As usual, submissions will be judged within the four sections of entry: Easel Paintings, Works on Paper, Three Dimensional & Fibre Works, and Digital Works. 

"Now that the 2017 Entry form and Awards Brochure is out, we hope that everyone is getting their artworks ready to submit.  There is less than one month to go before artists need to deliver their entries to the Gallery & Museum."  Jo added. 

Rio Tinto Yarwun Operations general manager Colin McGibbon said, "Rio Tinto is proud to once again return as the major sponsor for this year's Art Awards.  With such an enticing prize pool we expect that artists, both local and further afield, will be eager to be involved."

The 2017 Art Awards Judge, Pat Hoffie, will announce the winners of the Awards, at 6pm, on Saturday 14 October 2017, after Rio Tinto has officially opened the exhibition of entries. 

Submissions into The 42nd Rio Tinto Martin Hanson Memorial Art Awards 2017 are to be delivered to the Gallery & Museum between 10am - 5pm, on Thursday 5, Friday 6 and Saturday 7 October 2017. Entry fee is $15 per submission.  For all enquiries, contact the Gallery & Museum on (07) 4976 6766 or email gragm@gladstone.qld.gov.au