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

40,000 reasons to get your 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 8 October 2015. 

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, Murray & Wendy Schoenfisch, Australia Pacific LNG, Gladstone Ports Corporation and McDonalds Gladstone.

Now in its 40th year, the Art Awards have established themselves as a nationally recognised event, annually receiving hundreds of submissions from around Australia.  Gladstone Regional Art 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."

This year the Awards are honoured to introduce The John Anderson Memorial Acquisitive Award, sponsored by Anderson's Auto City.  All displayed artwork submissions, in each of the four sections (Easel Paintings, Works on Paper, Three Dimensional & Fibre Works and Digital Works,) will be eligible for this inaugural $5000 acquisitive prize.  Further details about this Award and all others can be found on the entry form brochure that accompanies the 2015 entry form.   These can both be downloaded from the Gallery & Museum's website http://gallerymuseum.gladstonerc.qld.gov.au or collected from most Gladstone Regional Council venues, offices and libraries. 

"We are celebrating the 40th anniversary with an enticing $40,000 prize pool and expect that more artists, both local and further afield, will be eager to be involved," Jo added.  "We just hope everyone is getting their works ready now as we are calling for entries slightly earlier than usual this year, allowing the exhibition to be on display longer."

All Award winners will be announced 6pm, Saturday 17 October after the exhibition has been officially opened.                    

Submissions into The 40th Rio Tinto Martin Hanson Memorial Art Awards 2015 are to be delivered to the Gladstone Regional Art Gallery & Museum between 10am - 5pm, Thursday 8, Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October 2015. Entry fee is $15 per submission.  For all enquiries contact the Gallery & Museum on (07) 4976 6766 or email gragm@gladstonerc.qld.gov.au.

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