Calleen Art Award 2014 and Central West Regional Art Award

4 May to 15 June 2014

The Calleen Art Award is a major national acquisitive art award for painting with the 2014 winner receiving $18,000. The Central West Regional Art Award is a non-acquisitive award for painting and drawing worth $2,000. This award is open to artists living and working in the Central West Region of NSW. The finalists exhibition is a highly anticipated and significant event including established and emerging artists.

This year’s exhibition of finalists’ works (selected from 299 entries) is an exciting and enjoyable showcase of contemporary art from across Australia. It is a significant exhibition event in the arts calendar of Cowra and the district, and one of the regions important cultural experiences.

Exhibition Opening

The opening night and announcement of the 2014 Calleen Art Award and Central West Regional Art Award winners  took place on Saturday 3 May. 

The Calleen Art Award was established in 1977 by Mrs Patricia Fagan OAM as an acquisitive art prize to form the Calleen Art Collection now the cornerstone of the Cowra Regional Art Gallery’s permanent collection. The Calleen Art Award has developed into a major national art prize for painting (in any subject) and this year the winner received $18,000 in prize money through the generous support of the Calleen Trust.

The Central West Regional Art Award was established in 2009 and aims to benefit and provide professional development opportunities for artists based in the Central West region of NSW. The   Award is non-acquisitive in the categories of painting and drawing (in any subject) with prize money of $2,000 through the generous support of a generous benefactor.

Over 100 people gathered for the special reception in the Cowra Civic Centre including the opening address by Cowra Mayor Cr Bill West and the announcement of the winning works and awards presentation by the 2014 Awards Judge Michael Rolfe CEO Museums and Galleries of NSW. This was followed by the exhibition preview of the 58 finalists’ works at the Cowra Regional Art Gallery.

During the evening guests were treated to the delightful flute music of ‘Tout Suites’ as they entered the Civic Centre Foyer, and wonderful sounds by Harpist Kim Deacon at the Cowra Regional Art Gallery.

2014 Winner Calleen Art Award

Naomi White from Bardon (a suburb of Brisbane) Queensland for her work End of Day (2014) oil on canvas 112 x 183cm.

Judge’s comments

“In her work End of Day Naomi White uses sharp and intuitive brush strokes and discreet tonal gestures, abstracted in parts, to achieve a sharp and focused work. It’s not landscape from around here (Cowra), but it is an appropriate work for a collection that aspires to represent in some sense the vistas only artists see and to bring them before our eyes.” – Michael Rolfe

2014 Winner Central West Regional Art Award

Genevieve Carroll from Hill End NSW for her work Over the Table Blue Dandelions (2014) oil on board 150 x 180cm.

Judges comments

“I gave the Central West Regional Art Award to a work that displays for me a real enthusiasm for painting. With a practice described as a circumnavigation of her life, Genevieve Carroll has produced a lively work – Over the Table Blue Dandelions – energetically transcribed and mediated through the experience of all things important to her. For me it wasn’t circumnavigating anything. Rather the artist appears to jump right in – It is a well constructed narrative and an artwork not bogged in paint but rather imbued with light and life.” – Michael Rolfe

_{Image: Winner Calleen Art Award. Naomi White, End of Day, oil on canvas 112 x 183cm}