Joanna Logue from Oberon, Central West New South Wales, 2006 winner with Conifer – Braidwood.

Judges announced for $35,000 Landscape Art Prize

09 May 2007

Three respected Australian artists have been appointed to the judging panel of the 2007 Country Energy Art Prize for Landscape Painting. Peter Kingston will be the overall judge for 2007, supported by Indigenous artist Bronwyn Bancroft and David Fairbairn, a winner of the Doug Moran National Portrait Prize, in addition to Joseph Eisenberg, Cultural Director of Maitland Regional Art Gallery and Country Energy's managing director, Craig Murray.

Now in its fifth year, the $35,000 competition is specifically designed to provide a prize and opportunities for artists in regional NSW, and as a result is open to artists across 95% of the state.

Country Energy has encouraged artists to use the prize as a platform to make a statement. "Whether that statement is that our land is visually spectacular or that it is a desolate wilderness - it's a chance to have a voice," said Country Energy's Craig Murray.

This philosophy was echoed by Joseph Eisenberg: "There will always be a place for conservative, realistic landscapes, but there is also a place for art that blends the landscape with everyday experiences, for art that celebrates a land that sustains people".

The Country Energy Art Prize for Landscape Painting is open to artists who live within the utility's network distribution area, which covers most of NSW from the coast to the outback, regional cities to small rural towns.

For the first time this year, the Country Energy Art Prize will be a non-acquisitive prize, allowing the winning artist to keep or sell their own work and still receive a significant monetary prize.

The prize is open to all artistic styles, mediums and contexts, ranging from figurative to abstract, charcoal to traditional oil paint. Entries close on 20 July 2007.

Website: http://www.countryenergy.com.au/