Wollumbin Art Award
About the award
The Wollumbin Art Award (WAA) is the Gallery’s biennial $30,000 award open to artists living in the Tweed, Ballina, Byron, Kyogle and Scenic Rim Shires, as well as Richmond Valley, Lismore and Gold Coast City.
The Award, named for the mountain the Gallery overlooks, celebrates the calibre and diversity of artists of the region. There is no theme and artists may submit works in any medium. The 2024 Judge and pre-selection panel will be announced in December 2023.
2024 Key dates
Entries open: Monday 25 March
Entries close: Monday 3 June, 5 pm
Finalists announced: Monday 24 June
Exhibition dates: Friday 6 September – Sunday 24 November
Winners announced: Saturday 7 September
Image credit: Kate Holmes
Prize categories
Wollumbin Art Award, Winner
The $15,000 prize includes a two week residency at the Nancy Fairfax Artist in Residence Studio at Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre.
WAA Bundjalung Award
The $10,000 Bundjalung Award for First Nations artists includes an exhibition at Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre, and this award is sponsored by the Tweed Regional Gallery Foundation Ltd.
WAA Emerging Artist
The Emerging Artist Award is $5,000 and is supported by Leanne & Greg Tong-Lyon.
Amber Wallis, ‘Ivy With Eyes’ 2021, oil on linen, 150 x 130cm.
Michael Philp, ‘Pearly Shells’ 2022, acrylic on canvas, 91 x 122 cm. Mia Forrest, ‘Red Flowering Gum’, in motion 2022, video. Images courtesy the artists © The artists
2022 Award Winners
The winner of the inaugural Wollumbin Art Award was Amber Wallis for her painting Ivy with Eyes.
The winner of the inaugural WAA Bundjalung Award was Michael Philp for his painting Pearly shells.
The winner of the inaugural WAA Emerging Artist Award was Mia Forrest for her video work Flowering Red Gum, in motion.
Highly Commended
- Caleb Reid
- Xanthe Dobbie
- Michael Donnelly
- Zion Levy Stewart
- Marian Tubbs
- Nathan Falk
- Amarina Toby
- Brendan Kelly
- Courtney Cook
- Zen Staff.
2022 finalists
- Meli Axford
- Marty Baptist
- Stephen Baxter
- Jenevieve Beves
- Stephen Bird
- Emily-Sarah Boldeman
- Russell Brown
- Aaron Chapman
- Toni Clarke
- Courtney Cook
- Michelle Dawson
- Shanti Des Fours
- Karla Dickens
- Xanthe Dobbie
- Michael Donnelly
- Shannon Doyle
- Lyle Duncan
- Kath Egan
- Nathan Falk
- Grace Fayrer
- Mia Forrest
- Stafford Gaffney
- James Guppy
- Sandra Guy
- Max Hangan
- Charlotte Haywood
- Greg Hodgson
- Kate Holmes
- Emily Imeson
- Benjamin Jameson
- Gala Jane
- Brendan Kelly
- Josephine Kokfelt Ehlers
- Rebecca Lavery
- Ryan Lee
- Michael Philp
- Hobie Porter
- Belle Raine
- Virginia Reid
- Caleb Reid-Boquist
- Russell Shakespeare
- Kat Shapiro Wood
- Sabrina Simoni
- Anne Smerdon
- Jan Snowdon
- Melissa Spratt
- Zen Staff
- Sam Steinhauer
- Zion Levy Stewart
- Michael Stiegler
- Meg Stoios
- Trish Tait
- Caitlyn Taylor
- Amarina Toby
- Marian Tubbs
- Dawn Walker
- Emma Walker
- Amber Wallis
- Christina Waterson
- Christine Willcocks
The 2022 guest judge was curator, writer and Editor of Vault Magazine, Alison Kubler. The 2022 WAA pre-selection panel included the TRG&MOAC Gallery Director and the TRG&MOAC Exhibitions Curator, as well as Kylie Caldwell, Indigenous Art Officer, Arts Northern Rivers and respected Local Elder Aunty Joyce Summers.