Judges of the inaugural Footscray Art Prize have expressed amazement at the quality of entries, after being inundated with more than 800 submissions.
Entries have been painstakingly whittled down to a shortlist of slightly more than 140 works, announced on Tuesday.
The art prize was developed by Victoria University, Maribrynong council, Footscray Community Arts Centre and Footscray Rotary.
Prizemoney totalling $17,500 will be awarded across four categories, including a $10,000 main prize.
Entries are being judged by leading artists and curators Reko Rennie, Jason Smith, Beverly Knight and Richard Ennis. Smith said the range of works submitted was inspiring.
“The sheer volume, diversity and exceptional merit of artists’ submissions made the shortlisting process a challenging one,” he said.
“We were really struck by the artists’ images of, and connections to, community and their locality.”
The judges were looking for works “rich in ideas and technically excellent in execution”.
Winners will be announced on May 25 at the opening of an exhibition showcasing the shortlisted artists.
The exhibition will be held at Footscray Community Arts Centre (main prize), VU at MetroWest (tertiary and young artists prize), and in central Footscray (street art prize).
Benjamin Millar
