Blacktown Arts are thrilled to announce that the Blacktown City Art Prize exhibition will open the 2023 summer program at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre.

The Blacktown City Art Prize is a much loved, open-themed art prize and exhibition.

The exhibition showcases the work of the 72 finalists, including a significant number of First Nations (15%) and local artists (22%).

The works span a range of styles and media including drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, and photo and mixed-media. A number of submissions reflect a growing sense of hope, resilience and positivity.

The independent judging panel commented that diverse and versatile styles were reflected amongst the selected finalists’ work which included a mix of emerging and established artists.

This year, Blacktown Arts received 514 entries from over 400 artists across Australia.

Alongside the Art Prize, Blacktown Arts will also be showcasing artworks from the Young Artist Prize. Kids and young people aged 3-14 years from Blacktown City are encouraged to create an artwork in response to the theme of Caring for Waterways, to be submitted at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre on 2 and 3 December.

Awards for the Main Prize, Aboriginal Artist Prize and Local Artist Prize will be announced on Saturday 21 January 2023.

Visitors can vote for their favourite artwork in the People’s Choice Prize. The winner will be announced within the last week of the exhibition.

The Blacktown City Art Prize exhibition is open to the public from Tuesday 10 January to Friday 17 February 2023.

Entry is free and all are welcome.

See the full list of 2022/23 Blacktown City Art Prize finalists below.

Maissa Alameddine
To Hold

Skye Andrew
Moruya 1983

Walter Auer
Young Heroes

Tony Belobrajdic
Not from Here

Brittany Bishop
Whatsherface

Lilith Bloom
Postcards from my Psychological Journey

Kathryn Blumke
Tyagarah Creek Quilt

Shane Bonsujet
Culling Voices

Mary Bozic
The Chess Game

Isabel and Lina Buck
Still Life #1, 2 and 4

Francis Cai
Stardust

Tyler Carson
Urban Jungle

Leila Cheikh
PARRAMATTA ESSENCE X 2022

Jayne Christian
Guwing Burragula Ngurrawa (Sunset on Country)

Penny Coss
Purple Flume

Jingalu Craig
Historys True Past. (How the Warragamba Dam was Made)

Alex Cyreszko
Ewa – The Healer

Christine Druitt-Preston
Bouquet for Hazel

Stan Florek
Anniversary

Mandy Fu
Self Portrait

Oscar Garcia
Up, Close and Personal

Tim Gregory
You Yangs 1984/2022

Amala Groom
Found

Matthew Hall Fong
Self Portrait from Life

Brodie Harris
Ocean Dreams

Freya Jobbins
WOUND

Lauren Johnson
The Great Barrier Reef

Leanne Jones
Dinawan Ngarraarry – Emu Hunt

Virginia Keft
The Colony on Show

Fruzsi Kenez
The Last Gasp

Danica Knezevic
Salami Face

Jo Langley
Fracas

Brigita Lastauskaite
Shimmering Love on the Seabed

Mina Lee
Rousehill

Hyun Hee Lee
108 Defilements

Anne Leisner
Back of Addison

Carmel Mackie
Red Tailed Black Cockatoo

NG Malla
‘Loving home’

Carolyn McKay
She was in the Dream Test

Lee Mitchell
Study of a Chinese Freemason’s Lantern

Marisa Mu
There Is No Doubt – This Is A Womxn’s World

Lesley Murray
Lozikeyi

Pieter Neve
Opa

Nelson Nghe
Bug Spray

Mary Nguyen
Small Sketches

Jessica Nothdurft
Hey Bitch

Connor Ovenden-Shaw
TRANSaction

Catherine Parker
Rear view road trip to 70 mile Llarnath Queensland

Hiren Patel
Obey

Kristine Pedler
Metal Jug and Gum Leaves

Louis Pratt
Shadow Dancer

Jian Hua Qian
Totem

Peter Rush
Sightlines, The Blacktown Native Institution site. Standing here, it’s placeless, I felt erasure, ignorance (my own), indifference.

Julie Scifo
Heading down to Ktown

Ebony Secombe
Rejection Sensitive Dysphoria

Kirthana Selvaraj
Ramesh and the Guardian

Erik Shahmoradian
Noor

An Sheng
Playground

Chanel Sohier
The Town That Time Forgot

Kate Stehr
Scribing Tools III

Sally Stokes
Why does a horizon exist?

Surekha Suri
Village Wedding Celebration

Ali Tahayori
You&Me

Jess Taylor
Dig Two Graves

Roshin Vattaparambath
Self/Portrait: Being Father

Bankstown Koori Elders Group
Lines between the Stories

Jayniel Villacorta
Unalome

Anthony Walker
Cape Byron

Simon Welsh
I’m a real boy

Hal Witney
GOD IS. I AM.

Image: Joanna Cole, Post (detail), 2021

Blacktown City Council has commissioned local Western Sydney artist Cameron Marbus to design and paint new murals to express the vibrancy and energy of the Riverstone youth precinct in Riverstone Park.

The youth precinct include a basketball court, outdoor fitness equipment, parkour, outdoor ping pong, hopscotch and handball, as well as spaces to socialise and hang out.

Cameron grew up in Riverstone and has done various street art murals in the area.

His artworks for the skate park are scheduled to be completed by end of February 2022.

Watch this space!

Image: Untitled by Cameron Marbus 2021, Sydenham

Blacktown City Council is a committed advocate for The White Ribbon movement and has developed strong relationships with local families of people who have lost their lives as a result of domestic violence. White Ribbon Day focuses on the actions men can take to end men’s violence against women.

In response to a request from families, Council is developing the City’s first domestic and family violence memorial garden at Blacktown Showground to honour and remember their loves ones.

Following an open Expression of interest, Yu-Fang Chi was commissioned to produce her proposed sculpture, called Contemplate.

Families will also work with the artist to create personalized symbols to be included within the artwork.

Inspired by the white ribbon, as well as the transient quality of water, the work utilises the curved shape of the bow as the key element of the design to capture and reveal the idea of transition, contemplation, and healing. Through the use of natural materials and colours the artwork aims to create a warm and welcoming experience, inviting audiences to walk slowly towards the work, to gather and reflect.

It is anticipated that the memorial garden will open to the public in early to mid-2022.

Image: Design for Contemplate, 2021 CHI STUDIO

On November 26, Museums and Galleries New South Wales, peak body for the museum and gallery sector, announced the winners of the 2021 IMAGinE Awards. Blacktown Arts is pleased to announce we received a ‘Highly Commended’ award in the Exhibitions Project category for the ground-breaking exhibition program, Terra inFirma. Since 2020, Terra inFirma has presented exhibitions, performances and public programming in response to James Cook’s arrival in Australia. Terra inFirma is based on themes of sovereignty, memory and wider cultural histories, and how Cook’s arrival has impacted on Darug Peoples and other communities represented in Blacktown.

This year, the category had a record number of nominations making the win for Terra inFirma even more significant.

We are thrilled to receive this important industry recognition of our ongoing work with our artists and local communities, in particular the Darug cultural knowledge-holders who led the project and helped the artists to create transformational projects. Many congratulations to the many people in our community who were involved and contributed to the national conversation on the subject.”

 

– Blacktown Arts Curator, Paul Howard

The Terra inFirma program invited First Nations and culturally diverse artists, knowledge-holders and communities in Blacktown to respond to the commemorative year of James Cook’s arrival in Australia and its legacies. Yet 2020 had been a momentous year in other ways as well. Artists and participating visitors also responded to the coronavirus pandemic, the global Black Lives Matter movement, and the destruction of sacred sites across Australia. The outcomes acknowledged the resilience of Garungul Ngurra (Strong Country), and paid respect to the continuous connections of Darug Peoples of the Sydney region, who continue to show strength, resistance, unity and pride in their culture and Country.

At the heart of this long-term project is the knowledge that the land on which we stand was never ceded, nor will it ever be. Terra inFirma uncovered historical truths and called for deeper levels of understanding and sincerer acknowledgement of Aboriginal culture, land and Country. “You can’t reconcile until you’ve actually acknowledged what’s happened,” said Leanne Tobin.

The IMAGinE awards highlight the resilience, innovation and creativity of museums, galleries and Aboriginal cultural centres and recognise the people who work in them. 2021 marks 14 years of the awards, inspiring museums and galleries across New South Wales to aspire to excellence in serving the community through contemporary and engaging programs.

The final instalment of the Terra inFirma program will be at the Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre in July 2022, featuring the work of local and national Indigenous artists, Leanne Tobin, Julie Jones, Darrin Baker, Amala Groom, Joel Bray, Taree Sansbury.

To keep up to date visit www.blacktownarts.com.au.

Image: Jennifer Leahy

One hundred and ten artworks from across Australia have been chosen as finalists in this year’s Blacktown City Art Prize. The works will be competing for a total prize pool of $20,000, and will be part of the exhibition at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre, Max Webber Library, Dennis Johnson Library and The Mt Druitt Hub from 27 November 2021 to 27 January 2022.

The works were judged by a panel comprising Pedro de Almeida Senior Curator, C3West at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Dr Fan Dongwang Chinese born Australian artist and Leanne Mulgo Watson artist, educator and book illustrator.

Blacktown Arts received a total of 560 entries from artists across Australia, ranging from painting and drawing to sculpture, ceramics and mixed media.

Please see the full list of 2021 Blacktown City Art Prize finalists below.

Patricia Abela
Petalura Gigantea

Julianne Ross Allcorn
Hidden Nature’s Delight

Daniel Apps
Return to Disco

Walter Auer
Golden Prince

Maree Azzopardi
The Road to Mt Banks #1

Clinton Barker
Passing Over

Peter Bartlett
Sack Women

Lachlan Bell
Spun from the Sea

Mary Bozic
In Good Company

Helen Brancatisano
Memory Springs

David Asher Brook
Couple (Huskisson Beach)

Beatrice Buckland-Willis
Critical Collapse (construct) I

Peter Burger
Winter Landscape 4

Jane Burton Taylor
Colonial wallpaper – Our Anthropocene

Tina Barahanos & Alex Byrne
On the Spin No.2

Negin Chahoud
Azadi man / My freedom

Darren Charlwood
Miyagan (Kindred Wiradjuri)

Carol Christie
Spot Fires

Joanna Cole
Post

Paul Connor
Harbour Composition

Rosaleen Cooney
Surviving his Disillusionment

Gabrielle Courtenay
Gaia

Gabrielle Courtenay
The Prophesy Unfolds

Claire Crook
Antennae

Damian Dillon
Suburban Chrome #12

Patrick Doherty
Servo

David Doyle
Wontanella (Menindee Lakes)

Adrian Elmer
Self

Louise Fowler-Smith
Critically Endangered – Caladenia patersonii var. hastate

Sarah Frost
Silent Yearning

Xavier Ghazi
Nick Stathopoulos Artist

Maddison Gibbs
River Matriarch

Dina Gillespie
Those where the days

Minka Gillian
Coronavirus Talisman

Naomi Grant
Window to the Dreaming

Ingrid Haydon
City Studio

Annarie Hildebrand
Setting Up II

Fiona Hiscock
Royal Park Refuge

Jody Hoskins
MAWANG (Connections)

Jude Hungerford
The Last of Days

Adrienne Hunt
Awakenings

Linda Joyce
Groovin’…on a Sunday Afternoon

Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger
Mangrove Series V – Beyond the Light

Samara Kendall
Main Street Blacktown

Diamando Koutsellis
Travelling into the Vortex

Jen Lamb
Lockdown’s Luminosity

Nathan Lee
See you

Hyun Hee Lee
Remembering

Anne Leisner
For Lease

Catherine Leung
Isn’t She Lovely

Songshi Li
Sydney Chinese Garden

Renee Lim
The Other

Sarah Longhurst
Realms

Carmel Mackie
Nautilus Shell – Blues of the Ocean

Geoff Matthews
After the burn – Bulls Camp 2

Daniela Matts
Yearning

Lisa McKimmie
Late Summer II-The Persistence of the Australian Landscape in the Mind of a Painter

Lilach Mileikowski
Song of Ascents

Libby Moore
Not Far from a Still Life

Mike Moore & Jeff Lees
Sepia Blacktown

Nick Morris
End This Reign

Anne Mossman
Eucalypts Study 5

Xanthe Muston
Charge of the Forgotten Relics

Kathie Najar
Cradle Mountain Creek

Kathie Najar
Autumn Grasses

Michele Newman
Transaction

Mary Thi Nguyen
Story of Broome

Trudi Nisbet
Winner Takes All

Eva Nolan
Yellow-spotted Tree Frog and Spider Orchid

Holly Oakley
N.S.W 11am Covid Update

Marilu Ordemann
CUTTING CORNERS

Lemah Orya
The Tales of Our Past

Hilton Owen
Train Commuter

Judy Panucci
Aged Care

Sam Patterson-Smith
An Unbalance of Opposites

Shirley Peters
On Way to Nepean, After the Rains

Simone Read
Spirit Warrior

Peter Rush
Olive’s room in the long weeks of this year’s lockdown

Peter Rush
The cadence and rhythm of Delhi

Kean Onn See
Vale Joey

Erik Shahmoradian
Fruit of Fertility

Tara Sheather
Outlandish

Belinda Sims
The Sentinels

Renay Smith
Fern Wall

Emily Solomons
We are Strong

Lucy Stackpool
Michael

Sally Stokes
Travelling through Time

Surekha Suri
An Unlikely Friendship

Reza Taghipour
Memory

Ali Tahayori
Lost & Found (2/2) 

Jayanto Tan
Hundreds and Thousands Party (Double Happiness)

Fraser The Razor
Cumberland Plain Canopy

Rachel Theodorakis
Nurture Series IV

Thomas Thorby-Lister
Untitled (Gesture 02)

Leanne Tobin
Are You Listening Now?

Gauri Torgalkar
Wollemi Paths – Walking with Others

Datsun Tran
Ember

Kin Kwok Tsang
No passengers

Yvette Tziallas
Lacrimo

Tim Van
Man in the Arena

Roshin Vatta Parambath
Are You Really Ok

Lachlan Warner
Portrait of a Tibetan Buddhist Monk

Nicole Welsh
Still Human

Sally West
The Bus Depot

Patrice Wills
Elder (Portrait of Wes Marne with Grandchild Jack)

Mel Jane Wilson
Surges

Dawei Xu
The 19th Earth

Aliki Yiorkas
Waiting for Ava

Kayo Yokoyama
Homeland – Belong

Fozia Zahid
Street Life of Blacktown City …

We have an exciting program coming up in February – April 2021 including Choose Your Fighter, an exhibition about placemaking by local young people, POWER, an exhibition of capes made by Dennis Golding and students of Alexandria Park Community School, a major survey of Faraimo Paulo’s work called Eleni – Navigators of Polynesia and film, video and sound artist Darrin Baker’s exhibition Pemulwuy and the Naming of Things.

Choose Your Fighter: An exhibition exploring world-building, placemaking and code-switching, bringing together the work of young people local to the Blacktown area. Click here to learn more.
6 to 27 February 2021

POWER: As the artist in residence for Solid Ground, Dennis Golding worked with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students at Alexandria Park Community School to create 100 superhero capes depicting visual representations of connections to Country, memory, heritage and lived experience. Click here to learn more.
6 February – 13 March 2021

Pemulwuy and the Naming of Things: Film, video and sound artist Darrin Baker explores the history of the western Sydney suburb Pemulwuy – and the stories of the Bidjigal man and resistance leader for whom the suburb is named – in this multiscreen, surround sound installation. Click here to learn more.
13 February to 27 March 2021

Eleni: Navigators of Polynesia: As emigration and rising water levels from global warming threaten to erase the traditional Tokelauan lifestyle, Faraimo Paulo has embarked on a mission to realistically capture on canvas the culture, stories and scenes of Tokelauan society, often using his family members as models. This exhibition represents a major survey of Faraimo Paulo’s recent work. Click here to learn more.
6 March – 3 April 2021

Click here to check out our full program.

Images:
Left to right:
1. This engraving by James Grant of ‘Pimbloy’ is believed to be the only known depiction of Pemulwuy (illustration courtesy National Library of Australia, from Grant’s ‘The narrative of a voyage of discovery, performed in His Majesty’s vessel the Lady Nelson, of sixty tons burthen, with sliding keels, in the years 1800, 1801 and 1802, to New South Wales’, 1803 – nla.cat-vn2312357)

2. Amy Toma in costume from Say Swear workshop series at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre, September 2020. Photograph by Jade D’Amico

3. Courtesy of Faraimo Paulo

4. The Block by Dennis Golding

One hundred and thirteen artworks from across Australia have been chosen as finalists in this year’s Blacktown City Art Prize. The works will be competing for a total prize pool of $20,000, and will be part of the exhibition at The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre from 28 November 2020 to 28 January 2021.

Of the finalists, 25% are artworks by Blacktown City residents, and will be eligible for the Local Artist Prize. Ten per cent are by Aboriginal artists, and will be eligible for the Aboriginal Artist Prize.

The works were judged by a panel comprising Kyra Kum-Sing (Artist and Curator, Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-operative), Pedro de Almeida (Senior Curator, C3West at Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney) and Cath Barcan (Artist and Head Teacher of Visual Arts, Nepean Arts & Design Centre, TAFE NSW-Kingswood).

A record number of 893 entries were received this year – a 69% increase on the number of entries received in 2019. Entries were received from 660 artists across Australia, ranging from painting and drawing to sculpture, ceramics and mixed media.

Please see the full list of 2020 Blacktown City Art Prize finalists below.

Marian Abboud
Juice

Erandi Amarasinghe
Commuters No.2

Lauren Ami
Rego

Felicia Aroney
Everything Green

Vanessa Ashcroft
Road trip to Blayney

Walter Auer
Memory 1

Karima Baadilla
Blue Robe

Min Woo Bang
Uncertain Sky (Jindabyne)

Debra Beale
Series of 3 – LAYERS

Robert Bennetts
Suburban Musing

Liam Benson
Deliquescent Jack

Karen Bloomfield
Desire VS Reality

Joe Blundell
Sunset through Bracken

Linda Brescia
Peggy

Alexandra Byrne
Other Stories

Kristone Capistrano
Portrait of a Man

Russell Carey
Dodge

Isabella Carturan
Poppies

Darren Charlwood
Mismanagement

Graham Cheney
Auntie Rita Wright

Gabrielle Courtenay
The Guardian

Carolyn Craig
Mining the Sublime: The Fold

Rob Davis
Am I Not A Man & A Brother

Travis De Vries
Journey to Water Totem

Tamara Dean
Fleeting

Niek Dingemans
Recalibration

Paula do Prado
Vuelo/Flight

Rosalie Duligal
After the Ball

Nicolle Duncan
Coolamon: Cradle of Life

Azarmidokht Elahi
Covid19 Plus Quarantine Equals to Toilet Paper

David El-Melky
Mayor of Blacktown City

Vanessa Encarnacao
Crocheted Camouflage 2

Dongwang Fan
Pandemic Body

Nick Ferguson
Three Swimmers (The Flicker)

Jason Fitzgerald
Concertinaed Technicolor

Stan Florek
Deputation

Cameron Forsyth
Cheeseburger with Extra Pixels

Hayley Megan French
The Pipeline Polaroids (Guildford 15)

Sarah Frost
Filter

Lisa Giles
Lockdown 1

Minka Gillian
Personal Icon Rainbow

Carmen Glynn-Braun
In the Eye of the Beholder

Dennis Golding
From Home to Home

Rachel Govett
Let me carry your burden

Naomi Grant
Twists and Turns

Alannah Grasso
Tortellini

Amala Groom
ADMINAUSTRALIA NSW

Amber Hammad
Decolonizing Cook

Orson Heidrich
Fold

Nick Heynsbergh
When I was in grade 6, the ‘cool’ guys would corner me and my best friend and throw us against the back of the portables, insisting that we were gay. I didn’t even know what ‘gay’ meant.

Annarie Hildebrand
Silver Dollars and Blushing Bride Composition

Jude Hungerford
Desert Monuments

Pleasance Ingle
Best in Show series, Blue Jacket

Jennifer Jackson
Histories Strara

Lauren Johnson
Awah

Locust Jones
Bethlehem Diary

Lea Kannar-Lichtenberger
Stingray Bay Mangrove Series – Into the Light

Ben Kenning
Displaced Persons II

Samia Khan
Belonging 2

Mada Krivoruchko
Badger

Ruth Le Cheminant
Covid19 series – A Study in Contemplation

Hyun Hee Lee
Nothingness

Lee Leibrandt
Oh hi 2020

Anne Leisner
Light Rail Roadworks

Catherine Leung
The Road in Between

Songshi Li
Landscape

Erin Litschauer
The Shed Floor

Gabriella Lo Presti
On the slope of the embankment, angels swirl their woolen dresses through pastures of steel and emerald

Margaret Lopez
2766 the New 90210 Gang

Carmel Mackie
Cheeky Gang Gang

Paul Maher
Morning steps through the trees – Boomerang Beach

Nic Mason
Straining the Lot

Asma D. Mather
From what the River knows (a contemplation)

Simon McGrath
For Lease

Dani McKenzie
Storm Rolling In

Paul McKnight
Stocks & Nougat

Tanika Meeks
Unprecedented

Heidi Melamed
Combine Panel Bubble Gum Blue Set

Ray Monde
We Emerged Blinking in the Daylight

Rodney Moss
Emerging from Isolation

Terry Murphy
Summer 2019

Barbara Newton
It’s That Kinda Day

Adam Norton
Red Star

Holly Oakley
Bear of Unity

Peter Op’t Land
Parramatta

Raven Pajarillaga
By Chance in the West

Jasmine Poole and Chris Sewell
I have something to tell you

Jian Hua Qian
Through

Nikita Redkar
Lucas

Peter Rush
Know Justice

Khaled Sabsabi
The Prophet

Julie Scifo
Penrith station through dirty window for the department of infrastructure, transport, regional development and communications

Roqayya Shehata
Self Portrait

An Sheng
Worry (Self-portrait in front of the webcam)

Marija Skroza
Salmon Still Life

Melissa Smith
Drawn to Listen Closely

Lauri Smith
Shadow Self

Sara Sohrabian
First Six Months of Love

Sara Sohrabian
“Heechestan” (Nothingness)

Rosalind Stanley
And so It Grows

Sally Stokes
Among the Milky Trunks

Abdullah Syed M. I.
Capital Couture: AMIS 5AU$ Outdoor Coat after Renouf Rig Diplomatic Uniform proposed by Alan Renouf, the former Australian Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs

Reza Taghipour
Melting

Anna Tebar
New Beginnings

Thomas Thorby-Lister
Untitled (Rolling Tide)

Yvette-Marie Tziallas
Lost in Abstract

Damien Van der Meer
L-FRESH The LION

Jay Wassell
Recycled memories

Zoe Watson
Lucid Gaze

Debbey Watson
Ruminations

Shaun Wilson
The Climate Refugees

Jason Wing
Captain James Crook

Leon Zhan
AirDrop