Maritime art on again at the Mission

Entries for the Mission to Seafarers annual ANL Maritime Art Prize and Exhibition close on August 30.

Stories of life at sea are seafarer stories and the Mission to Seafarers Victoria hears them every day. Maritime art is a genre significant to Australians, as the sea embraces it with 25,760 km of coastline.

It is for this reason that the theme for the 2019 ANL Maritime Art Prize is The Relationship of Humanity and the Sea.

The prize attracts around 300 entries every year, with a final selection of 80 artworks, that compete for five awards including the major Maritime Art Prize, Best in Traditional, Runners Up Award, Emerging Artist and the People’s Choice.

The Maritime Art Prize is an acquisitive award of $15,000, sponsored by ANL Containers.

Among the traditional beauty of oil paintings and watercolours of maritime subjects in the exhibition, last year’s winners demonstrated a move to include more contemporary works, with the overall winner being a mixed media work by Joni Dennis with a feminist representation of women ship’s captains.

This year’s judges are:

Dr Charles Green – professor of contemporary art at the University of Melbourne, artist and author of several books on contemporary Australian art;

Mr Graeme H Williams OAM – art collector, board member of the Lorne Sculpture Biennale 2020 and past curator of Melbourne Savage Club Art Prizes; and

Ms Catherine De Boer – artist, designer and educator.

The event aims to raise the profile of our international seafarers and is the fundraising initiative of the Mission to Seafarers. The longevity of the prize, which has now been running for 17 years, is evidence of the recognition of both artists and the public have for the reputation of the prize.

Entries are now open and close on August 30. The 80 finalists will be notified on September 7 and the exhibition will launch on October 3. The finalists will be exhibited to public from October 4 to 20.

For more information email [email protected] or visit missiontoseafarers.com.au/art-prize