Art Prize

Art Prize Team

• Sandra Murray

  Sandra is a leading independent curator, arts consultant and artist mentor. She has a depth of experience in working with artists, collections, and exhibitions, including directing and curating for art and museum institutions in WA and NSW, and has worked in the public, corporate, not-for-profit, and private sectors.

  Sandra has project managed and curated over 60 art and museum exhibitions. She holds a Bachelor of Honours in Art History and Theory, and a Master of Philosophy.

• Following the close of entries, the independent Selection Panel will meet to select finalists from the submitted artworks.

  Di Cubitt

  Di Cubitt is a visual artist originally from the U.K., living in Perth since the nineties. She holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts with Honours from Curtin University where she now works as an Academic (Drawing and Painting). She has held five solo exhibitions, taken part in over 50 group shows, and been a finalist in numerous art awards. Her work is held in several WA collections including the Town of Victoria Park, City of Belmont and Curtin University and she is represented in Perth by Stala Contemporary.

  Richard Gunning

  Richard Gunning is an established Perth based artist with a Bachelor of Arts in Fine Art from Curtin University and post-graduate studies completed at the Central School of Art and Design, London. Since 1984 he has held eight solo exhibitions and been a finalist in numerous art prizes. He is represented in all the major collections in WA including the Art Gallery of Western Australia, the University of Western Australia, Wesfarmers and  Bankwest. He currently lectures at North Metropolitan TAFE while continuing his studio practice.

  Karen Morgan

  After an extensive professional arts career in the Kimberley Region, Karen Morgan moved to the South West to work in the arts where she is the Noongar Arts Coordinator for Bunbury Regional Art Gallery. She holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from Edith Cowan University and is a practising artist, based at Studio Mandurah. Previously she was Regional Coordinator, Creative and Cultural Industries, Kimberley Training Institute, and worked at Yawuru Corporation and Nagula Jarndu, Broome.

• The independent judges will select the winning artworks for each prize category.

  Michelle Broun

  Michelle Broun is a proud Yindjibarndi women living on Whadjuk Noongar Country.  She is a highly respected curator, creative producer and cultural planner. She was Lead Curator of Ngalang Koort Boodja Wirn (Our Heart Land and Spirit), at WA Museum Boola Bardip. At John Curtin Gallery she curated Carrolup Coolinagh Wirn – the spirit of Carrolup, and Tracing the Art of a Stolen Generation – the child artists Carrolup which toured to the Portico Library, Manchester and The University of Glasgow in 2022. In 2024 she is undertaking a major thesis at Deakin University to complete her Masters of Cultural Heritage and Museums Studies.

  Paul Kaptein

  Paul Kaptein is a highly respected contemporary WA artist whose practice incorporates sculpture, drawing, animation and sound. He studied at Claremont School of Art and Curtin University, and has won prestigious awards including the Joondalup Invitational Art Prize, the Mid-West Art Prize and the Mandorla Art Award.

  He has exhibited widely in WA, interstate and internationally, with work held in public and private collections including the Brooklyn Art Library, City of Joondalup, City of Wanneroo, Edith Cowan University, Horn Collection, New Norcia Museum, North Metropolitan TAFE, Royal Perth Hospital, and the University of Western Australia. In 2020 he received the Syndicate Commission to produce a series of life-size sculptures.

  Hannah Mathews

  Hannah Mathews is Director/CEO of the Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA). Over the last 20 years she has held key curatorial positions at Monash University Museum of Art, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, Next Wave, The South Project and the Biennale of Sydney. Recent curatorial projects include Shelley Lasica: WHEN I AM NOT THERE (2022); Vivienne Binns: On and through the surface (2022); D Harding: Through a lens of visitation (2021); Agatha Gothe-Snape: The Outcome is Certain (2020). She holds a Master of Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne and has undertaken curatorial residencies in New York, Berlin, Tokyo and Venice.