OBSERVER: New $1m contribution to Bowness Prize
Submissions are now open for the 20th anniversary of the Bowness Photography Prize.
There have been major uplifts to the prize, making it secure for future generations, and which see it becoming the richest cash prize for photography in the country.
A substantial philanthropic gift from the Bowness Family Foundation has enabled these developments.
Theree will be a richer prize offering, with $50,000 for the winner and $2500 cash prizes for two Honourable Mentions. The fund also enables loan fees for all shortlisted artists.
In 2006 a gift from the Bowness family established the William and Winifred Bowness Photography Prize: a landmark art prize that was the first of its kind in Australia championing photography as an artform.
The gift to the Museum of Australian Photography Foundation (then Monash Gallery of Art Foundation) set up and secured a $10,000 annual prize, open to all Australian artists working with photography. The prize increased over time to $30,000 per annum.
In the 20 years since its establishment more than 12,000 artists Australia-wide have been inspired to submit entries into the prize. Over 1000 artists’ works have been displayed at the annual exhibition of finalists, with 20 of these acquired by MAPh for its permanent collection.
A total of $507,000 in prize money has been awarded to the annual winning artists, recognising excellence and innovation, and supporting their ongoing practice.
Having witnessed its far-reaching impact over two decades, MAPh, the MAPh Foundation and the Bowness family recognise the impact a prize can have on artists and their practice.
Past prize winners have included local and internationally renowned artists such as Hoda Afshar, Pat Brassington, Amos Gebhardt, Petrina Hicks, Christian Thompson and Anne Zahalka.
A new $1million philanthropic gift from the Bowness Family Foundation will reinforce the prominence of the prize and cement the importance of photography into the future by supporting a number of new initiatives.
Submissions close Friday, June 13.