Published on Thursday, 19 June 2025 at 9:03:01 AM
The Mid West Art Prize is a prestigious art exhibition, now in its ninth year, held biennially at the Geraldton Regional Art Gallery.
GALA OPENING NIGHT: SATURDAY 6pm-9:30pm, 22 November 2025
EXHIBITION DATES: 22 November 2025 to 26 January 2026
The Mid West Art Prize is the Geraldton Regional Art Gallery's biennial Art Prize. This exhibition features a diverse survey of Western Australian Contemporary Artists.
The Prize presents a unique opportunity for artists across WA to exhibit their work in the A-Class Gallery, formerly the Town Hall of Geraldton, accessing a unique audience of both local residents and the vast number of tourists travelling through the region.
With a history dating back to 2011, when the first Mid West Art Prize was held, the Gallery has seen hundreds of works from high-profile artists exhibited in the space. Throughout this time, the $20,000 Acquisitive Award has been a valuable contribution by the City of Greater Geraldton, illustrating the commitment by the City to support Arts and Cultural Creatives. Through this, the City of Greater Geraldton Art Collection has grown to include a variety of unique artworks. $20,000 Acquisitive Prize + six more award Categories.
The Prize receives a high quantity of entries, requiring a rigorous shortlisting process held by external judges. Once finalist artworks are curated in the space, the final award judges are invited to view the exhibition and select the winners of the various prizes. All judges are external to the Gallery and the City, providing their valuable expertise and industry experience to the selections.
Award Categories
City of Greater Geraldton Overall Acquisitive Award ($20,000 cash prize)
Kathleen Maree Sorensen, for the artwork ‘Tuwa (Sandhills)’
City of Greater Geraldton Aboriginal Art Award ($5,000 cash prize)
Daniel Shiosaki, for the artwork ‘When Cultures Collide’
Mid West Development Commission Mid West Artist Award ($5,000 cash prize)
Chris Bolton, for the artwork ‘Unhoused/Unheard’
Regional Arts WA Emerging Artist Fellowship ($3000)
Jacob Mangan
Bowman-Bright Young Artist Award ($500 cash prize, $500 materials prize, and shortlisting for the Act Belong Commit Youth Ambassador through The North Midlands Project)
Willow Mcauliffe, for the artwork ‘Touch, Don’t Look’
Melissa Price MP Packers Award ($1,500 cash prize)
Dominique Coffait, for the artwork ‘Love Your Bush; Geraldton to Mount Magnet Road, by Mullewa – October’
Durlacher Dental Care People’s Choice Prize ($1,500 cash prize)
Voting will be open to the public and available to all visitors to the exhibition. The winner of this award will be announced at the close of the exhibition.
Award Judges
Helen Mathie
Partnerships and Projects at Art Collective WA
Helen Mathie is an accomplished Western Australian arts and culture project manager, cultivating productive and diverse relationships while developing and managing unique programs. Her dedication to the visual arts and her efforts to educate the public about the positive impacts of engaging with art, fuel her work.
Her career highlights include overseeing Projects and Partnerships at Art Collective WA, managing the Artist Fund at the Minderoo Foundation, and coordinating the Invitation Art Prize for the City of Joondalup. Helen currently serves as the Art Curator at Perth Children's Hospital and volunteers her time fundraising for a not-for-profit arts organisation.
Brent Harrison
Assistant Curator of The University of Western Australia Art Collection
Brent Harrison is a curator based in Boorloo (Perth). Since graduating with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) from Curtin University, he has worked at Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA), Kerry Stokes Collection, Art Gallery of Western Australia and Goolugatup Heathcote Gallery. Recent curatorial projects include de-centre re-centre (co-curated with Theo Costantino, Lee Kinsella and Christine Tomas, Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, 2025), and Hatched: National Graduate Show 2024 (PICA). He has participated in the Perth Centre for Photography’s Curatorial Considerations program, Ballarat International Foto Biennale’s In Focus Curator Forum and the Australia Council’s Venice Biennale Professional Development Program. He currently works as the Assistant Curator of The University of Western Australia Art Collection at Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery.
Headshot Credit: ILKKA K.
Gemma Ben-Ary
Curator and Chairperson of Art on the Move
Gemma Ben-Ary, b. 1978, is a curator and visual artist based in Darlington, where she is working on a number of independent projects, as well as at the City of Melville as the Visual Arts Programs - Public Art Curator and holds the position of Chairperson of Art on the Move. Holding a Bachelor of Arts at Edith Cowan University (Writing and Visual Arts), she is working towards a Master of Business (Arts & Cultural Management) at Deakin University, and draws from extensive experience in the field, having held several leadership and curatorial positions in local government and the non-profit sector over the past decade.
As an artist, her practice is grounded in feminist theory, eco-feminism, and contemporary craft. As a curator, Gemma’s guiding passion is for the development of contemporary Western Australian art that pushes boundaries and engages audiences through compelling storytelling.
𝗠𝗶𝗱 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗿𝘁 𝗣𝗿𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀
Many thanks to all who entered, with 64 finalists selected from all over Western Australia.
2025’s Short List Selection Panel, consisting of Laetitia Wilson (PICA Exhibition Manager), Darren Jorgensen (Art History Lecturer at University of Western Australia) and Liz Cartell (Arts Manager).
Adam Hisham Ismail • Andrew McDonald with Simone Lobbia • Annie Enslin • Barbara O'donovan • Cam Fitzgerald • Caroline Arnold • Caroline Christie-Coxon • Charmaine Ball • Chris Bolton • Claire Lawson • Clare McFarlane • Daniel Shiosaki • Debbie Crothers • Diana Neggo • Dominique Coiffait • Donelle Halligan • Eliza Thomas • Elizabeth McLean • Emmaline James • Geoff Overheu • Geoffrey Wake • Jacob Mangan • Jane Barndon • Jane Grierson • Jane Ryan • Jeana Castelli • Jennifer Cochrane • Jeremy Blank • Jo Wood • Joanne Fowler • Joyce James • Judy Rogers • Karin Tennberg • Karl Monaghan • Kathleen Maree Sorensen • Kayla McMillan • Kennedy Finlay • Kimberly Stuart • Lori Pensini • Maria Campbell • Mark Miragliotta • Min Adlide • Olga Cironis • Owen John Biljabu • Peta Riley • Possum Rose • Rebecca Ryan • Richard Aitken • Ron Bradfield Jnr • Sally Capewell • Samantha Dennison • Sara Walker • Saskia Lopes • Shanti Gelmi • Sheree Dohnt • Shin-I Tang • Taileah Isaacs • Tania Corunna • Tatiana Amaral • Tineke Van Der Eecken • Valerie Schönjahn • Vania Lawson • Wiggy Mitsuda • Willow Mcauliffe
Thank you to our Mid West Art Prize partners and sponsors for 2025:
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