2023 NAS Awards Recipients

2023 NAS Awards Recipients

On Tuesday 5 December, the National Art School celebrated the achievements and success of our students through awarding of prizes and scholarships. We would like to congratulate the award recipients for their hard work, and thank our lecturers and technicians for their outstanding dedication and commitment to each and every student.

All of the prizes and scholarships awarded have been generously provided by our benefactors and sponsors, and we also thank you for your support.

Major Awards

Bird Holcomb Foundation Scholarship
($20,000)
Zoe MacPhail
Clitheroe Foundation Scholarship
($20,000) 
Alicia Finney
East Sydney Doctors Scholarship
1st Year MFA student
($5,000) 
Emilee Robinson
Mark Henry Cain Memorial Travel Scholarship
($10,00) 
Aislinn Connolly
Lift Off Award
($20,000)
Tara McIntosh
National Art School Aboriginal Art Centre Internship
(10 week internship) 
Bronte Whittle
Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre Nancy Fairfax (AIR) Award
(Residency/Exhibition) 
Minghua Xiang

 

Standish and Co. Scholarship 
($10,000 and $5,000 voucher)
Aldi Difinubun
British School at Rome 
(Residency)
Harry De Vries

Art History and Theory 

Brandon Trakman Memorial Prize for Art History and Theory
($2,500) 
Ellen McCalmont and Mary Stack

Ceramics

Australian Ceramics Association Prize
(Membership) 
Tina Wheatley and Jen Lennon
Claypool Award
(Membership)
Yulin Hao
Parkers Sydney Fine Art Ceramic Award
($500 voucher) 
Marc Okeil
Kil.n.It Award
($500 voucher each) 
Tina Wheatley and Kenya Peterson
Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios Ceramics Award
(Studio)
Natalie Ayoub
Sabbia Gallery Exhibition Prize
(Exhibition) 
Alex Bray
N.E. Pethebridge Award BFA 
($1,000) 
Naomi McCurdie
N.E. Pethebridge Award MFA
($1,000) 
Christian Bonett
Matilda Kubany-Deane Ceramics Prize 
($1000) 
 Alexia Fisher

Drawing

Parkers Sydney Fine Art Drawing Award
($500 voucher) 
Aislinn Connolly
John Olsen Prize for Drawing
(Highly Commended, $500)
Bethany Shanahan
John Olsen Prize for Drawing
($2,000) 
Telma Gonzalez Garcia
The Bonner and Tonkin Drawing Prize 
($1,000) 
Artemesia Cornett
Anne Pata Memorial Drawing Award
($2,000) 
Naomi McCurdie
James Ballaam Elsley Memorial Prize for Excellence in Drawing
($2,500)
Andre De Vanny
The Kaye Shumack Sunflower Drawing Prize
($3,000)
Joyce Lubotzky

Painting

Parkers Sydney Fine Art Studio Art Award
($500 voucher) 
Lucy Humphries
Parkers Sydney Fine Art Painting Award
($1,000 voucher) 
Ben Fayle
John McCaughey Prize
($700) 
Raneth Pich
The Derivan Acrylics Award for Excellence in Painting
($1,000 voucher) 
Jaime Kraussman
Troy Quinliven Exhibition Award
($2,000 voucher) 
Shae Cherie
James Ballaam Elsley Memorial Prize for Excellence in Painting
($2,500) 
Rebecca Fernon
COSO Architecture Landscape Prize
($3,000)
Gemma Marchant-William
s

Photomedia

Kayell Australia Photography Award
($500 voucher) 
Lindsay Hickling
Prix Yves Hernot Photography Award
($2,000) 
Samantha Jade
Joel Corrigan Memorial Photography Award
($2,000) 
Aldi Difinubun

Printmaking

Ellen Lee O’Shaughnessy Printmaking Award
($500) 
Jodie Boffa-McGrath and Sarah Wadey
Artscene Printmaking Prize
($500 voucher each) 
Alice Martin and Stella Bennett
Parkers Sydney Fine Art Printmaking Award
($500 voucher) 
Guinevere Randall
Gallery Lane Cove and Creative Studios Printmaking Award (Studio)  Joshua Copland-Nielsen
Megalo Studio and Gallery Residency Award
(Residency)
Keely Clarke

Sculpture

Barnes Prize for Sculpture
(Prize pack) 
Anthea Duffy
Parker’s Sydney Fine Art Sculpture Award
($500 voucher) 
Diana Ng
The Ethan Frome Sculpture Exhibition Prize
(Exhibition) 
Anthea Duffy, Grace Lee and Pascal Ross
Dr John Vallance Prize for Sculpture
2nd year student
($1,000) 
Kika Baker, Samuel Chan and Amelia Rose
Sculpture by the Sea Prize
($1,000) 
Harper Baigent and Luis Gregory

Open Awards

Ignition Prize for Excellence in Professional Practice
(Membership) 
Alex Bray
Studio W Exhibition Prize
(Exhibition) 
Jake Bartley
Schmick Contemporary Exhibition Prize
(Exhibition) 
Grace Lee
Dominik Mersch Gallery Award
(Exhibition) 
Anna Mould
The Squatters Residency
(Residency) 
Alison Smith
Harvey Galleries National Art School Exhibition Prize
(Exhibition)
Jake Bartley
Christian Bonett
Keely Clarke
Bree Cribbin
Stephanie Eather
Ben Fayle
Eva Huang
Samantha Jade
Naomi McKean
Gemma Williams
Shirley Randell Student Award
($1,000) 
Kyiesha Booth
NAS Library Artists’ Book Annual Award BFA/MFA ($500 and membership BFA, $750 and membership MFA) Guinevere Randall (BFA) Christian Bonett (MFA)
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Art Club is our high school student program for 15-17 year olds, designed to enhance and extend students’ technical, conceptual, and intellectual skills, through intensive practical study in the disciplines offered at NAS as well as engaging in an experience of our studios and campus, under the expert direction of experienced artists.

Set your child on a creative path with Art Club. 

Learn more at the link in bio.
Thank you to everyone who attended the opening night of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize and congratulations again to the prize winner NAS alumna Rosemary Lee.

The 24th Dobell Drawing Prize is now open until Saturday 21 June 2025
11am – 5pm Monday to Saturday 
NAS Gallery 
Free admission, all welcome

Learn more about the exhibition at the link in bio.
We are delighted to announce NAS alumna Rosemary Lee as the winner of the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, Australia’s leading prize for drawing, worth $30,000.

Selected from 56 nationwide finalists, and 965 entries, Rosemary’s work will become part of the National Art School’s significant collection, built over the past 120 years. Rosemary, in her winning work 24-1 (2024), observes tonal and compositional profundity in everyday life.

The judging panel comprising acclaimed First Nations artist Vernon Ah Kee, Paula Latos-Valier AM, Trustee and Art Director of the Sir William Dobell Art Foundation, and Dr Yolunda Hickman, Head of Postgraduate Studies, National Art School, commented of Rosemary’s work: “The decision to award the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize to Rosemary Lee for the work ‘24-1’ was unanimous. We were most impressed by the level of visual intensity the artist has achieved in this work both through its vibrant colour and in the extraordinary detail of the composition. The artwork’s exploration of the urban landscape and gentrification of the Sydney suburbs of Ashfield and Summer Hill, has produced an image capturing a broader sense of transience and the omnipresence of construction sites in our cities today. It questions the cultural and historical value of place, through the lens of the artist’s personal connection.” 

See Lee’s work alongside the work of the other finalists in the 24th Dobell Drawing Prize, 11 April – 21 June 2025, NAS Gallery
—
Left to right: NAS Director and CEO, Dr Kristen Sharp with artist Rosemary Lee, featuring winning artwork 24–1, 2024, pencil on paper, image courtesy the artist and National Art School Gallery © the artist, photograph: Peter Morgan
Introducing the National Art School Short Courses Program from July–December 2025

Whether you’re a beginner, rediscovering a past passion, refining your skills, or considering our Fine Arts degree, the short courses offer a stimulating and rewarding experience for all levels.

Our 2025 program begins in July with Winter School, followed by Term Three, Spring Weekend Workshops in September, and Term Four in October.

Learn more and enrol at the link in bio.
Making Sound is a performance event featuring four artists who make devices that make sound, including Gary Warner, Pia van Gelder, Ben Denham and Sean O’Connell, presented following Facture: Drawing Symposium 2025, Saturday 12 April 5-6pm. 

Gary Warner creates an improvised soundfield with his ‘aleatoric ensemble’ autonomous sound machines, a collection of modified turntables that spin ad-hoc bric-a-brac assemblages.

Pia van Gelder (pictured) amplifies an electronic circuit as it is built in real-time. Under the moniker of “PvG sans PCB,” in these performances, van Gelder works on a breadboard with electronic components and additional found objects to demonstrate the electronic variabilities produced in the material world.

Ben Denham and Sean O’Connell perform together with handmade synthesizer systems that sense and sonify barometric pressure and the flow of electrons through matter.

Purchase your tickets to the symposium at the link in bio.
—
Pia van Gelder, 'sans PCB', 2021, performance, Collings Creative, image courtesy and © the artist
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