2024 NAS Awards Recipients

2024 NAS Awards Recipients

On Tuesday 10 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

Clitheroe Foundation Scholarship
($20,000) 
Sarah R. Serfati
Lift Off Award ($20,000) Benjamin Akuila
Standish and Co. Scholarship ($5,000 and $5,000 voucher) Chile Bainbridge
Fire Up Award ($5,000)  Caleb Slater
East Sydney Doctors Scholarship (2 x $2,500)  Elena Larkin and Ellen McCalmont
Fire Up Award Highly Commended ($1,000) Megan McKenzie
National Art School Aboriginal Art Centre Internship (10-week internship)  Cassi Elliott and Freyja Fristad
Tweed Regional Gallery & Margaret Olley Art Centre Nancy Fairfax (AIR) Award
(Residency/Exhibition) 
Oliver Abbott

Art History and Theory 

Brandon Trakman Memorial Prize for Art History and Theory Highly Commended ($500)  Genevieve Jobes
Brandon Trakman Memorial Prize for Art History and Theory ($2,000)  Sarah R. Serfati

Ceramics

Australian Ceramics Association Prize
(Membership) 
Chrystie Longworth and Alexandra Darling
Claypool Award
(Membership)
Sylvia Zi
Parkers Sydney Fine Art Ceramic Award
($500 voucher) 
Nikita Maricic
Kil.n.It Award
(2 x $500 voucher) 
Benjamin Akuila and Harriet Clark
Gallery Lane Cove + Creative Studios Ceramics Award
(Studio)
Marina Kawabe
Sabbia Gallery Exhibition Prize
(Exhibition) 
Megan McKenzie and Chrystie Longworth
Matilda Kubany-Deane Ceramics Prize 
($1,000) 
Megan McKenzie
N.E. Pethebridge Award BFA 
($1,000) 
Sandra Van Tilburg
N.E. Pethebridge Award MFA
(2 x $1,500) 
Benjamin Akuila and Chrystie Longworth

Drawing

Parkers Sydney Fine Art Drawing Award
($500 voucher) 
Samuel Chan
John Olsen Family Prize for Drawing Highly Commended ($500)
Isabella Bendeich
John Olsen Family Prize for Drawing ($2,000)  Alexia Fisher
The Bonner and Tonkin Drawing Prize 
($1,000) 
Ellen McCalmont
Anne Pata Memorial Drawing Award
($2,000) 
Marko Karanfilovski
Prix Yves Hernot Drawing Award
($1,000)
Artemesia Cornett
Bettina McMahon Drawing Prize ($3,000) William Potanin
The Kaye Shumack Sunflower Drawing Prize
($3,000)
Quan Zhu Ma

Painting

Parkers Sydney Fine Art Studio Art Award
($500 voucher) 
Heidi Machamer
John McCaughey Prize
($850) 
Olivia Campton-Smith
The Derivan Acrylics Award for Excellence in Painting
($1,000 voucher) 
Lily Mortensen
Troy Quinliven Exhibition Award Highly Commended
($1,000 voucher) 
Luka Orlandini
Troy Quinliven Exhibition Award
($2,000 voucher and exhibition) 
Conrad Moss
Bettina McMahon Painting Prize
($3,000) 
Samantha Klein

Photomedia

Kayell Australia Photography Award
($300 voucher) 
Gabriella Boyd
Prix Yves Hernot Photography Award
($2,000) 
James Little
Joel Corrigan Memorial Photography Award
($2,000) 
Alexandra Wong

Printmaking

Ellen Lee O’Shaughnessy Printmaking Award
(2 x $250) 
William Potanin and Josie Kearney
Artscene Printmaking Prize
(2 x $125 voucher) 
Jodie Boffa-Mcgrath and Eleanor Harris
Parkers Sydney Fine Art Printmaking Award
($500 voucher) 
Sarah Wadey
Gallery Lane Cove and Creative Studios Printmaking Award (Studio)  Lucy Bird
Megalo Studio and Gallery Residency Award
(Residency)
Jessica Tapp
Bettina McMahon Printmaking Prize (2 x $1,500) Ziggy Grana and Edwina Barton

Sculpture

Parker’s Sydney Fine Art Sculpture Award
($500 voucher) 
Maram Hassan Al-Zaidi
Mega Exhibition Award (Exhibition)  Amelia Rose and Samuel Chan
Minvera Sculpture Prize ($500)  Amelia Rose
Dr John Vallance Prize for Sculpture
(5 x $200) 
Joel Sanders-Agius
River Wright
Milla Watts
Sarah Parker
Rose Blunt
Sculpture by the Sea Prize
(2 x $500) 
Olivia Lindgaard and Ruby Quoyle

Open Awards

NAVA Ignition Prize for Excellence in Professional Practice
(Membership) 
Gitte Backhausen
Studio W Exhibition Prize
(Exhibition) 
Marie Hiot
Schmick Contemporary Exhibition Prize
(Exhibition) 
Ruby McVicar and Madison Scott
The Foundations Squatters Residency
(Residency) 
Quan Zhu Ma
Harvey Galleries National Art School Exhibition Prize
(Exhibition)
Mark Friezer
James Gardiner
Chrystie Longworth
Matthew Lorrimer
Brooke Marchel
Harry Merriman
Adelash Parsons
Jed Payten
Bronwyn Vaughan
Sophie Victoria
Eleanor Wickens
Shirley Randell Student Award
($1,000) 
Grace Buckley
NAS Library Artists’ Book Annual Award Grad/Postgrad ($500 and membership Grad, $750 and membership Postgrad) Imogen Rowe (Grad) and Stephanie Houghton (Postgrad)
#Follow us on Instagram
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
Loading...