judges

 

The judges for the 2020 Stanthorpe Art Prize are Rachael Parsons and Simon Wright.

 
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Rachael Parsons

Art Museum Director, New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM).

Rachael is an Australian curator, educator and academic currently based at New England Regional Art Museum as the Art Museum Director.

For over 12 years, she has worked as an independent and institutional curator within university, commercial, public and artists run spaces. Her recent experience includes being the Manager, Exhibitions and Curatorial at New England Regional Art Museum where she delivered multiple programs including curating HINTON: Treasures of Australian Art, a permanent salon display exhibition from NERAM’s Howard Hinton Collection.

Prior to coming to NERAM Rachael was the Curator for Digital Media at QUT Precincts (Queensland University of Technology), where she curated and managed their exhibition program focused on contemporary digital, new media and technology based creative practice. Rachael also curated the inaugural exhibition program at Side Gallery, was co-director of Vegas Spray, director of the Brisbane Experimental Arts Festival and has been an arts educator since 2008, tutoring in a range of art theory and Creative Industries subjects at Queensland University of Technology.

 
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SIMON WRIGHT

Assistant Director, Learning & Public Engagement, Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA)

PICKING WINNERS

Art Prizes are a vital sign of our community’s cultural health. They are valuable forums for participants, starting with the submission process itself, often an important but overlooked moment to galvanise a practice, where an artist really needs to take stock, define and professionally present their case to best effect. Exhibitions programmed around a prize structure also add to an invited artist’s cache (or brand) and confidence. They are catalysts for local government hosts, sparking regional media and sponsor opportunities that showcase their support within the community. Visitors also love to see competitive forums and to understand something of how winners gain recognition. Perhaps the most dynamic prize a project like the Stanthorpe Art Prize offers is to the region itself… there is no other form of show I can think of that is essentially so focussed on participatory inclusion… this is exactly the forum where everyone who visits should have and hold an opinion, about why it is they prefer one work over another, and to see the contest of ideas in action! After all, everyone should win something from the experience… so get your judgey hat on and enjoy picking your winner from the show!