The Metro Gallery award, now in it's eighth year, is Australia's richest art award for emerging Australian artists. It has helped launched the careers of several past winners including Ben Quilty, Jackson Slattery and Sam Leach.

Former Victorian Premier Jeffrey Kennett heads the judging panel and three different judges are brought in each year to decide on the winning entries. 20 finalists will be selected and exhibited to a nation wide audience for three weeks at Metro Gallery. Please note artists must be under the age of 35 to enter. The Metro Gallery award is a painting prize. Please read the terms and conditions before entering.

Conditions Of Entry

Value

• The Judges’ Choice Prize is $40,000.
• The People’s Choice Prize is $10,000.
• Both Prizes are paid to the winning entrants by cheque on the day of the announcement.

Eligible works

• Genre – all genres are accepted.
• Medium – oil, acrylic, water colour or mixed media.

• Size - Maximum size accepted is 170 x 170 cm (or a size equal to the
  square metreage of a work measuring 170 x 170 cm), including multiple
  panels.
  

• Age – works entered must not have been produced any earlier than 30/11/08.
• Framing – works must be suitably framed for hanging (a stretched canvas is considered framed).

Eligible artists

• Age – entrants must be no older than 35 years of age as at 25/07/10.
• Residency status – entrants must be Australian citizens or hold a permanent Australian residence visa.
• Exclusions – artists who have already won the Metro Gallery Art Award Judges’ Choice Prize and artists represented by Metro Gallery are not eligible to enter.

Other conditions of entry

By entering the Metro Gallery Art Award, all entrants automatically agree that:

• Acquisition –the winning paintings (of both the Judges’ Choice Prize and People’s Choice Prize) will automatically become part of Metro Gallery’s collection.
• Sales – all finalists’ works are available for sale to the public during the Metro Gallery Art Award exhibition.
• Promotion –Metro Gallery may reproduce entered works in any advertising or promotional campaigns before, during or after the exhibition.
• Publicity – all entrants agree to participate in media interviews if required.
• Freight, insurance & care – entrants are responsible for arranging freight and insurance at their own cost. Metro Gallery will exercise reasonable care with entered works but will not be responsible for any loss or damage whatsoever to any works while in its custody.

Selection & announcement of winners

• The judges will select between 20-25 works as finalists.
• Metro Gallery will notify the finalists by 10/6/10.
• The finalists must deliver their works to Metro Gallery by 16/7/10 to be eligible.
• Finalists’ works will be exhibited at Metro Gallery from 25/7/10 to 15/8/10.
• The judges will select one winner from the finalists’ works for the Judges’ Choice Prize.
• The public will vote for one winner from the finalists’ works to be the People’s Choice Prize (voting will take place in person at Metro Gallery or by postal vote from 25/7/10 to 1/8/10).
• Winners of both Prizes will be announced at Metro Gallery on 3/8/10 at 6.30 pm.
• The Judges’ decision and the People’s Choice decision are final and no correspondence will be entered into.
• Metro Gallery will not notify entrants who are not finalists.

Entry procedure

• Closing date for entries – 31/05/10.
• Download the entry form.
• Artist biography – to be stapled to the back of the entry form.
• Photographs –five high quality, identical colour photographs of your entered work. Photographs must be no smaller than 15.0 x 20 cm. Print (in block letters) your full name, together with the title, medium description, size in centimetres (height first) and finished date (month and year) of the entered work. Photographs will not be returned.
• Artists may only enter one work.
• There is no entry fee.
• No entries will be accepted without a fully completed entry form, artist biography and five photographs as described above.
• Entries will not be accepted after the closing date.

Previous Winners

2009 Judges' Award: Jackson Slattery
2009 People's Choice Award: Victoria Reichelt

2008 Judges' Award: Fregus Binns
2008 People's Choice Award: Jackson Slattery

2007 Judges' Award: Giles Alexander
2007 People's Choice Award: Celeste Chandler

2006 Judges' Award: Samuel Leach
2006 People's Choice Award: Eolo Paul Bottaro

2005 Judges' Award: Tamir David
2005 People's Choice Award: Vr Morrison

2004 Judges' Award: Ben Quilty
2004 People's Choice Award: Daniel Truscott

2003 Judges' Award: Yvette Coppersmith