Cover image: Artist Em Anders’ husband and subject meets his portrait. Supplied

Festoon lighting and dozens of electric candelabras and tealights decorated the Goldfields Art Centre courtyard last Friday night (September 12) creating an ambience of elegance and prestige to the invitation only, Kalgoorlie-Boulder Art Prize Awards and launch of the 2025 exhibition.

Adding to the sophisticated atmosphere were roaming acrobats and magician, a string quartet from the Perth Symphony Orchestra, and some delightful cocktail menu options.

The Art Prize, with a history of more than 30 years, is an annual acquisitional competition open to artists nationwide, showcasing painting, sculpture, photography, textiles and mixed media. It has a total price pool of $40 000 with a top prize of $15 000 for the overall winner. Additional categories include Young Artist, First Nations, Local Artist and Discipline categories.

The 137 unique entries with over 40% created by Goldfields-based artists were evaluated by a team of three judges, comprising of internationally recognised artists, Jane Li and Jose Bacarreza and local artist Linda Rae (Belton).

Proceedings were led by the City’s Community Development Manager, Lauren Chapman-Holle, and included an address from the Mayor, Glenn Wilson.

“The Art Prize is something we’re incredibly proud of as a community. It’s not just about awarding winners – it’s about giving artists, both emerging and established, a platform to share their stories and talent… It’s fantastic to see national recognition, but what makes me proudest is celebrating the incredible talent we have right here in the Goldfields.”

Winners who cannot attend are notified in advance, but those who can attend remain aware of the judges’ decisions until the presentation. This created a beautiful and emotive moment for attendees to witness when Everlyn Sturges and her painting, ‘The Unforgettable Shed’, was announced as the overall winner, leaving the artist almost speechless when accepting the accolade.

Sturges has previously won in other categories with this being her fifth experience with the competition. Later in the evening she was able to share a little about her piece and the process.

“It’s my Dad’s shed… One day I was in there and I turned around and thought painting it was a way to preserve my Dad. I used photos and painted in there as well. Sometimes I have to move things around because Dad’s using the shed all the time and using these things. Sometimes I paint for ten minutes. Sometimes an hour. And I work on other things at the same time. This work took two months to complete.”

In previous years, some of the winning Art Prize artworks have courted controversy – art is incredibly subjective and what one person adores, another can abhor – but this year there seemed to be close to a consensus of admiration among the 180 event attendees, made up of artist entrants, city and community notables, and supporters of the Goldfields art sector for the highly detailed artwork.

The exhibition was curated for the first time by Mireia Gonzalez, who created a pleasing flow of the diverse pieces to enhance the experience for viewers to enjoy.

The Kalgoorlie-Boulder Art Prize Exhibition and voting for the People’s Choice Awards is open until October 17^th.

A full list of winners and categories below:

2025 Category Winners

Acquisitional Major Prize

• The Unforgettable Shed by Everlyn Sturges

Artwork by a Kalgoorlie-Boulder Artist

• The Great Western Woodlands by Jane Fisher

First Nations Art Award

• Karlipi by WA artists

Painting Award

• Autumn Hills – Dusk by Vania Lawson

Photography

• An Hour East of Norseman by Scott Fisher

Works on Paper Award

• 30th of July 2024: Dear Diary… by Suzanne K Franklin

Mixed Media and Textile Award

• Tethered by Anne Bennett

3D Sculpture Award

• Yilba-Goanna by Brent Johnston

Young Artist Award

• Fishing by the sea by Hamish Darveniza