Flying Arts Alliance awards record prize pool for regional artists
The Emerging Artist Awards. Image supplied.
The Flying Arts Alliance has long been a supporter of regional and remote artists across Queensland. For over 50 years, Flying Arts has inspired artists, and brought high quality visual arts projects and services to all of Queensland. The breadth of the organisation's impact is highlighted through their annual Queensland Regional Art Awards (QRAA). The 2023 award was themed around ‘perspective’, calling artists to explore different viewpoints and what makes their own perspective unique. This year’s iteration of the prize is also unique thanks to a record prize pool of over $140,000.
Since the prize announcement in November 2023, I have been lucky enough to see several exhibitions of QRAA finalists. The awards are split among several categories, with several receiving their own exhibitions. The variety of categories is immense with prizes for, landscape, watercolour, digital, and textile art. As well as prizes for remote artists, First Nations artists, emerging artists, and artists exploring environmental themes. The winner of the ‘Art for Life’ category was Lincoln Austin, who explored ‘perspective’ through a shimmering artwork that shifts as the viewer moves.
Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Exhibition. Foreground: Naomi Hobson’s winning ceramic installation titled Red Kangaroo and Little River Cod. Image supplied.
One standout exhibition among the lineup is the Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Award, named after the founder of Flying Arts. The 2023 landscape award stands out as a premier landscape exhibition, due in large part to the awards flexibility in what landscape art is. Naomi Hobson was the 2023 Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Award winner. Hobson’s ceramic installation titled Red Kangaroo and Little River Cod stood out as a unique interpretation of landscape art, informed by her own connection to Country as a First Nations artist living in rural Queensland. The number of categories and exhibitions that encompass the QRAA can feel overwhelming, but is also a testament to the passion of Flying Arts across the entirety of artistic practice.
As a Brisbane resident, it is easy to feel disconnected from the experiences of Queenslanders living outside major cities. The QRAA exhibitions I have seen are a strong reminder that remote and regional communities regularly produce outstanding artists. The judges, Jonathan McBurnie and Fiona Foley have, through their selection, highlighted that Queensland as a whole is home to stunning contemporary art practice. With appropriate funding, Flying Arts plans to tour the 2023 QRAA Exhibition and the Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Exhibition through regional Queensland. The planned regional exhibitions emphasise Flying Arts’ commitment to bringing visual arts projects to the entire state. Details about upcoming exhibitions can be found on Flying Arts’ website, along with information on the organisation's other endeavours.
The Mervyn Moriarty Landscape Exhibition was on display at Mitchell Fine Art, Fortitude Valley until 13 Marchand has now moved to Consolidated Properties Group in the CBD. Another exhibition for the Emerging Artist Award category will also be displayed at Consolidated Properties Group from 26 March.
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Mervyn Moriarty. Aaron Butt, The Flying Artist. Image supplied.
