Cameron McRae’s winning portrait …
Young Tasmanians are being urged to pick up a pencil or a paintbrush, or just about anything else,
to capture a portrait of someone who is important to them, with just under a month left to enter
the 2015 RACT Insurance Tasmanian Portraiture Prize (TPP).
And with all eyes on the upcoming DARK MOFO festival, RACT Insurance CEO Trent Sayers said he
was pleased to welcome MONA Curator Jarrod Rawlins to the 2015 TPP judging panel, to be joined
by accomplished Tasmanian print maker and artist Barbie Kjar, as well as last year’s prize winner
Cameron McRae.
“Since launching in 2007, the TPP has grown from strength to strength with entry numbers
increasing each year, to quickly become the premier art prize for young Tasmanians,” Mr Sayers
said.
“It’s also great to see where entrants take their TPP experience, with last year’s TPP winner
Cameron McRae now sharing a central Hobart art studio space with two previous winners.
“In addition to receiving entries from every corner of the state, the gender balance split of entries
over the past seven years has seen a 50/50 split.”
Mr Sayers said portraits can be submitted in any medium, with last year’s 78 submissions including
photographs, oils, acrylics, graphite, watercolours, print and animation on paper.
“All we ask is that people aged under 30 get creative and artistically record a portrait of a living
Tasmanian, and provide a statement explaining why and how this person inspired their piece,” he
said.
“Once the entries close on 30 June, this year’s finalists will then make a gallery tour of Tasmania,
with exhibitions to be held in Hobart, Launceston and Devonport later in the year,” he said.
“Last year we had an overwhelming show of support from the Tasmanian community and we are
hoping to again see this local support, with people from across the state coming along to see the
entrants’ work on exhibition in their region.”
The winner of the 2015 RACT Insurance Tasmanian Portraiture Prize will receive $5,000 and a trip
for two to the Archibald Prize exhibition in Sydney, while the runner-up will receive $2,000 to assist
with studio rent.
Entries for the 2015 RACT Insurance Tasmanian Portraiture Prize close on 30 June, 2015. For more
information, visit www.taspp.com.au or call Kylie Eastley on 0439 262 344.
RACT Insurance CEO Trent Sayers
