Image: Geelong Art Gallery
Entries for the 2026 Geelong Contemporary Art Prize close on Friday 21 August at 5.00pm, with the acquisitive award set to return to Geelong Gallery from 7 November 2026 to 28 February 2027. The prize carries a value of $30,000 and is open as part of the gallery’s ongoing programme of collection-building awards.
The resulting exhibition will be presented at Geelong Gallery in Geelong, Victoria, with free entry. The gallery describes the prize as a continuation of a long tradition of acquisitive award exhibitions through which its collection has grown substantially. The exhibition page does not specify the number of finalists, the judging panel or the winning work ahead of the entry deadline.
The competition’s institutional history reaches back to 1938, when the first painting prize, the Geelong Centenary Art Competition, was held. Over the more than 80 years since, the gallery has presented acquisitive prizes across painting, watercolour and printmaking, supported by individual, philanthropic and corporate sponsors committed to contemporary art.
Because the award is acquisitive, its significance extends beyond the exhibition period: selected works become part of the Geelong Gallery collection. The gallery’s own account says these prizes have helped it build an exceptional representation of Australian painting while supporting contemporary practitioners. The initiative therefore links the immediate competition for a major cash award with the longer-term development of a public collection.
Previous winners listed by Geelong Gallery include Travis MacDonald in 2024, Naomi Hobson in 2022, Diena Georgetti in 2021, Andrew Browne in 2018 and Kate Beynon in 2016. Earlier recipients include Rob McHaffie, Paul Ryan, Tim McMonagle, Nadine Christensen, Sam Leach and Juan Ford, whose listed awards date from 2014 to 2004. The available prize material identifies these artists as previous winners but does not provide further details about their winning works.
The 2026 exhibition will follow the 2024 Geelong Contemporary Art Prize, which was presented at the gallery from 10 August to 3 November 2024, and the 2022 edition, held from 25 June to 11 September 2022. Entries for the forthcoming prize can be submitted through the dedicated entry form linked by Geelong Gallery, with frequently asked questions available on the same platform. The exhibition is scheduled for Saturday 7 November 2026 through Sunday 28 February 2027 at Geelong Gallery, Little Malop Street, Geelong.
