History

A new beginning

Women’s Art Prize Tasmania: The state’s only female art competition.

Women’s Art Prize Tasmania: The state’s only female art competition. It has the goal of fostering the development of women artists in Tasmania. Originally established in 2002 as Material Girl, the prize has a long and rich history and has evolved over time to suit sector needs. However, the closure of Tasmanian Regional Arts had left Material Girl untethered and both the public and arts sector had expressed keen interest and support for the continuation of the Award.

Material Girl was an annual, themed art award which began in 2002 as an event for International Women’s Day. The name Material Girl was an acknowledgement of textiles as a traditional female art form. The award grew over the years to include all mediums and served an important role in the Tasmanian art ecology by encouraging people to consider the role of women’s creativity in society.  

To determine the future direction of the Material Girl art award, RANT Arts in conjunction with Bell Bay Aluminium and Zonta conducted a detailed community survey over a six-week period. In addition to the survey, RANT held strategic interviews with sector leaders, hosted direct conversations with the public, liaised with Arts organisations, researched gender politics and examined relevant government policy.

RANT’s sector research survey measured the community’s opinions, insights and recommendations about the Art Prize. Analysis of the data collected from this survey indicated a strong desire for change and transformation to accommodate our diverse modern society while still embracing the traditions established since the prize foundation. The Women’s Art Prize Tasmania is now positioned to be one of Tasmania’s most exclusive and prestigious Art Prizes.

Since 2019, RANT has delivered and toured four annual prizes and Finalist Exhibitions around Tasmania that was viewed by over 42,000 visitors.

At the completion of its first 4-year strategic plan, the Prize went back to the sector and undertook a year of further consultation to listen and learn what was needed by women artists across the state and to test what it was offering.

RANT learned that the Prize and its Finalists tour was important and an important platform for raising profiles and promoting their work. The Prize remains and will be presented every two years, with new categories and presenting partners.

One of the biggest issues to emerge from the many conversations, surveys and engagement process was the need to create space for artists to pursue their art and cultural practice; experiment and explore new directions. From this, the Women’s Art Prize Tasmania Fellowship Program emerged delivering three $5,000 Fellowships; Creative Development, lutruwita and Early Career.

The future holds much promise for complementary programming and providing peer-to-peer networking. It remains committed to promoting awareness of culture, visual arts, women and gender issues across Tasmania.