Submit Your Entry - The Lester Prize

Main Prize.

The Lester Prize is one of the country’s premier art prizes—an award that places artists and community proudly front-and-centre. Our prize is about the advancement of the artists, not the celebrity of the sitters—it always has been and always will be.

The Prize pool consists of:

The Richard Lester Prize for Portraiture (selected by a panel of judges; non-acquisitive) | $50,000 cash
Tony Fini Foundation Artist Prize (selected by artists’ peers; non-acquisitive) | $15,000 cash
Minderoo Foundation Spirit Prize (selected by Minderoo Foundation; non-acquisitive) | $10,000 cash
Baldock Family People’s Choice Prize (selected by the general public) | $10,000 cash
Ashurst Emerging Artist Prize (selected by a panel of judges; non-acquisitive) | $5,000 cash
Highly Commended x 2 (selected by a panel of judges) | $2,000 cash, $550 domestic art transport voucher, $500 framing voucher plus $250 art supplies voucher each

Call for Entries: 27 March — 25 June 2021. Find out more about our Pre-Selection & Judging Process.

Entry Fee: A$45.00 (inclusive of GST) per portrait.

Youth Prize.

The Lester Prize Youth Award encourages the creative talents of young and aspiring artists. It is open to all High School students across Australia.

The Prize allows entrants to showcase their works and present their unique artistic perspectives; helps build their confidence to further their art practice; and allows them to share their stories with the wider community.

The Prize pool consists of:

HIGH SCHOOL CATEGORY

Prizes for Students (Years 11-12, Years 9-10, Years 7-8) | Cash prizes, art supplies & framing valued at $2,600
Prizes for Schools (Years 10-12, Years 7-9) | Professional art workshops by Lester Prize Adult Finalists valued at $1,500

Call for Entries: 27 March — 16 July 2021

Entry Fee: A$15.00 (inclusive of GST) per portrait.

Our Pre-Selection and Judging process.

The Pre-Selection Panel members and Judges for both the Adult Awards and Youth Awards change every year. They are a group of independent experts in their respective fields with no commercial association with The Lester Prize.
During the Pre-Selection process, the panel is never provided the name or location of the artist (just the artwork image, title, dimensions and medium on screen).
Unfortunately, due to the large volume of submissions, we are unable to provide individual feedback to entrants.
This is the same process that many art prizes both in Australia and overseas undertake, and one that the Prize has followed since its inception.
Our Pre-Selection and Judging processes are fully transparent and something we are very proud of as we work hard to ensure there is no bias, personal, political or financial influence in the selection of our Finalists and Winners.
We are unable to enter into any correspondence about the selection of the Finalists and Winners.
We stand by and support all our Finalists, and respect the decisions made by our independent Pre-Selection Panellists and Judges.

Main Prize.

Youth Prize.

Our Pre-Selection and Judging process.

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