Wollongong Art Prize 2025
6 December - 1 March 2026
The Wollongong Art Prize first dazzled the local arts scene in 1956, long before Wollongong Art Gallery was established in 1978, and continuing on-and-off until the present. In its early years, it celebrated artistic brilliance with prize-winning acquisitions for Wollongong City Council including Col Jordan, James Hall and Lorraine Holmes cementing its place as a cherished cultural tradition.
Wollongong Art Gallery has carried the torch of this legacy, hosting art prizes in various incarnations, including FLOW Contemporary Watercolour Prize. Now, the Wollongong Art Prize is making a triumphant return. This reimagined competition embraces a bold, contemporary vision, welcoming artists across all mediums with a focus on access, inclusivity, and community.
The stakes are higher than ever! The acquisitive top prize (affectionately dubbed The Top Gong for the Gong) is $25,000. Local talent won’t go unnoticed, with the Wollongong Art Gallery Friends offering a local artist award of $5,000, while art lovers get their say with a $2,000 People’s Choice Award.
Presented by Wollongong Art Gallery.
People's Choice Award
Voting closes at midnight, Sunday 1 February 2026.
Works available for purchase
Some works in the exhibition will be available for purchase; all sales are processed through the Gallery reception desk. See the pricelist of available works.
Prize Winners
Wollongong Art Prize 2025: Sam Gold, Lungs swollen with warmth from the mouths of exploding stars, 2025.
Local Artist Award 2025: Nicole Smede, YULIMBA (to come back), 2024.
People's Choice Award 2025: To be announced Monday 2 February 2026.
Highly Commended
Eugenia Raskopoulos, slutter, 2024.
TW Baker, The flooding of Stoney Creek, 2024.
Raquel Ormella, Today I saw..., 2025.
Tom Duffy, Lucy & William Leane, 2025.
Finalists
Image: Sam Gold, Lungs swollen with warmth from the mouths of exploding stars, 2025, hand-built stoneware with enamel. Wollongong Art Prize 2025.