Caloundra Regional Gallery | Sunshine Coast Council

The Local Contemporary Art Prize 2025 is a highly anticipated annual exhibition at Caloundra Regional Gallery, showcasing the breadth of contemporary arts practice from emerging, mid-career and established visual artists residing on the Sunshine Coast.

Entry conditions

The artist must be a full-time resident of the Sunshine Coast or Noosa Council local government areas. Broadly, the region extends from Glasshouse Mountains in the south, to Pomona in the north and to Kenilworth in the west.
Only one entry per artist may be submitted.
All entries must be submitted online through the Caloundra Regional Gallery website.
Entry fee of $35 (non-refundable) payable by credit card online only.
Ensure you have submitted the correct information on your entry, no additional changes can be made after the submission has been completed.
You must provide one digital image of your artwork, uploaded to the online entry form. The image must be jpeg format only (2MB maximum file size).
File name should be clearly labelled with the artist's surname (capitals), first name (lowercase) and title of the work. eg. SMITH_John_MonaLisa
You must include an artist statement about your artwork (150 words maximum)
Applications open on Monday 25 November 2024 and must be submitted by Sunday 9 February 2025, 5pm AEST (Queensland time).

The artwork

Entries must be the original, unaided work of the entrant, executed within two years prior to the entry closing date.
All expenses incurred in the submission of the entry are the responsibility of the applicant.
All works entered into the prize must be available for display for the duration of the exhibition (see Key dates on the Prize details page).
No work submitted shall have won a major prize in any other art prize exhibitions.
Your entry should reflect your life on the Sunshine Coast with artistic responses, including but not limited to reflections on the natural or built environment, people or any other abstractions of your lived experience here on the Sunshine Coast.
If selected as a finalist, the artwork must be sufficiently dried/cured before delivery to the gallery. The finished work must not exceed 155cm or 61 inches in either height or length. Bas or low-relief artwork in which materials protrude slightly from a flat background to a depth of no more than 5cm is also eligible.
The three-dimensional works must not exceed 50cm x 50cm x 50cm and 20kg in weight.
If selected as a finalist, the work must be framed (a stretched canvas is considered framed) and fitted with D rings 100mm from the top of the work.
Finalists will allow their works to be reproduced by print and electronic media, in either full or detail form, for the advertising and promotion of the exhibition and for the exhibition catalogue.
Sunshine Coast Council/Caloundra Regional Gallery reserves the right to determine the most appropriate method for displaying 2D works, and to refuse to display any works deemed inappropriate or unsafe.

Delivery of finalists' artworks

Finalists' artwork must clearly be marked on the back with the artist's name.
Artwork will only be accepted during the specified period and times (see Key dates) to Caloundra Regional Gallery.
Delivery must be made in person, by a nominated representative (such as a friend, relative or artist’s agent) or by a courier/freight company. Deliveries will not be accepted via Australia Post.
Any costs incurred in the delivery or transport to or from the exhibition are the responsibility of the artist and no liability shall be accepted by either the Friends Regional Gallery Caloundra Inc. or Caloundra Regional Gallery. The artist shall be responsible for their own insurance of their artwork.

Licensing the work

The artist warrants that the work is original and does not infringe the copyright, moral rights or other rights of any third party.
All finalist artworks must be available for sale with a 25% commission of the sale price to be payable to Friends Regional Gallery Caloundra Inc.
The artist grants a non-exclusive licence to the Caloundra Regional Gallery to reproduce the work in material form, in either full or detail form, to photograph, publish and/or communicate it to the public for prize-related purposes, and anything incidental to such purposes, by the Caloundra Regional Gallery and sponsors, including marketing, publicity, educational and publication uses for the gallery, the prize and its exhibition in all media, including but not limited to electronic/digital, broadcasting and print media, for a period of two years from the opening date of the exhibition.
If the work is selected as the winner of the prize, the artist must be able to transfer full title of the work to Sunshine Coast Council.

Selection of works

The finalists for the Local Contemporary Art Prize are selected by a selection committee. All selection decisions are final and no correspondence shall be entered into.
The judge’s decision is final and no correspondence shall be entered into.
Finalists and consequent prize winners will be announced to the media and published on Caloundra Regional Gallery's website and social media (see Key dates on the Prize details page). Prize winners will be advised beforehand.
Artists whose work is chosen for display may be asked to provide additional information (such as biographical details and marketing form) to assist with preparation of prize-related material.
Selected finalists agree to make themselves available for the purposes of promotion and publicity at times, dates and places reasonably requested by Caloundra Regional Gallery.
By submitting this entry the entrant is consenting to the use of their contact information for the purposes of receiving information in relation to the Local Contemporary Art Prize.