Call for entries - Bayside Painting Prize 2025

First established in 2015 as the Bayside Acquisitive Art Prize, the prize was relaunched in 2024 as the Bayside Painting Prize with an increase in prize money for the non-acquisitive Major Prize to $25,000. A new part of the prize is the $10,000 acquisitive Beckett Local Prize, named in honour of remarkable local modernist Clarice Beckett, which is open to artists who demonstrate a connection to the municipality of Bayside or the work entered is of local subject matter. There is also a $1,000 People’s Choice Award, announced at the conclusion of the exhibition.

The Bayside Painting Prize is the only annual painting prize held in Melbourne. The finalist exhibition brings together a broad range of artists from across Australia, both established and lesser known, whose varied approaches to the painted medium conveys the breadth and diversity of current Australian painting practice.

A celebration of contemporary Australian painting, the prize is an important opportunity for Bayside City Council to add exceptional works of art with a local connection to its collection and to promote art and artists as a valuable part of the Australian community.

Judges for the 2025 prize are Dr Vincent Alessi, Director + CEO, Linden New Art, and Melissa Keys, Senior Curator, Heide Museum of Modern Art.

Key Dates:
Call for entries opens: Monday 4 November 2024
Entries close: Friday 21 February 2025, 5pm
Finalists announced: Friday 14 March 2025
Artwork delivery: Tuesday 29 April to Saturday 3 May 2025
Announcement and official opening: Thursday 8 May 2025, 6-8pm
Finalist exhibition dates: Friday 9 May – Sunday 22 June 2025
Artwork collection: Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 June 2025

Find out more and submit your entry