COMEDIAN, CAPO Patron, and former Canberra busker/art student, Paul McDermott, is in town today to launch the Capital Arts Patrons’ Organisation’s 2015 season, marking 32 years of fundraising for the Arts in the ACT.

By no coincidence, award applications open today, August 6, as do ticket sales for the CAPO Auction Gala at the Canberra Museum and Gallery on November 7, but McDermott and CAPO have been particularly keen to talk up the annual CAPO Auction Exhibition, now recognised as a yearly survey of this region’s leading established and emerging visual and craft artists.

CAPO president, Penny Jurkiewicz says, “The CAPO Board’s dedication to presenting an exciting and educational annual program is inspired by the support of the community. Each year, it sets out to increase the number of awards and the support it can give to artists.”

Among the top awards to be announced on November 7 are the CAPO Fellowship and the Rosalie Gascoigne Memorial Award, as well as other awards named for sponsors.

Web-developer Reading Room returns as a sponsor and the sought-after Reading Room CAPO London Exchange Award gives an emerging artist the opportunity to travel to the UK to exhibit in the gallery space in its London headquarters.

This year Belconnen Arts Centre, Macquarie Telecom and Capital Magazine are coming on board as sponsors , with BAC’s’ Inclusion Award’ award specially supporting disabled artists in the ACT region with an. Macquarie Telecom and Capital Magazine are supporting established and emerging artists respectively.

A volunteer non-profit organisation, CAPO supports the ACT region’s artists through an evolving annual arts program, now featuring 16 awards, a public arts program (including an art exhibition and talks), auction exhibition and gala party. Since its establishment in 1983, CAPO has disbursed over $2 million in arts fellowships and awards funded by auction sales and sponsorship from arts and business communities in Canberra.

Past award winners include performing artists and companies, visual artists and arts organisations, musicians, contemporary craft artists, designer-makers, filmmakers, new media artists and writers.

The full list of awards will be available on the CAPO website from today. Applications and bookings for the gala to capo.org.au