SUNSHINE Coast Council has announced a new $10,000 acquisitive art award as art of the Sunshine Coast Art Prize, intended to excite artists across the nation and you’re invited to apply.

The Sunshine Coast Inaugural Environment Art Award is supported through Council’s Living Smart program. Environment Portfolio Councillor Jenny McKay said the aim of the new award is to connect people to the values of the Sunshine Coast natural environment through art.

“We’re striving for the Sunshine Coast to be Australia’s most sustainable region— vibrant, green and diverse. Understanding and appreciating our environmental values is a big part of that journey and art is a great way to do that,” Cr McKay said.

The wider Sunshine Coast Art Prize, she noted, had grown to become one of the nation’s most significant regional visual arts awards with over $125,000 for emerging and professional artists.

Artworks should depict the natural values and attributes of the Sunshine Coast Council local government area and may be in any medium. Artworks might touch on local environmental themes or the relationship between people and the Sunshine Coast environment. Not surprisingly, entries which depicting landscapes, flora and fauna of the Sunshine Coast will be highly regarded.

A professional panel will select works from across various regional Sunshine Coast art prizes during September and October.

Forty finalists will be included in an exhibition at Caloundra Regional Gallery from August 20 to October 11. Entries close Monday May 4. All details at  sunshinecoast.qld.gov