The prize-winners for the 2024 QPRC and Bendigo Bank Art Awards have been named.

The awards, hosted by the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council, saw 76 artists exhibiting their works not just in the gallery, but in The Q foyer and upstairs spaces.

The two independent judges for the 2024 awards were Louise Wakefield, president of Southern Tableland Arts, and Caroline Downer, CEO of the Tuggeranong Arts Centre. They made their decisions in a ‘blind’ format, not knowing the name, gender, location, or value of the artists’ work.

The Major Acquisitive Award went to Jo Parsons for The Language of Women, which impressed the judges for its balanced use of colour, shape and textures that highlight a flowing line against a more rigid grid, noting, “the work fluently combines smaller intricate details that woven together create a sense of collective perspectives and shared knowing for the audience.”

The 3D Art Award was given to Robert Schwartz for Spectral Echoes, which the judges said “presents with such elegance in the organic form and shape. The use of delicate colour is evocative of nature and the glass captures light from different angles to amplify the beauty of the medium.”

Gail Neuss’ The Killing Fields won the First Nations Award, a striking work of acrylic/enamel on metal installed at the entrance to the exhibition. The judges commented how the “great use of colour and strong patterning and line came together well in this work.”

Bridget MacLeod’s work in red crystal glass, Affordable Housing, was the winner of the Emerging Artist Award. “This small composition captured attention. It is an interesting use of the material, and the simple design reflects both a basic human need and right and presents as a contradiction to the complex challenge that needs to be addressed,” the judges said.

Representatives from the Bendigo Bank, Braidwood & Bungendore took several hours to decide on their Bendigo Pick Award, which went to Melanie Lenaghan for Cancer. She took home the award for her oil painting, Cancer, while her daughter Josephine Lenaghan received a Highly Commended in the Emerging Artist Category with a work titled Good to be Different.

Other Highly Commended artists were Len Hegh for Reef Form, Lea Palij for Complicated Childhood, and Claire Shepherd for Street Walking on Monaro.

The exhibition is at The Q until June 15, when entries for The People’s Choice and People’s Choice Highly Commended Awards close.