Alice Prize | Winners' Retrospective 1970 - 2024

This exhibition presents a curated selection of winning artworks from the Alice Prize, a celebrated national Prize, established in Mparntwe/Alice Springs. Spanning the years 1970 to 2024, it highlights the remarkable diversity of artists, mediums, styles, and themes that the Prize has drawn across its history. It also underscores the difficult task faced by the esteemed judges in selecting an overall winner from the thousands of submissions received.

The Alice Prize was initiated by the Alice Springs Art Foundation in 1970 to elevate Mparntwe/Alice Springs within the national art landscape and to enable local audiences to experience the works of renowned artists. The inaugural event attracted 207 entries, marking a significant success, fulfilling the vision of it becoming an annual event. The Alice Prize is acquisitive which has led to the formation of a significant art collection, comprising 196 artworks, including all past winners and other notable works. This collection was donated to the Alice Springs Town Council in 1990 for the people of Mparntwe/Alice Springs, when it managed the Araluen Arts Centre, and continues to grow with each new winner. It is permanently housed at Araluen, where it plays an essential role in the Araluen Art Collection and is regularly featured in curated exhibitions.

This exhibition features numerous important artworks that underscore the Alice Prize’s ability to attract a remarkably diverse array of artists. For example, Sandra Leveson’s Series D - 2D optics winner in 1972, which exemplifies the artist’s overlaid print-making techniques used to produce a stunning pointillist effect; renowned artist Robert Boynes with Blue Boy in 1977; and multi-disciplinary artist Janet Laurence’s Periodic Table Series Driftworks the winner in 1996 incorporates minerals in its creation. While well known to local residents Nicky Schonkala reflects on her post surgery journey with Girl looks backward, girl looks forward a joint winner in 2004; Pip McManus invites contemplation with her video work Ichor, the 2008 winner depicting an unfired clay figure gradually dissolving in water; Thea Anamara Perkins with Tent Embassy in 2020, draws inspiration from a treasured family photograph of her grandfather and aunt taken during a land rights protest in Canberra. Most recently, in 2024, Fiona Foley’s evocative video work Janjari captures the raw and diverse landscape of K’gari (Fraser Island).

Across its history the Alice Prize has predominant attracted paintings as reflected in this exhibition, while photography, multi-media and video works are also well represented. Notably only three sculptures have won the Alice Prize; renowned artist Silvio Apponyi won outright in 1987 with Wombat, while Anthony Prior’s Hako No 1 was a joint winner in 1981 and Wendy Teakel was also a joint winner in 1995 with Meeting. Significantly, in 1983 Clifford Possum Tjapaltjarri won the Alice Prize with his monumental work Mulga seed Tjukurrpa and became the first Aboriginal artist to win a national art prize.

This exhibition provides a chance to reflect on many of the extraordinary winners of the Alice Prize throughout its history. The artworks are not only innovative and surprising but also at times controversial, offering a unique snapshot into Australian art since 1970, through the lens of the Alice Prize. The dedication of the Alice Springs Art Foundation and its members over the past 55 years, along with the support of the Alice Springs Town Council as caretakers, underscores their essential role in enriching the artistic landscape of Central Australia. We recognise their contributions in enhancing our access to outstanding artworks, and we eagerly anticipate the 44th Alice Prize in the Araluen Galleries in 2026.