Welcome

ENTRIES ARE NOW OPEN in the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2023. Please go to ANNOUCEMENTS for further information.

A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE MELBOURNE PRIZE TRUST

Thank you for your interest in the annual Melbourne Prize, which is run by the Melbourne Prize Trust and is one of the most valuable arts awards in Australia.

The annual Melbourne Prize, now in its 19th year, continues its objective to provide opportunities to Victorian writers, musicians and for 2023, sculptors, demonstrating the importance of recognising and rewarding creative talent.

The criteria of the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2023 this year enables the $60,000 prize funds to be used for professional development of the winner’s sculpture practice. Please refer to the Prize section of this website and the Entry Form.

To alleviate the cost of entry this year, there are no requirements, as part of the judging criteria, for selected finalists to submit a finished or proposed work for display at Fed Square. We will hold our award-winning augmented reality exhibition at Fed Square again this year, which will showcase the four finalists. We will make available, to the non-winning finalists, the sum of $1,000 + a $1,000 Qantas gift voucher.

Artists practicing in expanded fields of sculpture, including public installation, new media, performance, sound-based and socially engaged practice are welcome to apply. Application is encouraged from artists at all stages of their practice, including First Nations people and artists from all genders and cultural, linguistic and diverse backgrounds.

We acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which the Melbourne Prize Trust operates, the People of the Kulin Nation, and pay our respects to the elders, past, present and future.

Thank you for your interest in our activities this year.

Please click here to go to the Entry Form and Guidelines.

Kind regards,

Simon Warrender
Executive Director & Founder
Melbourne Prize Trust

Supporting Victorian sculptors, writers and musicians since 2005

Announcements

ENTRIES ARE NOW OPEN in the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2023.

The annual Melbourne Prize is funded through cross-sector community investment and we acknowledge and thank all our partners this year who have made it possible to offer the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2023. Please see our partners and patrons below.

 

Thank You

This year’s program is made possible by the generous support of our 2023 partners and patrons.

ABOUT THE 2023 DESIGN BY FOUNDATION CREATIVE PARTNER PLAYGROUND

Playground studios are a leading Melbourne-based design studio. As the Foundation Creative Partner of the annual Melbourne Prize, the studio develops the identity each year for music, literature and (urban) sculpture.

The inspiration for the Melbourne Prize for Urban Sculpture 2023 branding evokes how the expanded fields of sculptural practice can bring spaces to life, activating and defining their identity. In all its forms, sculpture can transform streetscapes and the urban environment lending layers of intrigue, inviting interaction and forging character, which breathes new life into the built environment and in turn shaping our experience of it. This year’s graphics represent the perennial  but shifting nature, texture and colour of the urban landscape.

WEBSITE BY THE MIGHTY WONTON

The Mighty Wonton are Founding Partners of the annual Melbourne Prize and have been with the organisation since inception. The company develop and manage IT for the Melbourne Prize and together with Playground, design and manage the website.

Key Dates

ENTRIES OPEN
15 May 2023

ENTRIES CLOSE
3 July 2023 at 5pm sharp

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED / VOTING OPENS IN CIVIC CHOICE AWARD 2023 
5 September 2023

AUGMENTED REALITY FINALIST EXHIBITION AT FED SQUARE + FINALIST CATALOGUE
1 to 15 November 2023

WINNERS ANNOUNCED
15 November 2023

CIVIC CHOICE AWARD 2023 / VOTING CLOSES 
15 November 2023 at 5pm

CIVIC CHOICE AWARD 2023 / WINNER ANNOUNCED 
16 November 2022

Partners & Patrons

Thank you to our 2023 partners and patrons.